أتسأل عن دم لك فيه حلا

وفي القلب الهوى برضاك حلا

Do you ask about blood that has grown sweet to you,

while love has settled in the heart with your consent?

فَلم طرفاً هداك إلى عزيز

متى ينظرْكَ سلَّ عليك نصلا

Then blame the eye that led you to an unassailable beloved:

whenever he looks at you, he draws a blade against you.

ترى العشاق أفراداً ومثنىٍ

أسارى حول مضربه وقتلى

You see lovers, singly and in pairs,

captives and slain around his encampment.

ومن يك سيفه وسطاه لحظا

يكن سفك الدمآء عليه سهلا

And whoever has a glance for his sword and his onslaught,

finds the shedding of blood easy.

لقد أبدى لنا والليل يغشى

محياً كالنهار إذا تجلّى

He revealed to us, while night spread its veil,

a face like day when it shines forth.

محاسنه كفتنا العدل فيه

فليس يخاف من يهواه عدلا

His charms spared us reproach for loving him,

so whoever loves him has no censure to fear.

خلعت به العذار فلا أبالي

اساء بي الأنام الظن أم لا

For him I cast off restraint, and I do not care

whether people think ill of me or not.

فيا لله من زفراتِ شوقٍ

تسل الروح من جنبيَّ سلاّ

O God, what sighs of longing,

drawing the soul clean out from between my sides!

وقالوا الصب يسلو بعد شهر

ولو قالوا يموت لكان أولى

They said, 'The lovesick man forgets after a month.'

Had they said, 'He dies,' that would have been more fitting.

وكيف سلوُّ ظمآن عن الما

بشهر أو بأكثر أو أقلا

How can a thirsty man forget water

in a month, or more, or less?

وقالوا نمت قلت سلو الدياجي

فإن لها على عينيّ دخلا

They said, 'You slept.' I said, 'Ask the dark nights,

for they bear a grievance against my eyes.'

لقد عقدت بطرف النجم طرفي

وبت أجوشه حتى تولّى

I bound my gaze to the star's eye,

and spent the night [unclear verb] until it withdrew.

أَحِنُّ حنين والهة بشقب

تناوشت الضباع كلاه أكلا

I moan like a distraught mother in a rocky cleft,

where hyenas have seized her young one's kidneys to devour.

رأته معفراً قد نيل منه

ومزق فهو أفلاذُ وأشلا

She saw him dust-stained, already mauled,

and torn apart, mere chunks and severed limbs.

فطال حنينها جزعا وظلت

مولهةٌ تحوم عليه ثكلى

Her moaning lasted long in anguish, and she remained

distraught, circling him, bereaved.

تشممه سميم الوحش أنساً

وتنكره فتنفر عنه جهلا

A true creature of the wild, she sniffs him in recognition,

then fails to know him and recoils, bewildered.

يجئ بها ويذهب فرطُ وجد

يمثّله لها بَعداً وقَبلا

Overwhelming grief draws her near and sends her away,

conjuring his likeness for her, now distant, now before her.

فلا الأشجارُ تلهيها ولا الما

وإن لها عن الإِثنين شُغلا

Neither the trees distract her, nor the water;

she has a concern that keeps her from both.

حكت ولها بقيةُ من أرادت

صوارم أحمدٍ في الله قتلا

She resembled, though something still remained to her, those whom

Ahmad's blades sought to slay for God's sake.

صلاحُ الدين والدنيا المرجى اله

زبرَ الناصر الملك الأجلا

Salah al-Din wa-l-Dunya, the hoped-for one—[unclear reference to God],

[Unclear verb] al-Nasir, the most glorious king.

كريم الأصل أعرقُ من تربّى

من الأملاك في ملك وأعلى

Noble in origin, most ancient in lineage of those reared

among kings in kingship, and most exalted.

يعد أبا اباً سبعين ملكا

ملوا فطار هذي الأرض عدلا

He counts, father after father, seventy kings

who filled the regions of this earth with justice.

سموْا في ملكهم والدهرُ طِفلٌ

فعانوه إِلى أضن صار كهلا

They rose high in their rule when Time was still a child,

and grappled with him until he grew middle-aged.

فلا ندري أهم من قبل أم هو

فإما أن يكونوا هم وإلاَّ

We do not know whether they came first or he:

either it was they, or else...

إذا ذكر ابن إسماعيل ظلت

من الفخر الملوك له تخلا

When Ibn Ismail is mentioned, then

kings relinquish their pride before him.

خدين المكرمات وكان قدماً

يراضي بالعلى في المهد طِفلا

A companion of noble deeds, he long ago

was soothed with high honor, an infant in the cradle.

ولما افتضّ أبكار المعالي

شهدت له لقد عاشرن فحلا

And when he deflowered the maidens of lofty honor,

they testified for him: they had known a virile man.

بطئ حيث كان العلم عقلاً

عجول حيث كان الحلم جهلا

Slow where knowledge is wisdom,

swift where forbearance is folly.

يجرّ دون دين الله سيفاً

تحاط به شريعته وتكلا

He draws a sword in defense of God's faith,

by which His sacred law is protected and guarded.

إِذا ما صام صارمه انتظاه

على الأعدا فيقطر حيثُ صلا

Whenever his keen blade fasts, he unsheathes it

against the foes, and it drips wherever it rings.

ترى الدنيا إذا ماشنَّ حرباً

تسيل بجيشهِ خيلاً ورجلا

You see the world, whenever he wages war,

streaming with his army, cavalry and foot.

تحفُّ به جبالٌ من خيول

إِذا وطئت صفاً تركته رملا

Mountains of horses surround him,

and when they trample hard rock, they leave it sand.

تدافعَ في الأعنة تحتَ أُسدٍ

تطاعِنُ فوقَها نَهْلاً وعلا

They jostle against the reins beneath lions

trading lance-thrusts above them, draught after draught.

تناسق بعضَها في إِثر بعضٍ

تناسقَ نظمِ عقدِ الجيدش شكلا

They follow in order, one behind another,

ordered, in form, like beads strung in a necklace for the neck.

وقد سبق الكتائب فوق طرفٍ

إِذا جاراه لحظُ الطرف كَلاَّ

He has outstripped the battalions on a noble steed;

when the eye's glance races him, it tires.

غرابيَّ الأديمِ يفوقَ حسناً

لحالك لونهِ الصمصام صَقْلا

Raven-black of hide, he surpasses in beauty

the keen sword's polish, through his pitch-black hue.

فلو صيغت بدهُمتِه الليالي

وزاحَمها صباحٌ ما تجلّى

If the nights were fashioned from his blackness,

and dawn contended with them, it would not shine through.

إذا نفض السبيب وقد تسامى

حشى عين السماك قذى وملاّ

When he shakes his mane and tail, rising high,

he crams al-Simak's eye with motes and fills it.

لفارسه القضا فيمن رآه

بقتل أو بأسرٍ أو بإجلا

His rider decrees the fate of all who behold him:

death, captivity, or exile.

يكاد بفهمه يدري بما في

ضميرك فهو لا يعدوه فعلا

Through his understanding, he almost knows what is

in your mind, and in action he does not stray from it.

فلا زالت مدى الأيام فينا

لأحمدَ أحمدُ الآياتِ تتلى

May there ever remain among us, throughout the days,

Ahmad's most praiseworthy signs, recited.