سيعيصني في الحب من ولهي به

بالقرب عن وجدي به ولهيبه

He whom I adore will [recompense me?] in love,

with nearness in exchange for my longing for him and its flame.

وتعود أيام الوصال وتنقضى

من مدمعي وصبيبه وصبى به

And the days of union will return, and there will cease

my suffering through him, with my tears and their flood.

لا تيأسن وان أضربك الهوى

وطفقت من تثريبه تثري به

Do not despair, even if passion harms you,

and through its reproaches you begin to grow rich in it.

لا بد ان يرمي الحبيب حبيبه

بنوى إلى تجريبه تجرى به

The beloved must surely strike his lover

with separation that carries him toward being tested.

ووساوس في القلب تمضى إن مضى

معه وفي تأويبه تأوي به

And misgivings in the heart depart, if he departs,

with him, and take shelter with him upon his return.

حتى تظن لما تقاسي أنها

حال إلى تعطيبه تعطي به

Until, because of what you suffer, you think it is

a condition that delivers him to destruction.

والله لا اختار إن أفتك من

اسرى به لا والذي أسرى به

By God, I would not choose to free myself from

my captivity to him—no, by Him who carried him by night.

والصبر أجمل بي وإن هو ساءني

بلغوبه فالناس قد بلغوا به

Patience better befits me, even though it grieves me

with its weariness; people have attained their ends through it.

يا بين قلبي قد أذبت وأنت في

تذويبه لجوارحي تذوي به

O separation, you have melted my heart, and in

melting it you wither my limbs through it.

بالله يا صبر لما أضرمتني

بلهيبه يستن من بلهى به

By God, O patience, why have you set me ablaze

with its flame? [The remaining phrase is unclear.]

لكن رجوتك إذ سلبت الخير إن

تسلى به ويعود عن تسليبه

Yet I hoped, when you took goodness away, that you

would find solace in it, and he would cease taking it away.

صلبت لين قربه حتى متى

للقلب في تصليبه تصليبه

You hardened the tenderness of his nearness; how long

must the heart be crucified in that hardening?

وألام لا تلقى الفؤاد مطرباً

تلهى به بل زدت في تلهيبه

And I am blamed! You do not find the heart made joyful,

to amuse yourself with it; rather, you have increased its burning.

ما للزمان يروعني بخطوبه

فالقلب قد أنسى به أنسي به

Why does Time terrify me with its calamities?

For my heart has thereby made me forget my delight in it.

فلقد ولعت بذم دهري معلنا

بين الورى ولعيبه ولعي به

I have become devoted to censuring my age, proclaiming

among mankind, to its discredit, my passion for it.

لكن لي عزم به في أهله

بشبابه أمشيبه أمشي به

Yet I have a resolve with which, among its people,

in its youth or old age, I advance.

وجلي رأي ليس يخبو زنده

في خطبه اوريبه أورى به

And lucid judgment, whose firestick never goes dark,

with which I kindle fire amid its calamities or uncertainties.

وشريف لهم لست حتى أسالن

عن مقصدي أو طيبه أوطى به

And a noble [phrase unclear]—not until I am asked

about my purpose or its worth will I be trodden down through it.

عودته شرف المساعي فهو لو

لم أهده لضريبه لضرى به

I have accustomed it to noble endeavors; even if

I did not guide it to its equal, it would grow practiced in it.

نفس أبت الا انتوا إلى مطلقاً

تسبى به العلياء في تسبيبه

A soul that refuses all but [unclear words], without restraint,

through which eminence is captured, by its devising.

يا دهر طاوعني وادن لي مرة

ما أنت في تنويبه تنوى به

O Time, comply with me and bring near to me, for once,

what you intend through the turns you assign [reading uncertain].

أنوى بان ألقي بآمالي على

ملك علا تثويبه تثوى به

I intend to cast my hopes upon

a king whose recompense is exalted, with whom they may dwell.

بمقام إسمعيل ذى الجود الذي

العلياء في تسريبه تسرى به

In the presence of Ismail, possessor of generosity, with whom

eminence journeys by night, as he sends it forth.

ما زالت الأيام مما قد حوى

فيهن من تهذيبه تهذى به

The days have never ceased, because of what he has gathered

of refinement within them, to rave about him.

للنجح في سعيي إليه إمارة

انى أرى يومي به يومي به

There is a sign of success in my journey to him:

I see my day, through him, beckoning me toward him.

أجرى النوال على الورى فلأجل ما

نظروه من مسكوبه مسكوا به

He has poured bounty over mankind, and because of what

they saw of his outpouring, they held fast to him.

هب السخا فعلوا به ولغيرهم

من حوله وهبوبه وهبوا به

Generosity blew, and they rose through it; and to others

they gave through it, from its strength and its gusts.

فالقوم للابناء مما عاينوا

من طله أو صوبه أوصوا به

So the people, for their sons, on seeing

his gentle rain or his downpour, commended him.

فصحوا له وسواه لما لم يفك ال

ضيق عن مكروبه مكروا به

They spoke eloquently for him; but another, since he did not lift the

distress from its sufferer, they plotted against.

وعنوا لديه لانهم ألفوا الذي

مسكوبه ربحا وما مسكوا به

And they bowed before him, for they found what

he poured out—and what they held through him—to be gain.

لا تنكروا سعيي إلى ابوابه

إني إلى أجرى به أجرى به

Do not condemn my journey to his gates:

I run toward the reward I gain through him.

يا آملين نواله لا تحزنوا

وسولوا به فالجود من اسلوبه

O you who hope for his bounty, do not grieve;

and make your requests through him, for generosity is his way.

قد فاض بحر سخائه بنوا له

موجوا به فالفضل من موجوبه

The sea of his generosity has overflowed; they built for him [reading uncertain].

Surge with it, for bounty is what is due from him [reading uncertain].

حسبي نداه على الزمان فانني

إن شد من أزرى به أزرى به

His bounty suffices me against Time, for I,

if my strength is reinforced through it, make light of Time through it.

وإذا الزمان جفا قصدت رحابه

فيزول من ترحيبه ترحى به

And when Time is harsh, I seek his spacious courts;

then, through his welcome, my sorrow over it vanishes.

يا من تقرب منه ان اقربتنا

عزا فمن تقريبه تقرى به

O you who draw near him, if you bring us close

in honor, through his bringing you near you are hosted by him.

فاعص الزمان فقد عصيت بما جد

تعصي به من جاء في تعصيبه

Defy Time; you have defied it through what is resolute [reading uncertain],

and through it oppose whoever comes to rally to its side.

لو أن طاعة كل من فوق الثرى

قد اصبحت لمنيبه لمني به

If the obedience of everyone upon the earth

were granted to one who turns to him, he would be tried through it.

لكن عند الملك لم اسمع بمن

بهزبره أو ذيبه أوذي به

But in the king's presence I have never heard of anyone

who was harmed there by his lion or his wolf.

يا أيها الايام سعيي لا يخب

بل كلما منى به منى به

O days, let not my striving fail;

rather, whenever one is given hope of it, one is afflicted with it.

ليل الخطوب دجى وحظي حائر

فاجرى به فيها إلى فجري به

The night of calamities is dark, and my fortune is bewildered;

so I run with it through them toward my dawn through him.

أرجو سخائك يا مليك بنيل ما

ارضى به من عرفت أرضي به

I hope for your generosity, O king, to obtain what

I may use to please the one through whom my homeland is known.

فكلم به أنجبت من إنشائه

ووعدت في تنجيبه تنجي به

For through it I have begotten noble words in composing it,

and you have promised, in ennobling it, to save me through it.

لا عود قد أنجحت قصدي سعيه

وشفيت من صدري به صدري به

No return [unclear]—you have made the pursuit of my aim succeed,

and with it you have healed my breast of what lay within it.

فأنا الغريب لديكم وأنا الذي

الأيام في تغريبه تغرى به

For I am a stranger among you, and I am one

whom the days, in banishing him, incite others against.

لقبت سعيي بالنجاح إليكم

فعساك في تلقيبه تلقى به

I have named my striving toward you 'Success';

so perhaps, through that naming, you will meet with success.

سمح الزمان لنا بأحسن شعره

وأجله لنجي به لنجيبه

Time has granted us its finest poetry,

and its most sublime, so that we may bring it to its noble one.

فلذاك كم صغت الثناء قلائدا

ونسخت من حبري به حبري به

That is why I have so often fashioned praise into necklaces,

and with my ink transcribed the joy I take in him.

شعر كمثل الدر مهما شئت أن

تعيي به فاستفت عن تعيبه

Poetry like pearls: whenever you wish

to confound with it, seek a judgment on its faults.

كالروض أعشب في رواء أو ذكا

تعشيبه العميان لا تعشي به

Like a garden, grassy in its freshness, or flourishing

in its herbage; you do not dazzle the blind with it.

وإذا أتيت به امرءا في محفل

يطرى به اجزلت من تطرى به

And when you bring it to someone in an assembly,

he is praised through it; you richly reward whomever you praise with it.

ويزيد في مدح المليك تهذبا

تهذى به الفصحاء في تهذيبه

It grows more refined in praising the king;

eloquent speakers rave over it as they polish it.

وتركته والطبع منه ازداد في

تركي به إذ كان من تركيبه

I left it, and its naturalness increased

through my leaving it, since this was part of its composition.