يا بحر قلدت أخاك البحرا

صنيعة ليست تحد شكرا

O Sea, you have bestowed upon your brother, the sea,

a favor no gratitude can measure.

هيات للنَّبتِ السباخ حوله

حتى رأينا رياضا خضرا

You prepared the salt flats around it for plants,

until we saw green gardens.

تجاوب الأطيار في أرجائها

مثل الرواة المنشدين شعرا

The birds answer one another throughout their expanses,

like reciters chanting poetry.

وكلما ميل عطف دوحه

نسيمه خلت الغصون سكرى

And whenever the limbs of its great trees were swayed

by its breeze, I thought the branches drunk.

رق بها برد النسيم بعدما

كان يمج الفيض فيها خمرا

The breeze's coolness grew gentle there, after

the flood had been spouting wine within it.

سعد بيعد المستحيل ممكنا

والعسر في الأمر العظيم يسرا

Good fortune that deems the impossible possible,

and hardship in a mighty undertaking ease.

فغير بدع سفل البحر به

لو شئت بحرا لشققت بحرا

No wonder, then, that the sea sank through its power;

had you wished for a sea, you would have cleft a sea.

أما ترى هذى الرياحين التي

أنبت منها في السباخ بذرا

Do you not see these fragrant plants,

whose seed you planted in the salt flats?

أبدت يا ملك الملوك صنعها

بقدرة حيرت فيها الفكرا

They have revealed their handiwork, O king of kings,

through a power that has bewildered thought there.

من ظن في أرض الجبال أنه

يطلع في شاطىء البحار تمرا

Who thought, in the land of mountains, that

dates would grow upon the shores of seas?

ومن درى بان ورد ظله

يقوى على حر الهجير صبرا

And who knew that the roses in its shade

could patiently withstand the heat of blazing noon?

سعدك قد أحدث في طباعها

قوى فما تعد حرا حرا

Your good fortune has instilled in their natures

powers, so that they no longer count heat as heat.

لا بد أن يمدها فراسخا

يسير من يسير فيها شهرا

It must extend them over leagues,

so that whoever travels through them journeys a month.

فليفخر الشوجين ما شاء فقد

طال على الدنيا جميعا فخرا

Let al-Shawjayn boast as much as it wishes, for it has

surpassed the whole world in glory.

ما أطيب الظل الظليل والهوى

فيه وما اهنا هما وامرا

How delightful are the sheltering shade and the air

within it—how pleasant and wholesome both are!

جمعت ضدين به ما اجتمعا

في غيره من البلاد طرا

You have united in it two opposites never united

anywhere else among all the lands:

حرارة الجو وما يعدلها

ظلا ظليلا وجنانا خضرا

the heat of the air and what counterbalances it—

sheltering shade and green gardens;

وأعينا تجرى إذا خالطها إِلا

نسان أنشت فيه روحا أخرى

and flowing springs that, when a human

being mingles with them, create another spirit within him.

لا كمياه إذا ترقرقت

رأيت منها الجسم مقشعرا

Not like waters which, when they shimmer,

make you see the body shivering from them;

ولا كظل في بلاد كلما

دنا إلى الإِنسان شبراً فرا

nor like shade in lands where, whenever

it draws a handspan nearer to a person, he flees.

سكانها لا يعرفون بينهم

لطيب أنفاس النسيم قدرا

Their inhabitants do not, among themselves, know

the worth of the breeze's sweet breaths.

وهل لهبات النسيم قيممة

عند مقيم بنواحي الخضرا

And do the breeze's gusts have any worth

for someone living amid green regions?

هيهات ما هذى وهاتيك سوى

وأنت مني بالحديث أدرى

Far from it! These and those are not alike,

and you know the matter better than I.

هذى جنان الخلد لا شك أتت

مسافة وهي إليك تترى

These are surely the gardens of eternity, which have crossed

a distance and come to you one after another.

وهذه نخيلها قد طلعت

مثل العذارى محليات تبرا

And here are its palm trees, rising

like maidens adorned with gold.

قد جردت قدودها وقلدت

عقودها جيدا لها ونحرا

They have bared their slender forms and hung

their necklaces about their necks and bosoms.

وزادها زهوا نضيد طلعها

ما بين حمراء وبين صفرا

Their closely packed date clusters have heightened their pride,

ranging between red and yellow.

وهذه أعنابها قد نشرت

أثوابها الخضر عليها نشرا

And here are its grapevines, spreading

their green robes over themselves.

وقد تدلت بقطوف قد دنت

يهصرها الطفل إليه هصرا

They droop with bunches hanging so near

a child can bend them down toward himself.

ودبج الروض الؤياح وشيها

منمم الرقم يكاد يقرا

And the breezes have brocaded the meadow with their embroidery,

its finely patterned design almost readable.

والزهر من فرط السرور ضاحك

يفتر عن مثل الجمان ثغرا

And the flowers laugh from an excess of joy,

opening a pearl-like mouth in a smile.

وللرياحين على اختلافها

ملابس تختال فيها فخرا

And the fragrant plants, for all their differences,

have garments in which they strut with pride.

والنرجس الغض يغض طرفه

فينظر الورد إليه شزرا

The tender narcissus lowers its gaze,

and the rose looks askance at it.

وللشقيق حلة يلبسها

مصبوغة مثل العقيق حمرا

And the anemone wears a robe

dyed red like carnelian.

ولبسه المنثور قد لونها

وجدد الصبغ به وطرا

And the stock-flower has made its garment many-colored,

renewing its dye to its heart's desire.

هذا الذي يحيى السرور عنده

ويبعث الأشجان منه الذكرا

This is where joy comes alive,

and remembrance of it awakens sorrow.

وزانها القصر الذي شيدته

فيها على رأس السها والشعرى

And the palace you built has adorned it,

there, above the heads of al-Suha and al-Shi'ra.

شرف من حافاته تفيُّؤ

يجر أذيال الغصون جرا

From the balconies at its edges, shifting shade

trails the skirts of the branches behind it.

فاسكن على اسم الله في الدار التي

أصبحت تستخدم فيها الدهرا

So dwell, in God's name, in the abode where

you have come to make Time your servant.

الدار دار السعد فيها نجمه

وجدد البشر بها والبشرا

The abode is the house of good fortune; its star is within it,

and renew cheer and glad tidings there.

واسعة لا يبرح الطرف بها

مسافرا يسرح فيها سرا

Spacious: the gaze never ceases there

to travel, roaming through it in secret.

بهو بهى ورواق رائق

ومجلس كبالبحر يحوى البحرا

A splendid hall, a pleasing portico,

and a chamber like the sea, containing the Sea.

قد عقد الله على عقوده

تلك المعالي وحباك النصرا

God has fastened upon its arches

those lofty honors, and granted you victory.

وأسفر الأنسن به عن طلعة

تملا حواليك القلوب بشرا

And conviviality has unveiled there a countenance

that fills the hearts around you with gladness.

تزدحم الأفراح في حافاته

عليك لا تسطيع عنك صبرا

Joys crowd along its edges

around you, unable to endure your absence.

وكلمات استقبلت فيها نعمة

سجدت لله عليها شكرا

And whenever you receive a blessing there,

you prostrate yourself to God in gratitude for it.

فاقطع بها شهر الصيام وادعا

وَأَنأَ عن اللّذّات فيها الفطرا

So pass the month of fasting there at ease,

and shun pleasures there at the breaking of the fast.

ودافع العزم بعشر بعده

وقطع الأيام عشرا عشرا

And defer your resolve for ten days afterward,

and pass the days ten at a time.

وانه المشير أن يشر بهجرها

فمثلها لا يستحق هجرا

And forbid the adviser to recommend leaving it,

for such a place does not deserve abandonment.

وقل له يستغفر الله فما

عندي امرؤ أعظم منه وزرا

And tell him to seek God's forgiveness, for

in my view, no man bears a greater sin than he.

ومن على الدهر بما تامره

يطعك إما راضيا أو قسرا

And favor Time with whatever you command of it;

it will obey you, willingly or by force.

واستخدم الاقدار فيما تشتهي

إذا فما تعصى عليك أمرا

And employ the fates in whatever you desire;

then they will disobey you in no command.