تَنَهّدَ لمّا عَنّ سِرْبُ النواهِدِ

على بُعْدِ عَهْدٍ بِالصّبا والمَعاهِدِ

They sighed when a flock of full-breasted maidens appeared,

after long estrangement from youth and its familiar haunts.

وَعَطْفُ قُلوبٍ من دُمَاها بِمَنطِقٍ

كَفيلٌ بِتأنيسِ الظباءِ الشوارِدِ

The turning of hearts by those idol-like beauties through speech

is enough to tame the gazelles that roam wild.

ذَكَرتُ الصبا والحانِياتِ عَلى الصبا

وهُنّ لأجسادِ الصّبَا كَالمَجاسِدِ

I remembered youth—and boughs bending beneath the east wind,

like richly dyed robes upon the bodies of beloved women.

فبرّحَ بي شوقٌ إليها مُعَاوِدٌ

وناهيك من تبريحِ شَوقٍ مُعاوِدِ

Then a returning longing for them tormented me—

and how grievous is the torment of returning longing!

عَلى حِينِ لَم أَركَبْ عِتاقَ صَبابتي

ولا ذُعِرَتْ في سِرْبِهنّ طَرائِدي

That was while I had not yet entered the bonds of my ardor,

nor startled my quarry amid their flock.

مَتى تَصدرُ الأَحلامُ من غَيرِ فِتنَةٍ

ومن غَرَضِ الأَحدَاقِ بيضِ الخرائِدِ

When can forbearance emerge without temptation,

when fair, secluded maidens are the target of every gaze?

لَقَد رَادَني رَوضاً مِنَ الحُسنِ نَاظِري

فَلي مَحْلُ جِسمٍ جَرّهُ خِصْبُ رائِدي

My gaze scouted out for me a garden of beauty,

and my body grew parched, lured by the lushness my scout had found.

وأَصبَحتُ مِن مِسكِ الذَوائِبِ ذَائِباً

أما يَقْتُلُ الآسادَ سَمُّ الأساوِدِ

From the musk of their tresses I became one who melted away—

does not the venom of black vipers kill lions?

وإنِّي لَذو قَلبٍ أَبِيٍّ حَملتُهُ

لِيَحمِل عَنّي مُثقلاتِ الشدائِدِ

Yet I possess a proud, unyielding heart, which I have borne

so that it might bear for me the crushing weight of hardships.

فَلا غَروَ إِن لانَت لِظَبيٍ عَريكَتي

أَنا صائِدُ الضرغامِ وَالظبيُ صَائِدي

No wonder, then, if my nature softened before a gazelle:

I hunt the lion, yet the gazelle hunts me.

أَيا هَذهِ استَبقي عَلى الجِسمِ إِنَّني

كَثيرٌ سَقامي حَيثُ قَلَّت عَوائِدي

O you—spare what remains of this body, for truly

my sickness is great where those who visit me are few.

مُسَاءٌ بِبَينٍ فَرَّقَتنا صُروفُهُ

عَبادِيدُ إلّا في عُلُوِّ المَقاصِدِ

An evening of separation—its vicissitudes scattered us

in sundry directions, united only in the loftiness of our aims.

ظَلمنا المَطايا ظُلمَ أَيّامنا لنا

لِكُلٍّ عَلى الساري بِهِ صَدرُ حاقِدِ

We wronged the mounts as our days had wronged us;

each bore toward her night rider a resentful breast.

تكَلِّفُنا الهمَّاتُ نَيلَ مُرادِها

وَمَن للمَطايا بِاتصالِ الفَراقِدِ

Our high ambitions compel us to attain their desire—

and who could bring the mounts into conjunction with the Farqad stars?

مَقاوِدُها تُفني قُواها كَأَنّها

مَكاحِلُ يَفنى كُحلُها بِالمَراوِدِ

Their reins consume their strength, as though the mounts were

kohl vessels whose kohl is exhausted by the applicators.

ولَيلَةٍ أَعطَينا الحَشاشاتِ فَضلةً

مِنَ النوْمِ صَرْعَى بَينَ غُبْرِ الفدافِدِ

Many a night we granted our vital spirits a mere remnant

of sleep, cast down amid the dust of open wastes.

وقَد وَردت ماءَ الصباحِ بِأَعيُنٍ

نَوائِمَ في رَأيِ العيونِ سَواهِدِ

We reached the waters of morning with eyes

seeming asleep to other eyes, yet inwardly wakeful.

فَقُلتُ لأَصحابي ارفَعوا مِن صُدورِها

فَقَد رَفَعَ الإِصباحُ رايَةَ عاقِدِ

I said to my companions, “Raise them from where their breasts lie,

for daybreak has raised the banner of its standard-bearer.”

إِذا نَظمت شَملَ المُنى بِمُحَمَّدٍ

نَثَرنا عَلى عَليَاهُ دُرّ المَحامِدِ

When the scattered company of hopes was gathered through Muhammad,

we scattered pearls of praise upon his loftiness.

وأَضحَت لَديهِ مُعتَقاتٍ وَمُتِّعَت

بِخُضرِ المَراعي بَينَ زُرقِ المَوارِدِ

Before him the mounts became freed captives and were granted delight

in green pastures amid blue watering places.

هِمامٌ يَهُزّ الملكُ عِطفَيهِ كُلَّما

عَلا الناسَ مِنهُ كَعبُ أَروَعَ ماجِدِ

A high-souled lord—kingship sways its shoulders whenever

his stature rises among humankind, an awe-inspiring noble.

وأَكبَرُ يَأوي مِن ذُؤابَةِ يَعرُبٍ

إِلى ذَروَةِ البَيتِ الرّفيعِ القَواعِدِ

A mighty man whose lineage takes shelter in the crest of Ya‘rub

and reaches the summit of a house raised on lofty foundations.

تَلاقَى المُلوكُ الغُرُّ حَولَ سَريرِهِ

فَمِن راكعٍ مُغضي الجُفونِ وساجِدِ

Radiant kings assemble around his throne:

one bows with lowered eyes, another lies prostrate.

يَكُفُّونَ أبصاراً لهمْ عن سُميدِعِ

تديمُ إِلَيهِ الشمس نَظرَةَ حاسِدِ

They avert their eyes from a mighty lord,

while the sun keeps fixing on him an envious gaze.

إِذا اقتادَ جَيشاً ساطِعَ النَقعِ أَنذرتْ

طَلائِعُهُ جَيشَ العَدُوِّ المُكابِدِ

When he leads an army whose dust blazes high,

its vanguard warns the hard-pressed enemy host.

ومَن يَكُ بِالنصرِ العَزيزِ مُؤيَّداً

مِنَ اللَّه لا يَنصبْ حبالَ المَكايِدِ

Whoever is sustained by mighty victory

from God has no need to set the snares of intrigue.