أَمِثلُكَ مولىً يَبسُطُ العبدَ بِالعذرِ

أَمِثلُكَ مولىً يَبسُطُ العبدَ بِالعذرِ

بِغَيرِ انقِباضٍ مِنكَ يَجْري إلى ذكرِ

بِغَيرِ انقِباضٍ مِنكَ يَجْري إلى ذكرِ

Would a master like you let his servant plead an excuse at ease,

Is there anyone like you, my Master, who makes excuses for his servant

Is a master like you one who extends to a servant the grace of an excuse?

With no displeasure from you ever coming to mind?

With endless generosity flowing from you, without withdrawal

An excuse that flows toward mention without hesitation on your part?

لَهَدّ قريضَ الفضلِ ما هدّ من قوى

لَهَدّ قريضَ الفضلِ ما هدّ من قوى

وَحَلّ به ما حلّ من عُقْدةِ الصّبرِ

وَحَلّ به ما حلّ من عُقْدةِ الصّبرِ

What broke my strength has surely shattered noble verse,

You have facilitated virtue, strengthening what was weak

That which shattered my strength has also shattered the poetry of merit,

And with it loosened what it loosened of patience's knot.

And dissolved what stubborn knots of patience held

And the undoing that befell the knot of patience has befallen it too.

وإنّي امْرؤ في خَجْلَةٍ مُسْتَمِرّةٍ

وإنّي امْرؤ في خَجْلَةٍ مُسْتَمِرّةٍ

يذوبُ لها في الماءِ جامدةُ الصّخْرِ

يذوبُ لها في الماءِ جامدةُ الصّخْرِ

And I am a man in unending shame,

Truly, I live in endless shame

Indeed, I am a man in a state of continuous shame,

For which even solid rock would melt in water.

Melting away like solid rock in water

Before which the solid rock would melt away into water.

أتتني قوافيك التي جَلّ قدرُها

أتتني قوافيك التي جَلّ قدرُها

بما نقطةٌ منهنّ مُغْرِقَةٌ بَحْري

بما نقطةٌ منهنّ مُغْرِقَةٌ بَحْري

Your rhymes, whose worth is immense, reached me,

Your exquisite verses came to me, their value supreme

Your rhymes reached me—verses of exalted worth,

With a single dot of them enough to drown my sea.

For a single drop could immerse oceans, I swear

Wherein a single drop drowns my entire sea.

لَعَلّك إذ أغنيتي منك بالنّدى

لَعَلّك إذ أغنيتي منك بالنّدى

أردتَ الغنى لي من مَديحك بِالفخرِ

أردتَ الغنى لي من مَديحك بِالفخرِ

Perhaps, when you enriched me with your bounty,

Perhaps in enriching me with your bounty

Perhaps, since you enriched me with your generosity,

You wished to enrich me with glory through your praise.

You wished to enrich me with pride in praising you

You desired for me the wealth of pride through your praise.

لعمريَ إني ما توهّمْتُ ريبةً

لعمريَ إني ما توهّمْتُ ريبةً

فتدفعَ وَجْهَ العُرْفِ عِندكَ بالنكرِ

فتدفعَ وَجْهَ العُرْفِ عِندكَ بالنكرِ

By my life, I never entertained a suspicion

By my life! I never suspected any doubts

By my life, I never entertained a suspicion of doubt,

That you would repel the face of kindness in you with rejection.

That would turn your noble ways into denial

That you would repel the face of kindness with rejection.

وطَبعكَ تِبرٌ سحّرَ الفضلُ محْضَهُ

وطَبعكَ تِبرٌ سحّرَ الفضلُ محْضَهُ

وحاشا له أن يَستَحيلَ مَعَ الدَّهرِ

وحاشا له أن يَستَحيلَ مَعَ الدَّهرِ

And your nature is gold, whose pure essence excellence has enchanted;

Your nature is pure goodness, made perfect by generosity

Your nature is raw gold whose purity virtue has refined,

Far be it from such gold to change with time.

Far be it that it changes over time!

And far be it from such nature to change with the passage of time.

وَكُنتُ أمَلُّ الجودَ مِنكَ وأَنتَ لا

وَكُنتُ أمَلُّ الجودَ مِنكَ وأَنتَ لا

تَمَلّ عَطاءً منه يأتي على الوَفْرِ

تَمَلّ عَطاءً منه يأتي على الوَفْرِ

And I would weary of your generosity, while you did not

I hoped for your open-handedness while you never tire

I would grow weary of receiving your bounty, while you never

Tire of gifts from it that consumed your wealth.

Of constantly overflowing gifts

Tire of a giving that arrives in such abundance.

فَكَيفَ أظُنُّ الظنّ غيرَ مُبَرّأٍ

فَكَيفَ أظُنُّ الظنّ غيرَ مُبَرّأٍ

تواضَعَ تيهاً كوكبُ الجوِّ عن قدري

تواضَعَ تيهاً كوكبُ الجوِّ عن قدري

How, then, could I think a thought not free of blame?

How could I entertain suspicions otherwise

How then could I harbor a thought that is not innocent,

The sky's star bowed proudly beneath my rank.

That the star of destiny has humbly deferred to me?

When the star of the sky has humbled itself—in pride—far above my station?

يَخِفُّ على خُدّام مُلْكِك جانبي

يَخِفُّ على خُدّام مُلْكِك جانبي

كما خَفَّ هُدْبٌ في العيونِ على شُفرِ

كما خَفَّ هُدْبٌ في العيونِ على شُفرِ

My bearing weighs lightly on the servants of your realm,

My status is concealed from your servants

My presence lies light upon the servants of your realm,

As lashes in the eyes rest lightly on an eyelid's rim.

Like eyebrows hidden beneath a fringe

As an eyelash lies light upon the eyelid of the eye.

إِذا طارَ مِنهُم بِالوصيَّةِ سَوْذَقٌ

إِذا طارَ مِنهُم بِالوصيَّةِ سَوْذَقٌ

فذلك في إفصاحِ منطقه القمري

فذلك في إفصاحِ منطقه القمري

When a falcon among them flies bearing a message,

When eloquence takes wing from them

When a falcon flies from among them bearing a command,

Then, in the clarity of his speech, he is a turtledove.

It is the moon's own clear speech

It possesses, in the eloquence of its speech, the voice of the turtledove.

تُحدّثُ عيني عينَهُ بالّذي يرَى

تُحدّثُ عيني عينَهُ بالّذي يرَى

بوجهكَ لي من حُسنِ مائيّة البِشرِ

بوجهكَ لي من حُسنِ مائيّة البِشرِ

My eye speaks to his eye of what he sees

My eyes tell your eyes what they see

My eye converses with his eye regarding what it sees

In your face toward me: the lovely, dewy glow of welcome.

Of the beauty of your features, purest among men

Of the beautiful fluidity of joy upon your face.

لياليَ لا أشْدوكَ إلّا مطَوَّقاً

لياليَ لا أشْدوكَ إلّا مطَوَّقاً

بنعماكَ في أفنانِ روْضاتِكَ الخُضرِ

بنعماكَ في أفنانِ روْضاتِكَ الخُضرِ

In those nights I sang to you, always collared

Nights I sing of nothing but you adorned

In nights when I sang to you only while wearing the collar

By your favors, amid the boughs of your green gardens.

With your favors, amidst blossoming gardens

Of your blessings amidst the branches of your verdant gardens.

وما زالَ صَوْبٌ من نداكَ يَبُلُّني

وما زالَ صَوْبٌ من نداكَ يَبُلُّني

ويثقلني حَتَّى عَجَزْتُ عَنِ الوكرِ

ويثقلني حَتَّى عَجَزْتُ عَنِ الوكرِ

And a downpour of your bounty kept drenching me,

An arrow of your help unceasingly strikes me

A downpour of your generosity continued to drench me,

And weighing me down until I could no longer reach the nest.

Weighing me down until I can barely stir

Weighing me down until I was too weak to reach the nest.

بَكَيتُ زَماناً كانَ لي بِكَ ضاحكاً

بَكَيتُ زَماناً كانَ لي بِكَ ضاحكاً

وَكسْرُ جناحي كان عندك ذا جَبْرِ

وَكسْرُ جناحي كان عندك ذا جَبْرِ

I wept for a time that had smiled on me through you,

Long I cried when you smiled upon me

I wept for a time that once smiled upon me through you,

And the break in my wing found mending at your hands.

And you would surely mend my broken wings

When the breaking of my wing found its mending in your hands.

وأطرَقْتُ لمّا حالتِ الحالُ حَيْرَةً

وأطرَقْتُ لمّا حالتِ الحالُ حَيْرَةً

تَحَيّرَ منها عالمُ النفس في صدري

تَحَيّرَ منها عالمُ النفس في صدري

And I lowered my head when things changed, in bewilderment,

Bewildered, I fell silent when fortune perplexed me

I bowed my head in bewilderment when our state changed,

A bewilderment that confounded the soul's world within my breast.

Leaving the wise soul within me confused

A change that left the inner world of my soul perplexed.

فخذها كما أدري وإن كلَّ خاطري

فخذها كما أدري وإن كلَّ خاطري

وإن لم يكن منها البديعُ الَّذي تدري

وإن لم يكن منها البديعُ الَّذي تدري

So accept it as best I know how, though my mind is weary,

Take it as I understand, though no eloquence

So take these verses as I know how to weave them, though my mind is weary,

And even if it lacks the exquisite artistry you know.

Not already known to you adorns it

And though they lack the brilliance with which you are familiar.