أتلك زهر ربى أم لؤلؤ رطب

وتلك سرب ظبى أم خرد عرب

Are those hillside blossoms, or moist pearls?

And are those a herd of gazelles, or shy Arab maidens?

وتلك أقمار تم في الدجنة أم

شهب لها من سنى أنوارها حجب

And are those full moons in the darkness, or

Bright stars, veiled by the radiance of their own lights?

حدائق سرحت أيدي الصبا طرراً

لها وجادت عليها بالحيا السحب

Gardens—the east wind's hands have combed their forelocks,

And clouds have lavished life-giving rain upon them.

وغانيات حسان كالبدور إلى

أمثالهن بديع الحسن ينتسب

And lovely maidens, beautiful as full moons—to

Their like, wondrous beauty traces its lineage.

تتلى البلاغة في أبياتهن ومن

الحانهن ذوو الآداب قد طربوا

Eloquence is recited in their verses, and by

Their melodies, men of letters have been enraptured.

كواعب وشحتها عندما برزت

مطارف من أزاهير الربى قشب

Maidens with budding breasts, draped when they appeared

In fresh mantles of blossoms from the hills.

من كل ناصعة قد ألبست حللاً

طرازها درر الوسمى لا الذهب

Each radiant maiden among them is clothed in robes

Whose embroidery is pearls of the first autumn rain, not gold.

وكل فاقدة الأتراب ذات خبا

حراسه السمر والهندية القضب

And each peerless maiden has a tent

Whose guards are dusky spears and Indian blades.

راحت تطوف بأقداح قد امتلأت

راحاً تكاد بها الأفداح تلتهب

She went round bearing goblets already filled

With wine that almost sets the goblets ablaze.

وتلك راحة أرواح الألى سكروا

بها وما اقتربوا منها ولا شربوا

And that is the solace of the souls of those who grew drunk

On it, though they neither approached it nor drank.

بنشرها ينشر الميت الرميم ومن

أنوارها تنجلي الغماء والكرب

At its fragrance the decaying dead arise, and by

Its lights, gloom and anguish are dispelled.

قد همت دهراً لوما أن ظفرت بها

لم يبق لي بسوى حاناتها أرب

I was lovesick for an age; and when I obtained it,

I had no wish left for anything but its taverns.

يرشف كاساتها يطفي الجوى وبها

يشفي سقيم الهوى أن شفه الوصب

He sips its cups, quenches heartache, and with it

He heals the lovesick, if illness has wasted him.

تجلى عروساً كشمس كأسها فلك

بمثلها نقطتها الأنجم الشهب

It is unveiled as a bride, like a sun; its cup is a celestial sphere

Which bright stars have dotted with its likeness.

مهما رأتها الندامى قال قائلها

أأنجم في سماء الكأس أم حبب

Whenever the drinking companions see it, one of them says:

Are these stars in the goblet's sky, or bubbles?

لئن تكن شربت منا العقول ولم

نشرب سلاف حمياها فلا عجب

If it has drunk our minds from us, though we have not

Drunk its pure, fiery wine, that is no wonder.

أليس فكر أبي المهدي أبرزها

صهباء فهو أبو الصهباء لا العنب

Was it not Abu al-Mahdi's thought that brought it forth

As tawny wine? He is the father of tawny wine, not the grape.

كنز المعارف نروي دائماً أبداً

عند العلوم ومنه يؤخذ الأدب

A treasure of learning: always and forever we transmit

From him the sciences, and from him literary refinement is learned.

للَه من علم هاد وبحر ندىً

من فيضه يستمد الزاخر اللجب

God be praised for such a guiding beacon, such an ocean of bounty,

From whose overflow the surging, roaring sea draws its supply.

بدر تفرع من بدر وشمس هدىً

كالشمس أمسى سناها ليسٍ يحتجب

A full moon sprung from a full moon, and a sun of guidance

Like the sun, whose radiance now remains unveiled.

ما لف ميزره إلالا على شرف

في طيه النسب الوضاح والحسب

He never wrapped his waistcloth except around nobility,

Within its folds lie illustrious lineage and ancestral honor.

من معشر ضربوا للمجد أخبيةً

فوق السماوات ممتداً لها طنب

Of a people who pitched tents for glory

Above the heavens, with their guy ropes stretched out.

أماجد بلغاء أصبحت بهم

على جميع البرايا تفخر العرب

Noble and eloquent men, through whom

The Arabs now boast above all creation.

إن خاطبوا أنطقوا الصخر الأصم بعل

ياهم كما أورقوا الأعواد إن خطبوا

When they speak, they make deaf stone speak through their lofty

Rank, just as they make wooden staves leaf when they deliver orations.

هم هم شرعوا نهج البلاغة لا

سواهم وإليهم تنسب الخطب

They, they alone, laid out the path of eloquence—not

Others; to them are orations ascribed.

وما رقوا منبر إلا وراق بهم

وأزهر الثمر الداني الجنا الرطب

They never mounted a pulpit but it grew lovely through them,

And fresh fruit blossomed, close at hand for gathering.

فرع على لمعالي أصله وعلى

أصولها تنبت الأغصان والقضب

A scion risen to the lofty honors of his stock; and on

Their roots grow the boughs and shoots.

من ذا يطاوله وهو العلي وهل

تعلو على الأنجم الآكام والهضب

Who can rival his stature, when he is exalted? Can

Hillocks and plateaus rise above the stars?

وما يجاريه في فضل غداة غدا

إليه في كل فضلٍ ينتهي الطلب

And none rivals him in excellence, now that

The quest for every excellence finds its end in him.

ورب متشحٍ بالفضل نظم ما

يخاله الدر وهو الزبرج الكذب

And many a man cloaked in merit has composed what

He takes for pearls, though it is counterfeit finery.

وقال حاكيته نظماً فقلت له

أجل حكيت ولكن فاتك الشنب

And he said, "I imitated him in verse." I said to him:

Yes, you imitated—but the teeth's cool sweetness escaped you.