1. يا قَلْبُ كَمْ ذا الَّلجَجُ الفاضِحُ

    راحَ بِكَ البارِحُ والسَّانِحُ

    O heart, how long this shameful persistence?

    Ill and auspicious omens have carried you away.

  2. شَقِيتَ فِي الحُبِّ وَأَشْقَيْتَنِي

    وَرُبَّ جِدٍّ جَرَّهُ مازِحُ

    You have suffered in love and made me suffer;

    And many a serious affair has been brought on by a jester.

  3. هَوِيْتُهُ بَدْراً عَلى بانَةٍ

    عَلى نَقاً مُثْقَلُهُ راجِحُ

    I loved him—a full moon upon a ben-tree,

    Upon a sand dune of ponderous bulk.

  4. اللَّيْلُ فِي طُرَّتِهِ مُبْهَمٌ

    عَلى جَبِينٍ صُبْحُهُ واضِحُ

    Night in his forelock is impenetrably dark,

    Above a forehead whose dawn is clear.

  5. كَأَنَّما العَارِضُ فِي خَدِّهِ

    نَمْلٌ إِلَى شَهْدِ اللَّمَى سارِحُ

    It is as though the down on his cheek

    Were ants roaming toward the honey of his dusky lips.

  6. لَوْ ذُقْتَ لا ذُقْتَ جَنَى رِيقِهِ

    مِنْ دُرِّهِ النَّاصِعِ يا ناصِحُ

    If you tasted—may you never taste it!—the fruit of his saliva,

    From his gleaming pearls, O adviser,

  7. عَذَرْتَ مَنْ أَنْتَ لَهُ لائِمُ

    رَحِمْتَ مَنْ أَنْتَ لَهُ كاشِحُ

    You would excuse the one whom you blame;

    You would pity the one toward whom you bear malice.

  8. تَظنَّهُ لَمَّا رَنا وَانْثَنَى

    أَعْزل وَهْوَ السَّائِفُ الرَّامِحُ

    You think him, when he gazes and sways,

    Unarmed, though he is a swordsman and spearman.

  9. القَلْبُ مِنِّي طائِرٌ خافِقٌ

    وَاللَّحْظُ مِنْهُ كاسِرٌ جارِحُ

    My heart is a fluttering bird,

    And his glance a swooping, wounding bird of prey.

  10. سَقَى وَزادَ الكَأْسَ مِنْ طَرْفِهِ

    فَكُلُّنا مِنْ سُكْرِهِ طافِحُ

    He gave us drink and added to the cup from his gaze;

    So all of us brim with intoxication from him.

  11. راحٌ تَطِيرُ النَّارُ مِنْ دَنِّها

    كَأَنَّما بازِلُها قَادِحُ

    Wine: fire flies from its jar,

    As though the one tapping it were striking sparks.

  12. أَْنَكَرها الخَمَّارُ ضَنّاً بِها

    حَتَّى هَدانا عَرْفُها الفَائِحُ

    The wine-seller denied having it, loath to part with it,

    Until its wafting fragrance guided us.

  13. فُزْنَا بِها عَذْراءَ غانِيةً

    بِخَتْمِها ما افْتَضَّها فَاتِحُ

    We won her, a virgin beauty,

    Her seal intact: no opener had deflowered her.

  14. يا نائِماً وَالنَّجْمُ فِي غَرْبِهِ

    وَالصُّبْحُ مِنْ مَشْرِقِهِ لائِحُ

    O sleeper, while the star is setting,

    And dawn appears from its eastern horizon,

  15. دَعْ كَدَرَ العَيْشِ وَخُذْ ما صَفا

    تَحْيَ وَيَشْقَ الدَّائِبُ الكَادِحُ

    Leave life's murk and take what is clear;

    You will live, while the tireless toiler suffers.

  16. قَد نَضَحَ الطَّلُّ رِداءَ الرُّبَا

    وَاشْتَجَرَ الباغِمُ وَالصَّادِحُ

    The dew has sprinkled the hills' mantle,

    And the lowing beast and singing bird have mingled their calls.

  17. وَجَادَتِ الدُّنْيا عَلى أَهْلِهَا

    وَاصْطَلَحَ الأَشْرَفُ وَالصالِحُ

    And the world has been generous to its people,

    And al-Ashraf and al-Salih have made peace.

  18. مَلْكانِ صِنْوانِ كَرِيمانِ ذا

    بَحْرٌ وَهذا عارِضٌ سافِحُ

    Two kings, two kindred stems, both generous: this one

    A sea, and the other a cloud pouring rain.

  19. طَودانِ لِلأرْضِ هُما المُلْتَجا

    بَدْرانِ يَسْتَهْدِيهِمَا اللاَّمِحُ

    Two mountains for the earth, they are its refuge;

    Two full moons by which the beholder seeks guidance.

  20. موسى وَمَحْمودٌ إِذْا اسْتَجْمَعا

    قُلْتُ وَقَوْلِي صَادِقٌ وَاضِحُ

    When Musa and Mahmud came together,

    I said—and my words are true and clear:

  21. ذا يوسفٌ رُدَّ أَخوهُ لَهُ

    وَماتَ ذاكَ النَّازِعُ النَّازِح

    This is Yusuf, his brother restored to him,

    And that yearning, far-off one is no more.

  22. اليَوْمَ تَصْلَى صَفَحاتُ العِدَى

    نِيرانَ حَرْبٍ ريحُها لافِحُ

    Today the cheeks of the foes are seared

    In the fires of a war whose wind is scorching.

  23. اليَوْمَ تَهْتَزُّ مُتونُ القَنا

    وَيَسْتَطِيرُ الشَّيْظَمُ القادِحُ

    Today the shafts of the spears quiver,

    And the long-limbed steed, striking sparks, takes flight.

  24. اليَوْمَ دارُ الشِّرْكِ مَأْهولَةٌ

    يَأْوِيْ لَها الصَّائِحُ وَالنّائِحُ

    Today the abode of polytheism is inhabited:

    The shrieker and the mourner take shelter there.

  25. موسى جَزاكَ اللَّهُ عَن دِينِهِ

    خَيْراً فَما أَنْصَفَكَ المَادِحُ

    Musa, may God reward you for your service to His faith

    With good, for the panegyrist has not done you justice.

  26. سَعَيْتَ فِي جَمْعِ شَتاتِ العُلَى

    لِلَّهِ هذَا العَمَلُ الصَّالِحُ

    You strove to gather the scattered parts of glory;

    God be praised for this righteous deed!

  27. أَقْرَرْتَ عَيْنَ المُصْطَفَى أَحْمدٍ

    فَوَجْهُهُ مُسْتَبْشِرٌ واضِحُ

    You gladdened the eye of the Chosen One, Ahmad;

    So his face is joyful and radiant.

  28. مَلْكٌ يَرَى أَنَّ اكْتِسابَ العُلَى

    تِجارَةٌ خاسِرُها رابِحُ

    A king who holds that winning glory

    Is a trade whose loser is a winner.

  29. يَسْعَى إِلَى الآفَاقِ إِحْسانُهُ

    كالبَحْرِ غادٍ ماؤُهُ رائِحُ

    His beneficence hastens to the horizons,

    Like the sea, its waters going out at dawn and returning at dusk.

  30. مُمَنَّعُ الجَارِ مُباحُ النَّدَى

    لِلَّهِ ذاكَ المَانِعُ المَانِحُ

    His neighbor is well protected, his bounty free to all;

    God be praised for that protector and giver!

  31. كالغَيْثِ لَوْلا الجَهْمُ مِنْ جُونِهِ

    كالَّليْثِ لَوْلا وَجْهُهُ الكالِحُ

    Like rain, save for the gloom of its dark clouds;

    Like a lion, save for its scowling face.

  32. قُلْ لِمُعادِيهِ ارْتَجِعْ سالمِاً

    فَهْوَ سَماءٌ سَعْدُها ذابِحُ

    Tell his enemy: turn back unharmed,

    For he is a sky whose lucky star is Sa'd Dhabih—the Slaughterer.