1. يا وحشة المجد ثقي بالأَنَسِ

    قد عطّت الشمسُ رداءَ الغَلَسِ

    O loneliness of glory, trust in companionship.

    The sun has rent the cloak of predawn darkness.

  2. ويا حمى الزوراء أمنا حرَّمتْ

    رَعيك كفُّ الأخدريّ الأشوسِ

    And O sanctuary of al-Zawra, be secure: a hand has forbidden

    the fierce wild ass to graze upon you.

  3. من بعد ما كنتَ ببعد صوته

    مهبِط كلِّ خابطٍ مَلَسِّسِ

    After, when his voice was distant, you had been

    the landing-place of every blundering, stealthy prowler.

  4. عاد الحيا مرقرقاً على الثرى

    بمائه قبَّل كلَّ يَبسِ

    The rain returned, shimmering upon the earth;

    with its water it kissed every dry thing.

  5. وانتشرت خضراءَ دوحةُ العلا

    فالساقُ وَحْف والقضيبُ مكتسي

    The great tree of eminence spread forth green:

    its trunk lush, its bough clothed.

  6. ورَدَّ مجدُ الدين في أيامه

    دِينَ الندى كأنّه لم يَدرُسِ

    And Majd al-Din restored, in his days,

    the creed of generosity, as though it had never faded.

  7. عزَّ به الفضلُ كأن لم يُهْتَضَمْ

    وقامت العليا كأنْ لم تجلسِ

    Through him merit grew mighty, as though never slighted;

    eminence rose, as though it had never sat down.

  8. ووضَحتْ على ضَلالاتِ السُّرى

    طُرْقُ المنى للرائد الملتمسِ

    Amid the wanderings of night travel, clear grew

    the roads to wishes for the searching scout.

  9. فيا مثيرَ العيسِ جعجعها ويا

    مُرسلَ أفراسِ الرجاءِ أحبسِ

    O you who rouse the pale camels, halt them; and O

    you who release hope's horses, hold them back.

  10. كُفِيتُما تهجيرَها مُظهِرةً

    وخوضَها في الليل بحرَ الحِندِسِ

    You two are spared their journeys through the midday heat,

    and their wading at night through the sea of darkness.

  11. جاءكما الحظ ولم تقامرا

    بناقةٍ فيه ولا بفرسِ

    Good fortune has come to you both, though you did not gamble

    a she-camel on it, nor a horse.

  12. لم تضرِبا أعناقَها وسُوقَها

    حرصاً لإدلاجٍ ولا معرَّسِ

    You did not strike their necks and shanks,

    eager for night travel or a night's resting-place.

  13. رَدَّ الكرى إلى العيون قُرّةً

    وعاد للأنفس روحُ الأنفسِ

    He returned sleep to the eyes as comfort,

    and to souls returned the solace of souls,

  14. بالحلو والمرّ على أعدائه

    والطائشِ السرج الوقورِ المجلسِ

    through one sweet, yet bitter toward his enemies,

    impetuous in the saddle, dignified in council;

  15. ببابليٍّ مالُه لم يمتنعْ

    وسامريٍّ عِرضُه لم يُمسَسِ

    through a Babylonian whose wealth was never withheld,

    and a Samaritan whose honor was never touched.

  16. أروع لا يعثر من آرائه

    بمشكل هافٍ ولا ملتبسِ

    A man of awe: among his judgments one encounters

    no perplexing error and no ambiguity.

  17. إذا دجى الخطبُ سرى مستقدماً

    من عزمه في قمرٍ أو قبَسِ

    When trouble grows dark, he journeys forward,

    in the moonlight or firelight of his resolve.

  18. لا هاشم مغرِّر لم يعتبر

    ولا حريصٌ مُعجَبٌ لم يقِسِ

    No reckless smasher who has learned no lessons,

    nor a greedy, self-admiring man who has not weighed things.

  19. نجَّذتِ الأيام منه قارحاً

    بفضله والسنُّ لم تُعنَّسِ

    The days have made him a seasoned steed

    in excellence, though his years have not aged him.

  20. وطال أمّاتِ العضاهِ مشرِفاً

    وهو قريبٌ عنده بالمغرسِ

    Towering, he overtopped the mother trees of the thorn-grove,

    though he is planted close beside them.

  21. تختمر الزُّهْرةُ في لثامه

    بصُدغِها حتى الدجى المعسعِسِ

    Venus veils herself within his face-wrap,

    veiling her temple as far as the deepening night.

  22. فإن غلت بصدره حميَّةٌ

    راعك وجهُ الضيغم المعبِّسِ

    But if ardor boils within his breast,

    the frowning lion's face strikes you with awe.

  23. رمَتْ به صحنَ السماء فسما

    مدارجَ البيتِ الأشمِّ الأقعسِ

    It hurled him into the expanse of heaven, and he ascended

    the steps of his lofty, steadfast house.

  24. فأنت من أخلاقه في مغزل

    ومن حمى غيرته في محمِس

    Thus, through his character, you are in a gazelle's lair,

    and through the sanctuary of his protective zeal, in a lion's den.

  25. بيتٌ يقول الله بيتٌ مثلُه

    عندِيَ لم يُبْنَ ولم يؤسَّسِ

    A house of which God says: “A house like it

    has never been built or founded in My sight.”

  26. سماحةُ الغيث وفي أرجائه

    مهابطُ الوحي وروحُ القُدُسِ

    The generosity of rain; and within its precincts

    are the descents of revelation and the Holy Spirit.

  27. ومنه فرعا مكةٍ وطيبةٍ

    تشعَّبا ومنه بيتُ المقدِسِ

    From it the two branches of Mecca and Tayba

    branched forth; from it too is Bayt al-Maqdis.

  28. قَوْمٌ بهم ثَمَّ ونحنُ فترةٌ

    فَرْجُ المضيقِ وانكشافُ اللَّبَسِ

    A people through whom, there, while we were in a lull,

    came release from straits and the clearing of confusion.

  29. هم حملوا على الصراط أرجلاً

    لولا هداهم عثرتْ بالأرؤسِ

    They carried feet onto the straight path,

    which, without their guidance, would have stumbled headfirst.

  30. وحطَّموا وَدَّاً وخلو هُبَلاً

    مبدّلين بالعتيق الأملسِ

    They shattered Wadd and forsook Hubal,

    exchanging them for the ancient, smooth one.

  31. ديست من الشِّرك بهم جماجمٌ

    ترابُها من عزةٍ لم يُدَسِ

    Through them the skulls of idolatry were trampled,

    whose dust, in its pride, had never been trodden.

  32. ساروا بتيجان الملوك عندنا

    معقودةً على الرماح الدُّعَّسِ

    They marched among us bearing kings' crowns,

    fastened upon the thrusting spears.

  33. آلُك آلُ الحجراتِ أيقظوا

    للرشد أبصارَ القلوبِ النُّعَّسِ

    Your family, the family of the Chambers, awakened

    to right guidance the eyes of drowsy hearts.

  34. وأخَذُوا إلى فسيح لاحبٍ

    بالناس من جهل المضيق المُلبِسِ

    And they led to a broad, clear road

    the people, from the ignorance of the bewildering strait.

  35. قالوا فجادوا فكأنّ الرعدَ لم

    يُرزِمْ وماءَ المزن لم ينبجِسِ

    They spoke and gave freely, as though thunder had never

    rumbled, nor water ever gushed from rain-clouds.

  36. وحدُّك الناطقُ بالصدق له

    طاعةُ كلّ ناطقٍ وأخرسِ

    Your blade's truth-speaking edge commands

    the obedience of every speaker and mute.

  37. وبأبيك حبه وبغضه

    غداً يَرَى المحسنُ خسرانَ المُسي

    Through love and hatred of your father,

    tomorrow the righteous will behold the wrongdoer's loss.

  38. وأنت ما أنت لُحوقاً بِهمُ

    زُرارةٌ تجري وراءَ عُدَسِ

    And you—what are you, in catching up with them, but

    Zurara running behind ʿUdas?

  39. يفديك مملوكٌ عليه أمرُهُ

    رِخوُ البِدادين ضعيفُ المَرِسِ

    A slave would ransom you, whose own affairs weigh upon him:

    slack in the saddle-pads, weak in the rope.

  40. يأكله العيبُ فلا يُميطُه

    بماله عن عِرضه المضرَّسِ

    Fault devours him, yet he does not remove it

    with his wealth from his tooth-scarred honor.

  41. لو خنقته ذلَّةُ البخل لما

    قال بدينار لها تنفَّسي

    Were the abasement of miserliness to choke him, he would not

    say to it, with a dinar, “Breathe!”

  42. يغزو أباك ويظنّ مقنعاً

    عزَّ الأصول مع ذلِّ الأنفسِ

    He attacks your father and thinks sufficient

    the might of roots alongside the abasement of souls.

  43. ضُمَّ إليك فعلوت ولَطَى

    سومَ الأشمِّ قستَه بالأفطسِ

    He was brought beside you: you rose, and he crouched low;

    the proud-nosed one's worth—you measured him against the flat-nosed.

  44. عاد بظلّ بيته وأصحرت

    غرُّ مساعيك بقاعٍ مشمسِ

    He returned to his house's shade, while into the open came

    your radiant deeds, upon a sunlit plain.

  45. تأخذ حقَّ العزّ قسراً وسُطاً

    والأسد لا تعاب بالتغطرسِ

    You seize glory's right by force and assault,

    and lions are not blamed for overbearing pride.

  46. فاصدع بها داميةً نحورُها

    صدعَ فتىً في نقعها منغمسِ

    So charge with them, their throats bloodied,

    as a youth charges, plunged within their dust.

  47. وقم بنا نطلبها عاليةً

    إما لمرمى العزّ أو للمرمسِ

    Rise with us: let us seek it on high,

    either to glory's goal or to the tomb.

  48. فالسيف ما لم يمض قُدماً زُبرةٌ

    والليثُ كلبُ البيت ما لم يفرِسِ

    For a sword that does not advance is a lump of iron,

    and a lion is a house-dog unless it takes prey.

  49. نادى البشيرُ وفؤادي جمرةٌ

    للشوق من يرفع له يقتبسِ

    The bearer of good news called; my heart was an ember

    of longing: whoever reaches toward it draws a spark.

  50. والبينُ قد أوحدني فليس لي

    بعدك غير وحشتي من مؤنسِ

    Separation had left me utterly alone; I have

    after you no companion but my loneliness.

  51. والبعد باستمراره يطلع لي

    كيف طمعتُ من ثنايا الموئسِ

    And distance, by its persistence, reveals to me

    how I hoped through the passes of what brings despair.

  52. دعا وقد ضعفتُ عن جوابه

    كأنّ نفْسي خُلقتْ من نَفَسِ

    He called when I had grown too weak to answer him,

    as though my soul were made of a single breath.

  53. هذا الزكيّ ابن التقيّ فطغى

    شيطان شوقي وهفا موسوسي

    This is al-Zaki, son of al-Taqi! Then ran wild

    the demon of my longing, and my whisperer fluttered.

  54. وقيل ممسوس ولكن واجد

    قلباً له ضلّ ولمَّا يُمسَسِ

    They said, “Possessed!” But he was finding

    a heart of his that had strayed, though he had not yet been touched.

  55. فيا لها غنيمةً سِرِّي بها

    لم يختلج وخاطري لم يهجُسِ

    Oh, what a prize! My secret thought of it

    had never stirred, nor had my mind imagined it.

  56. أحلَى على القربِ وقد تملَّأت

    عيني بها من نظرة المختلسِ

    Sweeter close at hand, now that

    my eye is full of it, than a stolen glance.

  57. حباً غزيراً لا كما تُسنيه لي

    من نَزرِ ماءٍ وقَلِيبٍ يبسِ

    An abundant love—not the kind you grant me

    from scant water and a dried-up well.

  58. وشكر ما توسع من خلائقٍ

    على البعاد ثوبُها لم يَدْنَسِ

    And thanks for the virtues you lavish,

    whose garment has remained unsoiled despite distance.

  59. طاهرة إذا عركتَ جانبي

    من ودّ قومٍ بالخبيثِ النجِسِ

    Pure, as you rub my side clean

    of a people's foul, unclean affection.

  60. عرفتني والناس ينكرونني

    وجدَك بالشفوف والتفرسِ

    You knew me when people disowned me,

    by your fortune, through insight and discernment.

  61. أودعتُك الفضلَ فلا حقوقه

    عندك ضاعت لي ولا العهد نُسي

    I entrusted excellence to you: none of its dues

    to me were lost with you, nor was the covenant forgotten.

  62. فقصرُ ما أوليتَ أن أجزيَهُ

    جزاءه في المطلَقاتِ الحُبُسِ

    The least return for what you bestowed is to repay it

    as it deserves, in verses freed yet held captive:

  63. شوارداً باسمك كلَّ مطرَحٍ

    ولم تُرَحْ عنك ولم تُعَرّسِ

    wanderers bearing your name to every far place,

    yet never led away from you, nor stopping elsewhere;

  64. كالحور في خيامها مقصورة

    وفي الفلا مع الظباء الكُنَّسِ

    like houris confined within their tents,

    yet in the wastes among gazelles seeking cover;

  65. مما حويت برُقايَ فسرَى

    سحرِيَ في حيَّاتهنّ النُّهَّسِ

    of what I gathered through my spells, so that

    my magic coursed through their biting serpents.

  66. يترك كلُّ ماسح غير يدي

    دماً على نُيوبها والأضرسِ

    Every stroking hand but mine leaves

    blood upon their fangs and molars.

  67. تغشاك لا تحتشم الصبحَ ولا

    ترهبُ في الليل دبيبَ العَسَسِ

    They visit you, unashamed of morning, and do not

    fear the night watchmen's creeping steps.

  68. فأنت منها أبداً غوادياً

    ورائحاتٍ في ثياب العُرُسِ

    Thus you forever receive them as morning visitors

    and evening visitors, in wedding garments.

  69. فاسمع لها واسلم على اتصالها

    واتّقِ أن تُعيرَها واحترسِ

    Listen to them, and remain safe as they keep coming;

    beware of lending them out, and take care.

  70. واستغن بي وأغنني عن معشرٍ

    سُورَةُ فضلى بينهم لم تُدرَسِ

    Find sufficiency in me, and free me of need for a people

    among whom the chapter of my merit has not been studied.

  71. أعوذ من ليني لهم بجَعَدي

    ومن ذحولي بينهم ببُلُسي

    I seek refuge from my softness toward them in my roughness,

    and from my vendettas among them in my sackcloth.

  72. شفيتُ أعراضَهُمُ وعيشتي

    فيهم متى تبرا اختلالاً تُنكسِ

    I healed their reputations, yet my livelihood

    among them relapses whenever it recovers from disorder.

  73. ودّ القريضُ قبل ما قال لهم

    على لساني أنَّ نطقي خَرَسي

    Poetry wished, before it spoke to them

    upon my tongue, that my speech had been my muteness.

  74. فإن تَغرْ أو تكفني جانبهم

    فلستُ من ذلك بالمبتئسِ

    If you grow jealous, or shield me from their quarter,

    I shall not be distressed by that.