1. جاءَت لِتَنظُرَ ما أَبقَت مِنَ المُهَجِ

    فَعَطَّرَت سائِرَ الأَرجاءِ بِالأَرَجِ

    She came to see what souls she had left alive,

    and perfumed every quarter with fragrance.

  2. جَلَت عَلينا مُحَيّاً لَو جَلَتهُ لَنا

    في ظُلمَةِ اللَيلِ أَغنانا عَنِ السُرجِ

    She revealed to us a face that, had she shown it to us

    in the darkness of night, would have spared us lamps.

  3. جَميلَةُ الوَجهِ لَو أَنَّ الجَمالَ بِها

    يولي الجَميلَ لَأَشجَت فَودَ كُلِّ شَجِ

    Beautiful of face—if the beauty within her

    bestowed kindness, she would afflict every sorrowing man's temple.

  4. جورِيَّةُ الخَدِّ يُحمى وَردُ وَجنَتِها

    بِحارِسٍ مِن نِبالِ الغُنجِ وَالدُعَجِ

    Damask-rose-cheeked, the rose of her cheek is guarded

    by a sentinel of arrows of coquetry and deep-black eyes.

  5. جازَت إِساءَةَ أَفعالي بِمَغفِرَةٍ

    فَكانَ غُفرانُها يُغني عَنِ الحِجَجِ

    She repaid the wrongdoing of my deeds with forgiveness,

    so her pardon made arguments needless.

  6. جارَت لِعِرفانِها أَنّي المَريضُ بِها

    فَما عَلَيَّ إِذا أَذنَبتُ مِن حَرَجِ

    She was cruel, knowing that I was sick with love for her,

    so no blame lies upon me if I sin.

  7. جَسَّت يَدي لِتَرى ما بي فَقُلتُ لَها

    كُفّي فَذاكَ جَوىً لَولاكِ لَم يَهجِ

    She felt my hand to see what ailed me, and I told her:

    Stop, for that is burning grief that, but for you, would not have stirred.

  8. جَفَوتِني فَرَأَيتُ الصَبرَ أَجمَلَ بي

    وَالصَمتُ بِالحُبِّ أَولى بي مِنَ اللَهَجِ

    You shunned me, so I found patience more becoming to me,

    and silence in love more fitting for me than ceaseless talk.

  9. جارَت لِحاظُكَ فينا غَيرَ راحِمَةٍ

    وَلَذَّةُ الحُبِّ جَورُ الناظِرِ الغَنِجِ

    Your glances dealt cruelly with us, without pity,

    and love's delight is the tyranny of the coquettish eye.

  10. جوري فَلا فَرَجاً لي مِن عَذابِكَ لي

    إِلّا يَدَ المَلِكِ المَنصورِ بِالفَرَجِ

    Be cruel: I have no relief from your torment of me

    except the hand of King al-Mansur, bringing relief.

  11. جَوادُ كَفٍّ تَروعُ الدَهرَ سَطوَتُهُ

    فَلا تُصاحِبُ عُضواً غَيرَ مُختَلِجِ

    Generous of hand, his might terrifies Time,

    so no limb it encounters is free from trembling.

  12. جَدَّت لِما تَرتَضي العَلياءُ هِمَّتُهُ

    فَالمُلكُ في رَقدَةٍ وَالحَربُ في رَهَجِ

    His resolve strove for what lofty glory approves,

    so the kingdom slumbers, while war lies in swirling dust.

  13. جَنَت عَلى مالِهِ أَيدي مَكارِمِهِ

    فَلا يَبيتُ بِطَرفٍ غَيرِ مُنزَعِجِ

    The hands of his generous deeds have ravaged his wealth,

    so he passes no night with an untroubled eye.

  14. جُهدُ المَواهِبِ أَن تَغنى خَزائِنُهُ

    حَتّى كَأَنَّ بِها ضَرباً مِنَ اللَجَجِ

    Gifts strive to enrich his treasuries,

    until they seem to harbor a kind of obstinacy.

  15. جَدَّت إِلَيهِ بَنو الآمالِ مُسرِعَةً

    فَأَكثَروا نَحوَهُ بِالسَعيِ وَالحِجَجِ

    The sons of hope pressed swiftly toward him,

    so they thronged toward him with striving and pilgrimages.

  16. جَونٌ إِذا شِمتَ بَرقَ السَيفِ مِن يَدِهِ

    تَراهُ مُنبَلِجاً في كَفِّ مُنبَلِجِ

    A dark cloud—when you spy the sword's lightning from his hand,

    you see it radiant in the palm of a radiant man.

  17. جَنى ثِمارَ المَعالي حينَ حاوَلَها

    بِصارِمٍ ما خَلا في الحَربِ مِن هَرَجِ

    He gathered the fruits of high honor when he sought them,

    with a keen sword never free of slaughter in war.

  18. حالَت قَناةُ المَنايا في مَضارِبِهِ

    فَظَلَّ يُنقِصُ أَبكاراً مِنَ المُهَجِ

    Death's lance shifted amid his sword-strokes,

    and he kept cutting down souls hitherto untouched.

  19. جَزياً أَبا الفَتحِ غاياتِ الفَخارِ فَقَد

    أَمسَكتَ طُلّابَهُ في مَسلَكٍ حَرِجِ

    Surpass, Abu al-Fath, the utmost bounds of glory, for

    you have confined its seekers to a narrow path.

  20. جَلَلتَ حَتّى لَوَ اَنَّ الصُبحَ لُحتَ بِهِ

    وَقُلتَ قِف لا تَلُج في اللَيلِ لَم يَلُجِ

    You grew so mighty that, were you to appear at dawn

    and say, 'Halt! Do not enter the night,' it would not enter.

  21. جَرَّدتَ أَسيافَ نَصرٍ أَنتَ جَوهَرُها

    في حالِكٍ مِن ظَلامِ النَقعِ مُنتَسِجِ

    You unsheathed swords of victory whose very steel you are,

    in a blackness woven from the darkness of battle-dust.

  22. جَبَرتَ كَسرَ المَعالي يا اِبنَ بَجدَتِها

    بِها وَقَوَّمتَ ما بِالدينِ مِن عِوَجِ

    You mended the fracture of glory, O its true master,

    with them, and straightened what was crooked in the faith.

  23. جِمارُ نارٍ وَلَكِن مِن عَوائِدِها

    اِطفاءُ ما في صُدورِ القَومِ مِن وَهَجِ

    Embers of fire—yet among their customary deeds

    is quenching the blaze in the people's breasts.

  24. جَوازِمٌ إِن أَرَدتَ البَطشَ كُنَّ يَداً

    وَإِن رَقيتَ المَعالي كُنَّ كَالدَرَجِ

    Decisive blades: if you wish to strike, they become a hand,

    and if you climb the heights, they become like stairs.

  25. جَلَوتَ كَربَ الوَرى بِالمَكرُماتِ كَما

    جَلَوتَ تِلكَ الرَدى بِالمَنظَرِ البَهَجِ

    You dispelled mankind's distress with generous deeds, just as

    you dispelled that doom with your radiant appearance.

  26. جَعَلتَ جَودَكَ دونَ الوَعدِ مُعتَرِضاً

    وَوَعدُ غَيرِكَ ضيقٌ غَيرُ مُنفَرِجِ

    You made your bounty intervene before any promise,

    while another's promise is a strait with no release.

  27. جِئناكَ يا مَلِكَ الدُنيا وَواحِدَها

    نَؤُمُّ بِالدُرِّ نُهديهِ إِلى اللُجَجِ

    We came to you, O king of the world and its peerless one,

    making our way with pearls, offering them to the deep seas.

  28. جُزنا البِلادَ وَلَم نَقصِد سِواكَ فَتىً

    مَن يَحظَ بِالدُرِّ يَستَغنِ عَنِ السَبَجِ

    We crossed the lands and sought no young man but you;

    whoever gains pearls has no need of jet.

  29. جَمَعتَ فَضلاً فَلا فَرَّقتَهُ أَبَداً

    أَنتَ الفَريدُ وَجُلَّ الناسِ كَالهَمَجِ

    You have gathered excellence—may you never disperse it;

    you are peerless, while most people are like the rabble.