1. وَأَغيَدَ ما عَنهُ لِلصَبِّ صَبرُ

    إِلَيهِ مِنَ اللَومِ فيهِ المَفَرُّ

    And a supple youth, from whom the lover cannot bear to part—

    to him is the escape from reproach for loving him.

  2. أَقولُ لِمَن لامَني في هَواهُ

    رُوَيداً فَلي في عِذارَيهِ عُذرُ

    I say to whoever reproaches me for loving him:

    Gently! I have an excuse in the down on his cheeks.

  3. بِخَدَّيهِ ماءٌ وَنارٌ وَفي

    مُقَبَّلِهِ العَذبِ مِسكٌ وَخَمرٌ

    On his cheeks are water and fire, and in

    his sweet mouth are musk and wine.

  4. حَمَتهُ صَوارِمُ أَلحاظِهِ

    فَأَصبَحَ وَالثَغرُ مِن فيهِ ثَغرُ

    The sharp swords of his glances guard him,

    so now the opening of his mouth is a frontier.

  5. لَواحِظُ فيها رُقىً لِلمُحِبِّ

    إِذا ما كَشَرنَ لِوَعدٍ وَسِحرُ

    Glancing eyes hold charms for the lover,

    when they flash in promise—and enchantment.

  6. حَكى قَلَقي وَنُحولي بِهِ

    وِشاحٌ يَجولُ عَليهِ وَخَصرُ

    My unrest and my wasting for him are mirrored by

    a sash swaying about him and his waist.

  7. كَسَتهُ المَلاحَةُ ثَوباً عَليهِ

    لِحَظِّ العِذارِ مِنَ الحُسنِ شَطرُ

    Beauty clothed him in a robe, upon which

    the cheek-down claims half the loveliness.

  8. أَصَرَّ العَذولُ عَلى العَذلِ فيهِ

    وَقَلبي عَلى الوَجدِ فيهِ مُصِرُّ

    The censurer persists in reproaching me for him,

    and my heart persists in longing for him.

  9. فَكَيفَ أُطيقُ جُحودَ الغَرا

    مِ في حُبِّهِ وَدُموعي تُقِرُّ

    How can I bear to deny my passion

    in loving him, while my tears confess it?

  10. نَشَدتُكَ يا ظالِمَ المُقلَتَينِ

    هَل عِندَ قَلبي لِعَينيكَ وِترُ

    I implore you, O cruel-eyed one:

    do your eyes have a blood-debt against my heart?

  11. حَظَرتَ عَلى مُقلَتَيَّ الرُقادَ

    وَحَلَّلتَ سَفكَ دَمي وَهوَ حُجرُ

    You forbade sleep to my two eyes,

    and made shedding my blood lawful, though it is forbidden.

  12. إِذا لَم يَكُن فيكَ لِلمُستَهامِ

    عَطفٌ وَلَيسَ لَهُ عَنكَ صَبرُ

    If there is in you, for the love-distraught, no

    tenderness, and he cannot bear your absence,

  13. فَكَيفَ يُرَجّى لَهُ سَلوَةٌ

    وَأَنّى يُفَكُّ لَهُ مِنكَ أَسرُ

    then how can solace be hoped for him,

    and how can his captivity to you be undone?

  14. أَتَذكُرُ لَيلَةَ نادَمتِني

    وَمالَ بِعَطفَيكَ تيهٌ وَسُكرُ

    Do you remember the night you shared wine with me,

    when pride and drunkenness swayed your shoulders,

  15. وَزَوَّدتَني قُبَلاً لِلوَداعِ

    بِأَبرَدِها وَهيَ في القَلبِ جَمرُ

    and you supplied me with kisses for farewell—

    even the coolest of them were embers in the heart?

  16. فَلَمّا هَتَكنا قِناعَ الوَقارِ

    وَمُدَّ عَلَينا مِنَ اللَيل سِترُ

    Then, when we tore away the veil of dignity,

    and a curtain of night was spread over us,

  17. أَذلَتُ دُموعي حِذاراً عَلَيكَ

    مِنَ البَينِ وَالحُبُّ حُلوٌ وَمُرُّ

    I poured out my tears, fearful of losing you

    to separation; love is sweet and bitter.

  18. فَكَيفَ أَعادَ أَصيلَ الوِصالِ

    مِنكَ هَجيراً بِعادٌ وَهَجرُ

    Then how was the late afternoon of union

    with you turned to scorching noon by distance and desertion?

  19. كَذا شيمَةُ الدَهرِ في أَهلِهِ

    سُرورٌ وَحُزنٌ وَنَفعٌ وَضُرُّ

    Such is Time's nature toward its people:

    joy and sorrow, benefit and harm.

  20. وَلَستُ إِذا كُنتُ جارَ الأَميرِ

    مِمَّن يُراعُ إِذا جارَ دَهرُ

    And, when I am the emir's neighbor, I am not

    one to be frightened when Time turns unjust.

  21. هُوَ المَرءُ يَكبَرُ يَومَ الفِخارِ

    قَدراً وَما في سَجاياهُ كُبرُ

    He is the man who, on the day of glory, grows

    in stature, yet has no arrogance in his nature.

  22. كَريمٌ يُبَشِّرُ راجي نَداهُ

    بِالنُجحِ مِنهُ اِبتِسامٌ وَبِشرُ

    A generous man: the seeker of his bounty receives glad tidings

    of success from his smile and cheerful welcome.

  23. لَهُ نَسَبٌ واضِحٌ نورُهُ

    كَما اِنشَقَّ عَن غَسَقِ اللَيلِ فَجرُ

    He has a lineage whose light shines clear,

    as dawn breaks out from the darkness of night.

  24. سَليلُ الأَئِمَّةِ مِن هاشِمٍ

    وَمَن أَمرُهُم في بَني الدَهرِ أَمرُ

    A descendant of the imams of Hashim,

    and of those whose command among Time's sons is law.

  25. مَساميحُ تُخصِبُ أَكنافُهُم

    وَوَجهُ الثَرى مُجدِبٌ مُقشَعِرُّ

    Openhanded men, whose surroundings grow fertile,

    while the earth's face is barren and shuddering.

  26. بِمَجدِهِمُ شَرُفَت في القَديمِ

    قُرَيشٌ وَسادَت عَلى الناسِ فِهرُ

    Through their glory was ennobled, in ancient times,

    Quraysh, and Fihr held sway over the people.

  27. فَيا اِبنَ الدَوامِيِّ أَنتَ اِمرِءٌ

    بِحَقِّ الصَديقِ عَلَيهِ مُقِرُّ

    So, Ibn al-Dawami, you are a man

    who acknowledges a friend's claim upon him.

  28. وَلي إِرَبٌ إِن تَوَصَّلتَ فيهِ

    عادَ بِنَفعي وَلا تُستَضَرُّ

    And I have a need: if you intercede in it,

    it will benefit me without harming you.

  29. إِذا ما وَقَفتَ بِبابِ الأَميرِ

    وَلاحَ لَكَ القَمَرُ المُستَسِرُّ

    When you stand at the emir's door,

    and the hidden moon appears to you,

  30. فَقَبِّل ثَرى الأَرضِ عَنّي فَلي

    بِتَقبيلِ مَوطىءِ نَعلَيهِ فَخرُ

    then kiss the earth's dust on my behalf, for I

    take pride in kissing where his sandals tread.

  31. وَقُل يا عَليُّ العَلِيَّ المَحَلِّ

    وَيا مَن مَواهِبُ كَفَّيهِ غَزرُ

    And say: O Ali, exalted in station,

    and O you whose two hands' gifts are abundant!

  32. سَماؤُكَ لِلسائِلِ المُستَميحِ

    هَطولٌ وَبَحرُ عَطاياكَ غَمرُ

    Your sky, for the petitioner seeking bounty,

    pours rain, and the sea of your gifts is deep.

  33. وَأَنتَ إِذا أَجدَبَ المُعتَفونَ

    سَحابٌ وَإِن أَظلَمَ الخَطبُ بَدرُ

    And, when seekers of bounty suffer drought, you are

    a cloud; and if calamity darkens, a full moon.

  34. وَسِعتَ المُسيئينَ عَفواً وَجُدتَ

    فَصَدرُكَ بَرٌّ وَيُمناكَ بَحرُ

    You embraced wrongdoers with forgiveness and gave freely;

    so your breast is land, and your right hand a sea.

  35. أَعِنّي عَلى سُنَّةٍ لِلخَليلِ

    جَدِّكَ فيها إِلى اليَومِ ذِكرُ

    Help me observe a custom of al-Khalil,

    your forefather, whose memory in it lives to this day.

  36. فَإِنَّ لِيَ اِبناً يَباتُ الفُؤا

    دُ مِن فَرطِ حُبّي لَهُ ما يَقِرُّ

    For I have a son; my heart passes the night

    restless from the excess of my love for him.

  37. تَوانَيتُ عَنهُ إِلى أَن أَتَت

    عَليهِ سِنونَ مِنَ العُمرِ عَشرُ

    I delayed attending to him, until there passed

    over him ten years of life.

  38. وَقَد كانَ تَطهيرُهُ في النِفاسِ

    أَنفَعَ لي وَالتَواني مُضِرُّ

    And his circumcision during the postnatal days

    would have benefited me more; delay is harmful.

  39. وَقَد صَحَّ عَزمي عَلى طُهرِهِ

    وَما لِيَ إِلّا عَطاياكَ ذُخرُ

    And my resolve to circumcise him is now firm,

    and I have no reserve but your gifts.

  40. وَما أَبتَغيهِ يَسيرٌ إِذا

    أُضيفَ إِلى جودِكَ الغَمرِ نَزرُ

    And what I seek is small; when

    set beside your abundant generosity, it is trifling.

  41. شَرابِيَّةٌ سِلكُها كَالغُبارِ

    تَرى عَينُ لابِسِها ما يَسُرُّ

    A sharabiyya robe, its thread like dust;

    its wearer's eye sees what brings delight.

  42. لِأَعلامِها نَسَبٌ في العِراقِ

    عَريقٌ وَلِلرَقمِ وَالنَسجِ مِصرُ

    Its decorative bands have a lineage in Iraq,

    deep-rooted, and its embroidery and weaving are Egypt's.

  43. كَرِقَّةِ شِعري وَإِن جَلَّ ما

    تَمودُ بِهِ أَن يُدانيهِ شِعرُ

    As delicate as my verse, though what

    you bestow is too great for verse to approach.

  44. حَريرِيَّةٌ وَجهُها بِالنُضارِ

    إِذا ما اِجتَلَت حُسنَهُ العَينُ مَضرُ

    A silken robe whose surface, with gold,

    is radiant when the eye beholds its beauty.

  45. إِذا أَنتَ أَهدَيتَها كَالعَرو

    سِ حالِيَةً فَلَها الحَمدُ مَهرُ

    If you give it as a gift, like a bride

    adorned, praise shall be its bridal dower.

  46. يُجَدِّدُ ذِكرَكَ أَخلاقُها

    وَفي طَيِّها لِمَعاليكَ نَشرُ

    Its worn fabric renews the memory of you,

    and in its folding your noble deeds are spread abroad.

  47. فَعِندَكَ ما شِئتَ أَمثالُها

    وَعِندِيَ ما شِئتُ حَمدٌ وَشِكرُ

    For you have as many of its kind as you wish,

    and I have praise and thanks, as much as I wish.

  48. وَما لَكَ عُذرٌ إِذا لَم تَجُد

    وَما لي إِذا لَم أُجِد فيكَ عُذرُ

    And you have no excuse if you do not give generously,

    and I have none if I fail to excel in praising you.

  49. فَبادِر بِها وَاِنتَهِز فُرصَةً

    لِسَعيِكَ فيها ثَوابٌ وَأَجرُ

    So hasten with it, and seize an opportunity:

    your effort in it brings recompense and reward.

  50. فَإِنَّ المَدائِحِ عُمرَ الزَمانِ

    باقِيَةٌ وَالعَطايا تَمُرُّ

    For poems of praise, throughout the life of Time,

    endure, while gifts pass away.

  51. وَما كُلَّ يَومِ عَدَتكَ الخُطوبُ

    يَكونُ لِعَبدِ أَياديكَ طُهرُ

    And not every day—may calamities spare you—

    does a slave to your favors have a circumcision.

  52. فَلا قَصُرَت فيكَ آمالُنا

    وَلا طالَ يَوماً لِشانيكَ عُمرُ

    May our hopes in you never be cut short,

    and may your hater's life never be prolonged.

  53. وَلا زالَ يُنضي رِكابَ الهَناءِ

    إِلَيكَ صِيامٌ وَعيدٌ وَفِطرُ

    And may the mounts bearing congratulations ever be wearied

    on their way to you by fasting, feast days, and fast-breaking.