لا ورقص الحباب بين العذارى

واصطباحي من العيون السكارى

No—by the dancing bubbles among the maidens,

and my morning draught from drunken eyes,

ما سلونا جواركم بثغيرٍ

جاور الأقحوان فيه العقارا

we have not forgotten your nearness—by a little mouth

where daisies lie beside wine.

فارفقوا بالفؤاد يا ماليكه

إنما الرفق واجب بالأسارى

So be gentle with the heart, O its masters;

gentleness is surely owed to captives.

لا تبالوا بجاهل الحب من لا

يعرف المسك يحسب المسك قارا

Do not heed one ignorant of love: whoever does not

know musk mistakes musk for pitch.

نحن قومٌ نرى المحبة ديناً

والتلاهي عن الأحبة عارا

We are a people who regard love as a religion,

and neglect of loved ones as a disgrace.

كل من فاز بالمحبة منا

حبةٌ منه ترجح القنطارا

Whoever among us has won love,

a grain of him outweighs a hundredweight.

وَيل قلبي من التي تمنع الصب

بَ لماها وتبذل الدينارا

Woe to my heart from her who denies the lover

her dusky lips, while freely giving dinars.

وتواري البها بليل قناعٍ

لا ترى العين في سواه نهارا

And she hides beauty beneath the night of a veil;

outside that beauty, the eye sees no daylight.

صرت في صدها خيالاً وقلبي

صار ناراً ومدمعي تيارا

In her rejection I have become a phantom, and my heart

has become fire, and my tears a torrent.

كل ما ابتعت للتصبر درعاً

أشهرت من جفونها بتارا

Whenever I buy armor for patient endurance,

she draws a cleaving sword from her eyelids.

ليت شعري وقد تلون شعري

تصطفيني لدارها زوّارا

I wonder, now that my hair has changed color,

will she choose me as a frequent visitor to her house,

وتريني عذارها بعد ما ابيض

ض عذاري وسود الأعذارا

and show me her cheek, now that

my sideburns have whitened, blackening all excuses?

طال واحسرتاه وعدي وبعدي

قصر اللَه منهما الأعمارا

Alas, the promise made to me and my separation have dragged on;

may God shorten both their lifespans,

وحبا عمر سيدي الشهم عبد ال

قادر الطول والصفا المدرارا

and grant my gallant master Abd al-Qadir's life

length and ever-flowing serenity.

فهو قطب العلى ودائرة المج

د وبحر الندى وليث الغيارى

For he is the pole of eminence, the circle of glory,

the sea of generosity, and the lion of the zealous.

والكريم الذي تسابق كفا

ه لطلّاب نيله الأفكارا

And the generous one whose two hands outrun

the thoughts of those seeking his bounty;

والذي لو توعد الشمس أدجت

وإذا هدَّد العرمرم غارا

and he who, should he threaten the sun, would make it grow dark,

and if he threatened the vast army, it would vanish.

وإذا فاه غادر الصبية الأغ

مار بالعلم سادةً أبرارا

And when he speaks, he turns inexperienced boys

through knowledge into righteous masters.

والمحلَّى من الكمال بتاجٍ

ساد كسرى به وفاخر دارا

And he is adorned with a crown of perfection,

with which he surpassed Kisra and rivaled Dara in glory.

لو حواه الهلال أشرق بدراً

وبدا ليله البهيم نهارا

Were the crescent to hold him, it would shine as a full moon,

and its pitch-dark night would appear as day.

تتوارى الشموس منه حياءً

وهو سمح اليدين لن يتوارى

The suns hide from him out of bashfulness,

yet he, open-handed, will never hide.

كل وقتٍ مضى ولم أمتدحه

فيه أضحى على حياتي عارا

Every moment that passed without my praising him

in it has become a disgrace upon my life.

لا سباه الإله حلية فضلٍ

عانقت منه فارساً كرارا

May God never rob him of the ornament of excellence

that has embraced, in him, a knight who charges again and again.

جادني جوده بحار نضارٍ

خلت من بعدها البحار بخارا

His generosity showered me with seas of pure gold,

after which I thought the seas were mere vapor.

يا ملاذي الذي افتخار البرايا

صار عند افتخاره فخّارا

O my refuge, before whose glory all creation's pride

has turned to mere earthenware.

كان عيد العباد فذّاً فأضحى

بك زوّاً يفاخر الأعصارا

The people's feast was single, but has become

double through you, vying with the ages in glory.

فاسلم اسلم لكل عيدٍ كبيرٍ

يجتلي منك كوكباً كُبّارا

So be well, be well, for every great feast

that beholds in you a mighty star,

أحسن العالمين خلقاً وخلقاً

وافتخاراً وبهجةً واقتدارا

the finest of all beings in form and character,

in glory, radiance, and power.