أبكي على ظالم لي غير مغتفر

لم يُبق لي حبُّه صبراً ولم يَذَرِ

I weep for one who wrongs me, beyond forgiveness;

my love for him has left me no patience, and spared me none.

إذا تسلِّيت عنه ضاق متَّسِعي

وإن تهيَّمت في قلّ مصطبَري

If I seek solace away from him, my open space grows narrow;

and if I am lost in love, my endurance dwindles.

وليس يهجرني إلاّ بمعرفة

أنّي على الهجر منه غيرُ مقتدر

And he forsakes me only with the knowledge

that I cannot endure separation from him.

والله لولا سهامٌ في لواحظه

وخمرةٌ ظهرتْ في ثَغْرهِ الخَصِر

By God, were it not for arrows in his glances

and wine appearing in his cool mouth,

لما أراق دمي ظُلماً بلا سبب

ولا تمكَّن من نفعي ومن ضرري

he would not have shed my blood unjustly, without cause,

nor gained power over my welfare and my harm.

إن تُعْزَ للغُصن الميَّاس قامتُه

فإنّ للدِّعص منه ثِقْلَ مؤتزرِ

If his stature is likened to the swaying branch,

then his girdled hips have the weight of a sand dune.

اعْجَبْ لعينيَ إذْ لم تَجرِ أدمُعها

دماً عليه وقلبي كيف لم يطر

Marvel at my eye, whose tears did not flow

as blood over him—and at my heart, how it did not fly away!

ويح المحبِّين ما أقوى قلوبَهُمُ

على الجوى والأسى والشوقِ والذِكَرِ

Alas for lovers! How strong their hearts are

in bearing love's torment, sorrow, longing, and memories!

تشوقُني لحظَات الغيد فاترةً

ولينُ لفظ ذوات الدّلِّ والخَفَر

The languid glances of graceful women stir my longing,

and the soft speech of women of coquetry and modesty,

وكلُّ مجدولةٍ في جِيدها جَيَدٌ

كأنها من ظباء المَرْخ والعُشَر

and every slender woman with a long neck,

as though she were a gazelle of the markh and ʿushar shrubs.

ولست أُغضي على عارٍ أُعابُ به

ولا أُسِرّ على غَدر ولا نُكُرِ

Yet I do not overlook a disgrace for which I am reproached,

nor conceal treachery or wrongdoing.

يا دهر ما بال جَبْري فيك منكسِراً

أعَمى لديك وكَسِرى غير منجبِر

O Time, why is my mending broken within you,

blind before you, while my fracture remains unmended?

شاخ الزمان زمانُ السوء واكتهلت

أيَّامه فاعترته غَفْلة الكِبَر

Time, this evil time, has grown old, and middle-aged

are its days; the heedlessness of old age has overtaken it.

فصار أعجزَ من مَيْت وأبعدَ من

فَوْت وأصمتَ من عُود بلا وَتَر

It has become more helpless than a corpse, farther away than

a missed chance, and more silent than an oud without a string.

وكان أوثبَ من لَيْث على نَعَمٍ

فينا وأَشْرَهَ من أنثَى بلا ذكر

And once it was quicker than a lion to pounce on livestock

among us, and more voracious than a female without a male.

لولا العزيزُ أمينُ الله ما لَجَأَتْ

نفسي إلى ملجأ منه ولا وَزَر

Were it not for al-Aziz, God's trustee, there would be no recourse

for my soul to a refuge in him, nor a sanctuary.

إمامُ عدلٍ إذا استمطرتَ راحتَه

وجدت أَنملها أَنْدَى من المطر

A just imam: if you ask his palm for rain,

you find its fingertips more bountiful than the rain.

يا بن الأئمَّةِ والهادين متّصلاً

بصفوة الله أهِل الوحي والسُّوَر

O son of the imams and guides, joined

to God's chosen ones, the people of revelation and the suras,

لا تجهد النفس في جمع السلاح ولا

في عُدّة الحرب والرَّوْحات والبُكَر

do not weary yourself gathering weapons, nor

over war's equipment and evening and morning marches.

فقد كفاك أذى الأعداءِ كلّهم

نصرُ الإله وسيف الدهر والقَدَر

For you have been spared the harm of all your enemies by

God's aid and the sword of Time and destiny.

أنت المقيم إذا سافرتَ مُرْتحِلاً

وكلّ من غِبتَ عنه فهو في سفر

You are the one who stays, even when you journey away,

and everyone from whom you are absent is himself on a journey.

ضرورة كان تأخيري زيارَتكم

وقد عفا الله قِدْماً عن أولى الضرر

Necessity caused my delay in visiting you,

and God long ago pardoned those afflicted by infirmity.

لو لم يكنْ ليّ عذرٌ أنت تعلمه

لجئت أسعى بلا عذر على بصري

Had I no excuse that you yourself know,

I would have come hastening, without excuse, upon my eyes.

مودّةُ العين لا يزكو الوفاءُ بها

والودُّ بالقلب ليس الودُّ بالنظر

Affection of the eye does not make loyalty flourish;

love is in the heart; love is not in the gaze.

لا زلتُ في فكرة تفضي إلى تعب

إن كنتَ تسقط مِن همّي ومن فِكَرِي

May I remain in contemplation that leads to weariness,

if you ever fall from my concern and my thoughts.

مودتي لك طبع غير منتقل

وطاعتي لك طول غير مختصَر

My affection for you is an unchanging nature,

and my obedience to you is a length never shortened.

وودّ غيريَ مكسوب ومصطنَع

والوسم في الجِلْد غير الوسم في الشَعَر

While another's love is acquired and contrived,

a brand in the skin is not a brand in the hair.

يكفي عدُّوك أنّ الله يلعنه

وأنه لا يُرَى إلا على حذر

It is enough for your enemy that God curses him,

and that he is seen only on his guard,

وأنّ كل فؤاد عنه منقبض

وكل قلب له أقسى من الحجر

and that every heart recoils from him,

and every heart is harder toward him than stone.

جئت الخلافة لمَّا أن دعتك كما

وافى لميقاته موسى على قَدَر

You came to the caliphate when it called you, just as

Moses came to his appointed meeting, as ordained.

كالأرض جاد عليها الغيث منهملاً

فزانها بضروب الرّوض والزَهَر

Like the earth upon which rain poured in torrents,

adorning it with varieties of greenery and flowers.

ما أنت دون ملوك العالمين سوى

روح من القدس في جِسم من البشر

You alone, among the kings of the worlds, are nothing but

a spirit of holiness in a human body.

نور لطيف تناهى فيك جوهره

تناهياً جاز حدَّ الشمس والقمر

A subtle light whose essence in you has reached

a culmination beyond the bounds of the sun and moon;

معنىً من العلَّة الأولى التي سبقتْ

خَلْق الهيولىَ وبسَطْ الأرض والمَدَرِ

an essence from the First Cause, which preceded

the creation of prime matter and the spreading of earth and clay.

فأنت بالله دون الخلق متّصل

وأنت لله فيهم خيرُ مؤتمر

You, apart from all creation, are connected to God,

and among them you best obey God's commands.

وأنت آيته من نسل مرسَله

وأنت خيرته الغرّاء من مضر

You are His sign, of His messenger's lineage,

and His radiant chosen one from Mudar.

لو شئت لم ترض بالدنيا وساكنها

مَثْوىً وكنتَ مليك الأنجم الزهُرِ

If you wished, you would not accept this world and its dwellers

as a dwelling, and you would be king of the radiant stars.

ولو تفاطنت الألباب منك درت

بأنها عنك في عَجْز وفي حَصَرِ

And if minds discerned you, they would know

that before you they are powerless and constrained.

إن جَلّ شخصُك عن حَدّ العِيان فقد

جلَّت مساعيك عن مِثْل وعن خَطَر

If your person transcends the limits of sight, then

your endeavors transcend comparison and valuation.

لا مشبهٌ لك في الأملاك نعرفه

الهَزل في النوم غير الجِدّ في السهَر

We know no one resembling you among kings;

jest in sleep is not earnestness in wakefulness.

إن العيون اسمها والجنس يجمعها

والحُول غير ذوات الكُحْل والحَوَرِ

Eyes are united by their name and kind,

yet cross-eyed ones are not those kohl-rimmed, with deep black against clear white.

يا حاسداً يتمنَّى أن يساويَني

فيما لديك تمنِّي الكاذب الأشِر

O envious man who wishes to equal me

in what I have with you—a lying braggart's wish!

وما تقاصرتُ عن طُول فيلحقني

ولا تطاولْتُ بعد الصُغْر والقِصَر

I have not shrunk from my stature, for him to catch up with me,

nor grown tall after littleness and shortness.

إنا جميعاً تشارَكْنا دماً وأبا

كما تشاركتِ الأغصانُ بالثمر

We all share blood and a father,

as branches share their fruit.

فكيف يبلغ شَأوِي أو يطاولني

وأنت لي دونه كالصارم الذَكَر

How, then, can he reach my mark or rival my stature,

when you are mine, not his, like a keen blade of hardened steel?

أُنصر أخاك فإن القوم قد نصروا

غِلْمانهم واسمُ في تأخير منتصِر

Support your brother, for those men have supported

their young servants; rise high by holding back a victor.

فأنت ما زلت لي يُسْراً بلا عُسُر

ومورداً صافياً عذباً بلا كدر

You have always been ease for me, without hardship,

and a clear, sweet source of water, without turbidity.

دنَوا وغبتُ ولو أني حضرتهمُ

جرَّعتُهم غُصَصَّاً في الوِرْد والصَدَر

They drew near while I was absent; had I been among them,

I would have made them swallow choking draughts as they came to water and departed.

لا زلتَ مقتدراً ما بين ألوية

خفّاقة لك يوم الروع بالظفر

May you remain powerful amid banners

fluttering with victory for you on the day of terror.

شكري لفضلك شكرٌ غيرُ منصرمٍ

ومَنْ أحقُّ وأولَى منك بالشكُر

My thanks for your bounty are thanks that never cease;

and who is more deserving, more worthy of thanks than you?