1. الآن قَدَّ الفؤاد نصفَينِ

    فيه وأَجَرى الدموعَ نوعَين

    Now he has split the heart in two

    for love of him, and set the tears flowing in two kinds,

  2. لما انحنتْ نونُ صُدْغِهِ فرمى

    عن قوسِها واتَّقَى بعَيْنين

    when the nūn of his temple-lock bent, and he shot

    from its bow, shielding himself with two eyes;

  3. وانتصَبتْ نِصفُ صادِ شاربه

    وخطّ مِن عارِضَيهِ لامَيْن

    and half the ṣād of his mustache stood upright,

    and he traced two lāms from his cheek-beards,

  4. ومَدَّ صُدْغيهِ في بياضِهما

    ليلَينِ صُبَّا على نهارين

    and spread his temple-locks across their whiteness—

    two nights poured over two days.

  5. وردّ رأسَ العِذار منحرِفاً

    عن لدغ جفنين بابليَّين

    He turned back the tip of the cheek-down, slanting away

    from the sting of two Babylonian eyelids.

  6. ضرّجَ خدّيه ثم جَرّد عن

    غنْجِ ضنَى مقلتيهِ سيفينِ

    He crimsoned his cheeks, then bared from

    the coquettish languor of his two eyes two swords.

  7. فآهِ للمدنَف المعذَّبِ مِن

    هذين حسناً وآهِ مِن ذينِ

    Ah, for the languishing, tormented lover, because of

    these two in their beauty; and ah, because of those two!

  8. يَحمل دِعْصَين من روادِفِه

    قوامُه في ذُبُولِ خَصْرين

    Two sand-dunes of his buttocks are borne

    by his frame, amid the slenderness of two waists.

  9. لام عِذارٍ فما أُمَيْلِحَه

    أخاف عيني عليه مِن عيني

    A lām of cheek-down—how very charming he is!

    I fear for him, my darling, from my own eye.

  10. يا صارِمَي لحظهِ فديتكما

    لا تُسلماني إلى العِذاريِن

    O two blades of his glance, may I be your ransom;

    do not surrender me to the two strips of cheek-down.

  11. ويا عذارَيه ما أُحَيْسِنَ ما

    برزتما فيه لي بعُذْرَين

    And O his two strips of cheek-down, how lovely is the guise

    in which you two appeared to me, with two excuses!

  12. كأنّ خدّيه في سوادكما

    صُبْحان قد طُرِّزا بليلين

    As though his cheeks, within the blackness of you both,

    were two dawns embroidered with two nights.

  13. أعاد شمسَ النهار شمسين

    به وبدرَ الظلامِ بدرين

    He made the sun of day into two suns

    through himself, and darkness's full moon into two full moons.

  14. أرقّ جلداً إذا تأمّل مِن

    شكوَى بدت بين سَفْك دَمْعَين

    More delicate in skin, when one gazes, than

    a plaint appearing amid the shedding of two tears.

  15. حسبُك عينٌ يَلَذّ مؤلِمهُا

    دأباً وقلبٌ يَحِنّ للحَيْن

    Enough for you: an eye that finds its torment sweet

    unceasingly, and a heart that yearns for death.

  16. والحبّ عذبٌ ما قلّ منه فإن

    زاد دعا للشَّقاءِ والشَّين

    Love is sweet so long as there is little of it; but if

    it grows, it calls forth misery and disgrace.

  17. إن الإمام العزيزَ أكرمُ من

    بَثّ الندى مرّة وثنْتَين

    Indeed Imam al-Aziz is the most generous of those who

    spread bounty once and twice.

  18. المخجلُ الغيثَ راحتاه إذا

    جاد بِغيثين مِرزميَّيْنِ

    His two palms put rain to shame whenever

    he gives with two thunderous downpours.

  19. لِيهن مِصَر العُلا وما جَمَعتْ

    بِه من المكُرماتِ والزَّينِ

    May Egypt rejoice in high glory and all she has gathered

    through him of noble honors and beauty.

  20. فاض ندَى بَحر جُودِ راحتِهِ

    وبحرُها فهيَ بين بحرين

    The bounty of his palm's sea of generosity overflowed,

    and so did her sea: she lies between two seas.

  21. لو طاولت أرضها النجوم علت

    به على النَّسْرِ والسِماكينِ

    If her land vied in height with the stars, it would rise

    through him above the Eagle and the two Simāk stars.

  22. يا بن نبيِّ الهدى وأفضلَ من

    يسمو بجدَّين هاشِمِيَّين

    O son of the Prophet of guidance, and best of those who

    rise through two Hashimite forefathers,

  23. من ذا كمنصورِك المبارك أم

    مُعِزِّك الرافِعَينِ هذينِ

    who is like your blessed al-Mansur, or

    your al-Muizz—those two who raised you high?

  24. أم من يدانيك في أبوّتِهِ

    مِن عَلَوِيّينِ فاطِمِيّينِ

    Or who rivals you in his paternal lineage,

    from two Alid Fatimid forefathers?

  25. من لم يَدنْ رَبَّه بطاعتِكْم

    كان كغاوٍ يدين بِاثنينِ

    Whoever does not worship his Lord through obedience to you

    is like a misguided man who worships two gods.

  26. إِنِّيَ لم أغد مِنك منقبِضاً

    ولم أَرُحْ فِيك ذا مُرادَين

    I have never begun the day estranged from you,

    nor ended it with two intentions toward you.

  27. ألقاك دون الجميع منبسِطاً

    أُدِلّ كالمقتضي لحقَّين

    I meet you, apart from all others, openhearted,

    presuming on your favor, like one claiming two rights.

  28. ليس لأنَّي ابنُ والدٍ وأخٌ

    يَجمع مِنّا النِّصابُ غُصْنَينِ

    Not because I am a father's son and a brother,

    our ancestral stock joining us as two branches,

  29. لكن لِوُدّي وطاعتي لك إذ

    وجدْتني أنصحَ الولِيَّينِ

    but because of my love and obedience to you, since

    you have found me the more sincere of two loyal supporters.

  30. أَعدُّ شانيك مِن ذوي رَحمي

    ولُحمْتي أكبَر العَدُوَّين

    I count your hater, even if among my blood kin

    and my kindred, as the greater of two enemies.

  31. متى لبِسْنا لك الوفاءَ فلم

    أُصبِحْ ولي وافرُ النّصيبين

    When have we donned loyalty to you without my

    awakening with ample portions of both shares?

  32. لا فسَحَ اللهُ لي مدى عُمُري

    وأشَمت الله بي الحسودينِ

    May God not prolong the span of my life,

    and may God make the two envious men rejoice at my misfortune,

  33. إن كنت لا أشتهي بقاءكَ لي

    بالصِدقِ لا بِالرِّياء والمَيْنِ

    if I do not wish you to live on for me,

    in sincerity, not hypocrisy and falsehood.

  34. وأغتدي في عُلاك مِن شَفَقي

    عَيْنين أرعى العِدا وأُذْنينِ

    And, from my concern for your glory, I become each morning

    two eyes watching the foes, and two ears;

  35. وأبذلُ النُّصحَ غيرَ متَّهَمٍ

    دون النَّصوحَيْن والمحِبَّين

    and I offer counsel free of suspicion,

    apart from the two counselors and the two loving friends.

  36. ولستُ كالمُظهِرينِ مِن حَذَرٍ

    وُدَّيْن واستشعَرَا نِفاقَين

    I am not like the two who display, out of fear,

    two loves, while inwardly wearing two hypocrisies,

  37. ويُبدِيان الرضا وقد طَوَيَا

    على القِلىَ والشِقاقِ كَشْحينِ

    and show contentment, though they have folded

    two flanks over hatred and discord.

  38. تخبِرُنا عنهما عيونهمُا

    أنّهما يَحملان حِقديَن

    Their eyes tell us about them,

    that they bear two grudges.

  39. ها ذاك يسعَى يكشف سِرك لل

    زّاري وهذا يرِيك وجهينِ

    Look: that one strives to expose your secret to the

    scorner; and this one shows you two faces.

  40. كم كَفَرا بالإِلهِ إذ منعَا

    مُلكَك كالطالِبَيْه دَيْنين

    How often they disbelieved in God when they withheld

    your sovereignty, like two claimants demanding it as two debts!

  41. كم شَنَّعا عنَّي القبِيحَ وكم

    سَلاَّ حُسامينِ مَشْرَفيَّيْنِ

    How often they spread ugly tales about me, and how often

    they drew two Mashrafi swords,

  42. كي يستفِزّاك أو لِتقطَع ما

    بينك من لحُمةٍ وما بيني

    to provoke you, or make you sever the bonds

    of kinship between you and me;

  43. أو يَلحَقا رُتبتي لديك وهل

    يَلحَق حافٍ بِذي جَناحين

    or attain my rank with you—but can

    a barefoot man catch one with two wings?

  44. وأنتَ لا تجعلُ المشارِكَ في

    حُلْوِك والمُرِّ كالغَويَّيْن

    You do not equate the one who shares

    your sweet and bitter with the two misguided men.

  45. عَضَّا على الكفِّ واهلكَا أَسَفاً

    بَغْياً ومُوتاً كذا بِدَاءَيْنِ

    Bite your hands, you two, and perish in grief

    and malice; die thus of two ailments!

  46. إنّ الإمامَ العزيزَ بانَ لَه

    وبانَ ما تحت كلِّ حِسَّين

    Indeed, to Imam al-Aziz it has become plain,

    and plain is what lies beneath every pair of senses.

  47. فلعنةُ اللهِ غيرُ مقلِعةٍ

    تَتْرى على أَغْدَرِ الفرِيقين

    So God's curse, never abating,

    falls in succession on the more treacherous of the two factions.

  48. وهل أنا غيرُ راحةٍ برزتْ

    منكَ وكفّاك للذراعينِ

    And am I anything but a palm that emerged

    from you, as your two hands belong to the two arms?

  49. وما رأينا وإن وَشَت عُصَبٌ

    أبقَى على الوِدّ من شقِيقين

    We have never seen, though factions slander,

    anyone more constant in affection than two full brothers.

  50. هَنَّتك أعيادُك الّتي بك قد

    هُنِّئن يا أوحدَ الزمانين

    May your festivals felicitate you, those that through you have

    been felicitated, O peerless one of the two ages!

  51. نحن مِن العيدِ إذ سلمِتَ لنا

    ومنك في تهنئاتِ عِيدينِ

    We, through the festival, since you are safe for us,

    and through you, enjoy the felicitations of two festivals.

  52. برزتَ كالشمس يومَ أسعدها

    بل زدت نوراً على المنيرَين

    You appeared like the sun on its most auspicious day,

    indeed, you surpassed the two luminaries in light.

  53. كأنّ في السَّرْج منك منتِصباً

    بدرَ سماءٍ وليثَ شِبْلين

    As though you, upright in the saddle, were

    a full moon of heaven and a lion with two cubs,

  54. في جَحْفل جَرَّ مِن فوارِسه

    كَتائباً تملأ الفضَاءَين

    amid a vast army that drew from its horsemen

    battalions filling the two expanses.

  55. فمن مشيرٍ براحة صُرفتْ

    إليك أو ناظرٍ بلحظين

    Here one gestures with a palm turned

    toward you, or another gazes with two glances.

  56. تأَمَّلوا مِن نبيهِّم خُلقُاً

    فيك وخلَقْاً محمَّديَّين

    They contemplated their Prophet's character

    in you, and his form—both Muhammadan,

  57. حتى إذا ما علوتَ منبرَهم

    وقمتَ للحمد في اللِّواءيَن

    until, when you ascended their pulpit

    and stood for praise amid the two banners,

  58. خوّفتَ بالله ثمّ جئتَ به

    مبشِّراً مُسْهَبَ الطّريقَين

    you inspired fear of God, then spoke of Him

    with glad tidings, discoursing at length along both paths,

  59. تَضُمّ تحميدةً إلى عِظةٍ

    لهمْ ووعداً إلى وعِيدَين

    joining a word of praise to an admonition

    for them, and a promise to two warnings.

  60. أنت الإمام المبينُ حكمتَه

    والعالمُ الفردُ ذو الِّلسانين

    You are the Imam who makes his wisdom plain,

    and the peerless scholar, possessed of two tongues.

  61. صلّى عليك الإله من مَلِكٍ

    عَدَّ يديه النَّدَى يمينَين

    May God bless you—a king

    whose two hands generosity reckons as two right hands.

  62. وهاكَها كالعروس باقيةً

    غرّاء تختال بين حُسْنين

    And take her, enduring like a bride,

    radiant, strutting between two beauties,

  63. أحرَّ من وَقفْة الودَاع ومِن

    دمعٍ تقاضتْه روَعة البَينْ

    more ardent than the pause of farewell, and than

    tears exacted by the terror of parting.

  64. تُزري بألفاظها العذابِ على

    صَوْلَج لامَيْن في عِذارَيْن

    With her sweet words she puts to shame

    the crook of two lāms in two strips of cheek-down.

  65. وتختفي قِلةً إذا ذُكرتْ

    في ذَهبيّين جوهريّين

    Yet she shrinks into insignificance when mentioned

    beside two golden, jewel-like verses.

  66. وذاكَ أن الذي مَدحتُ بها

    أحق الاثنين بالثَناءَيْن

    And that is because the one I praised with her

    is, of the two, more deserving of both praises;

  67. وأنّ مَن صاغَ تلك ضمَّنها

    إفكَينِ في إفكٍ وزُورَين

    and because the one who fashioned that poem put into it

    two falsehoods within a falsehood, and two lies.