1. The sweetest talk is what the loved ones recounted,
And the most delicious is what the bosoms contained,

2. Pages we cultivate for Ahmed the Knight,
It is but the sea and they are the clouds.

3. Various conversations composed on a page,
Like a necklace of pearls and gems adorning,

4. Exquisite ideas shone from its benefits,
And brilliant thoughts were strange wonders.

5. It is the tower adorned with stars in the horizon,
Or the tower where the maidens resided.

6. And it seemed from the gentleness of the arts, delightful,
Beautiful, skilled, and in it were aromas.

7. And its dwelling was honored by every virtuous one,
And in it for all the worlds were wishes.

8. It was composed with truth and so it shone,
Through it the hidden matters of affairs became clear.

9. Delicate in wording, free Arabic,
Refined, never in any way blamable.

10. So say to the envious one who sought to reach its status,
Turn away or else shed your tears.

11. Marvelous in meaning, its Lord is He,
Though hands were harsh in eloquence, victorious.

12. When it traveled, its knowledge became apparent,
As you see for yourself from that veil, virtues.

13. For it, the excellent word woos, and its contrary,
Like one groping in the night, or with it, firewood collecting.

14. And it is but the sun—immense is its light,
And who else are they if named but stars?

15. Whenever it composed, by God his worth,
The jewels in it and the probing insights were seen.

16. And there settle in the verses of its systematic composition,
Intellects caressed gently by hearts enraptured.

17. And all the rhymes are standing for its command,
So it chooses from among them what it desires.

18. Thus have all the punctuation become submissive to it,
Its subtlety revealed to it, so it might inscribe.

19. A literary figure whom poetry made his banner,
And he disseminates as if disseminated when he is scribe.

20. So do not, O envious ones, seek to catch up with him,
For that is impossible, and gifts are God-given.

21. And do not hope to overcome him in his discourse,
You will find in him lions victorious.

22. They are called knights for their discernment,
So this name suits this attributed one.

23. He never ceased to be in the horizon with his perfection,
Our easts and likewise the wests praise him.