1. The youth and playfulness are gone, the days of the rebec are past
No longer does the lutanist play the rebec

2. Nor does the beloved visit her abode
A camel caravan with tinkling bells arrives

3. Where the fresh youth are in bloom
The gentle breeze makes the meadows lush

4. My garden days in bliss flourishing
My friends gathered in merriment

5. That gazelle of the flock is my delight
Time is free, and music fills the air

6. When the branches of intimacy beckoned
Pulled by the hands of blame and reproof

7. Love adorns itself amidst the blossoms
A lush garden watered by the stream of youth

8. As if it and the tidings were a rising sun
Whose radiance has a lofty essence

9. A master who rose with glory ambitious
Settled on the highest of summits

10. His nature is flowers, wise, chaste
Beautiful, and as green as the clouds

11. Whenever his mind turned to a goal
He accomplished it in an amazing way

12. With courage like a lion in attack
And calm like rain in its downpour

13. When his fingers held the reed pens
More deft than the wrists of writing girls

14. If an argument occurred in court
And those complex issues posed difficulties

15. He would resolve the case with his judgment
And the opponent would gain the spoils

16. O noble sir, your excellence is brilliant
Your virtue manifest, unveiled

17. You are the exemplar of literature in our time
And through you, the path is made clear

18. You have tamed the wild steeds of meter and rhyme
Which were too difficult for any rider before

19. We found no rhyme scheme perfectly wrought
Except through your guidance it was properly derived

20. I have composed a riddle for you
Though timidly it comes asking

21. A triliteral name which appears lofty
Guide the inquirer to the path of right

22. My eyes watch over it as they do
Over the winding valleys’ clefts

23. Its reverse, O my friend, protects
Against enemies, fending off harm

24. If its first root’s eye should slip
That is a name for a fine yield

25. It portrays your traits in reality
And one’s traits, the fine are lauded

26. Clarify its meaning as a boon when
Called amidst the dens at evening

27. You continue to ascend time in bliss
Where the tents are pitched with lofty ceilings

28. No writer has adorned his pages nor
Have pens one day inscribed a book

29. Nor has the chanter sung his wares
Nor has the rebec sounded in the quarters