1. Her face shone with beauty and charm,
Radiant, though with a glow not quite harmless.

2. She frowned when the youth chided her,
For she was wont to affirm with a nod.

3. A beauty oppressive to lovers, she left
Them no share of life or religion.

4. Graceful, all gentleness in her manners,
Yet nothing of softness within her heart.

5. Say to the sweet-scented spices collected,
Soon the fragrance of perfumes will vanish.

6. Among people, few remain pure-hearted;
How far apart are water and clay!

7. Who would measure friends by a balance
Will find his scale the inverse of measures.

8. In life, a person's affection is for his needs,
Not for the friend, though it may last a while.

9. Woe to me! The days slipped away, lost
In the heedlessness of frivolity, folding me.

10. If my soul's reproof escapes me, it avails naught,
Though the warners be Moses and Aaron.

11. Who lives with people is not safe from their wiles,
Like one crossing the sea in January's gales.

12. Who seeks virtue from the ignoble is like one
Hoping for coolness in China's heat.

13. Among the noble there is one generous at heart
Whose stream, pure, is not made turbid.

14. That trusted one, Rislan's son, who rules
Over Lebanon, whose glory the meadows sing.

15. No fault in the doer of good can be found,
And truth appears clearly by proofs.

16. His ascendance fills eyes and ears
When he takes the foremost place in state records.

17. Upheld by God's right hand, supported,
Guarded by a watchful eye over the trusted one.

18. His good fortune reached the highest heavens,
And his name knocked on sultans' gates.

19. Courageous his heart, not distracted
From upholding laws by hearing disputes.

20. Opinions fall short before his judgement
Till each above is made as each below.

21. In his heart is wisdom whose streams overflowed
To course through his being in arteries.

22. By it he grasps time's furthest end and sees
Secrets hidden in the heart of man.

23. In every art he excels, choose as you please
In which to join him of those renowned.

24. His charm makes poetry tremble and thrill,
For he knows the import of each composition.

25. Our rhythms took wing to him, and I said
Birds graze only in gardens, not wilds.

26. Poetry is a guest who honors his host,
Not sold with him at a loss.