1. Time has been kind and with beauty it is blessed,
Spring has arrived, so rejoice O delighted souls!

2. Spring has revived its youth and restored it
After aging, wearing the raiment of youth once more.

3. And upon the gardens it poured forth abundantly
When it let loose the threads of branches flexuous.

4. With them it wove its leaves and its flowers,
Taking varied and manifold shapes and hues;

5. Some blue, some white, some red,
Some green, brilliant, and some red, most wondrous,

6. So lilacs, clematis, and honeysuckle,
And emeralds with red, most lustrous.

7. And in the thickets of the gardens you see the flowers like jewels,
Their trees garlanded high on the boughs.

8. So smell the roses with gazing eyes intent
And kiss their gardens, most fragrant.

9. Then embrace the fair brides of their blossoms
Preening over the narcissi's eyes.

10. And fill up cups of glass, most delightful, and quaff
The wine of joy from the rims of the goblets.

11. And enter these gardens of yours singing gaily
And sit with its boon companions and feel at ease.

12. Confiding to them the secret of passion—
Sweetest talk—with the clever and wise friend.

13. The rose half-open on its branch
Like stars illuminating the wings of the hawk.

14. Its buds are domes of carnelian as they rise
Over columns of emerald, confusing each geometrician.

15. And the jasmine is scattered dirhams
On the crown of emerald, delight of souls.

16. And the anemones like battlements with smiling faces
Within which the gardens show no frowning visages.

17. Then the white lily, each one a cup
Of graceful carnelian, most witty.

18. Its seeds like a drop of amber
Clasped by the lips of a bud not fully opened.

19. And the acacia flaunts its blossoms rising over it
With a charming and soft aspect.

20. So strings of honeysuckle are suspended
On green stalks turned to satin.

21. Where the doves and bees murmur noisily,
Making loud noises amid the early-risers and late-sleepers.

22. Where the birds in these gardens are squatters,
Some speaking, some silent.

23. And the breeze makes itself felt upon the branches,
And its tongue now says “Arise, be lively!”

24. So turn flasks of wine into bubbling springs
Melting carnelians from the rim of the overflowing cup.

25. And pour the blood of the grape in the goblets
From the excellent sap of the clematis fashioning the finest cups.

26. And drink without fearing blame, drinking to excess
From early morn to late dusk cease not!

27. And receive it from the hand of the moon that
Stole minds, and before it they were not beguiled.

28. While the breeze is a sun, and the one offering it to us is a moon,
And the sun from it dons the raiment of bashfulness.

29. So that you may witness the conjunction of two luminaries in one session—
And that the conjunction of two luminaries in one session may be mine!

30. And let it start by drinking its first draft—
The draft of a beloved, by it souls are healed.

31. And drink to the rose of cheeks, for it is
More beautiful for the rose than any shoot.

32. And likewise to the bending stem of a gazelle and a narcissus
In whose eye is languor, even if it does not sleep.

33. For the sweetest tasting wine is what shows
On the rose of cheeks and the narcissus.

34. So when its intoxication takes hold, kiss its mouth,
For from it the water of life—hasten and take!

35. If you gain a sip from its saliva,
You will live forever, and loss will not touch you.

36. And look to the styles of eulogies riding
The sublime of eloquence and wit most excellent.

37. And exaggerate in eulogizing my superior brother
Abdul Ghani, the clever son of the clever.

38. Lord of sciences, my brother of knowledge, one for whom
Every author and teacher has bowed in humility.

39. The reliable, the trusted, my pious brother,
Of fair speech, and who was no trickster.

40. The scholar, the expert, the jurist, the Shafi’ite,
An ocean before which all oceans are forgotten.

41. A protector, a zealot, with him
Are people of merit, heads bowed down.

42. The noblest, the proudest, the revered, brother of the Exalted,
Chief of chiefs whether in an assembly or session.

43. The perfect, the excellent, the dignified, and one robed
In virtues and awe-inspiring traits.

44. None of his peers but tyrannized
Like the sun amidst the prostrate stars.

45. They did not resemble him, yet he is their chief,
A chief is not like one who did not preside!

46. Lord of eloquence, rhetoric, and wisdom
Wild poetic meters obey him and do not revolt.

47. Peerless is his poetry and his eloquence
Unlike the poems of Suhayban or the contrived.

48. If his words had reached the hearing of an Arab
He would have described it as dumbstruck.

49. O you unique paragon in perfection
And excellent investigation and perception!

50. You gifted me a precious pearl
From a sublime, pure, and sacred soul.

51. A witty, eloquent virgin, tender, enchanting,
The like of which no mind conceived.

52. None created by intellects are born so eloquent
As to captivate minds in intimate company.

53. It wears the raiment of eloquence and rhetoric
Whose dress the ornate never wove for another.

54. What an excellent raiment of eloquence and rhetoric!
I know no raiment like it in apparel.

55. I served it with an ode from my mind
That wears the gown, not veils of satin.

56. Name it with a good name, and mend its heart,
Do not slight its qualities, do not slight!

57. And look upon it with acceptance and favor,
For acceptance for it is a most loving companion.

58. And bestow upon it the robe of pleasure
For your pleasure is the finest thing it wears.

59. And submit to and stay in the orbit of the Exalted,
At the pinnacle of the lofty and high sphere.

60. Neither has night arrived nor darkness covered it
Nor has dawn come to erase the darkness of loss.

61. Neither has a wind blown nor a nightingale sung
Nor a bough touched with flexuous stature.

62. Nor in praising you did the seal of a poem find goodness
Fragrant as musk perfuming souls.