1. They bid me describe him and enumerate his charms,
But I said, "I have been assigned an impossible task."
١. يَقولونَ لي صِفْهُ وَعُدَّ حِسانَهُ
فَقُلتُ لَقَد كُلِّفتُ أَمراً مُحالا
2. However I count and detail his faults,
Though he has a fault overlaid with beauty.
٢. وَلَكِنَّني أُحصي وأَحصرُ عَيبَهُ
وَأنّ بِهِ عَيباً كَساهُ جَمالا
3. He is none but the noblest of mankind,
And most generous ere being asked.
٣. وَما هوَ إِلّا كَونُه فاضِلَ الوَرى
وَأَعظَمُهم قَبلَ السّؤالِ نَوالا