1. إِليكَ شكوايَ مَثْلوج الفؤاد بها

    وإِنّما نزعاتُ القولِ أَلْوانُ

    To you goes my complaint, my heart soothed by it.

    And the impulses of speech are but varied hues.

  2. لا تعجل اللَّومَ فيها وارع زهرتَها

    فربّما كفّ بعضَ اللّومِ إِمعانُ

    Do not hasten to blame it; tend its blossom.

    For close reflection may curb some blame.

  3. وللقريضِ فكاهاتٌ يرنّ بها

    طيرُ البيانِ إِذا ما عزَّ مِرْنانُ

    And verse has pleasantries with which sings

    the bird of eloquence, when a ringing voice is scarce.

  4. يا حبّذا ملحُ الآدابِ من مُلَحٍ

    فكلُّها رقّةٌ حسنٌ وإِحسانُ

    Ah, how delightful the salt of letters—its witticisms!

    For all are delicacy, beauty, and excellence.

  5. والآنَ أشعرتُ أني كنتُ في سِنَةٍ

    فرّفعَتْها عن الأحداقِ أجفانُ

    And now I have been made aware that I had been in a doze;

    then eyelids lifted it from the eyes.

  6. وأبْصَرَتْ مقلتي فيما ترى عَجَباً

    وراءه لاقتضابِ الشعر ميدانُ

    And my eye beheld, in what it sees, a marvel;

    beyond it lies a field for improvising verse.

  7. ما الشأنُ في مترفٍ أضحىُ يفَنِّدهُ

    عني اللُّحاة فيغدو عنه حرمانُ

    What of a pampered one whom they now seek to dissuade

    from me—the reproachers—so that deprivation comes of him?

  8. يَروقُني منهُ معسولُ الشمائِل مغ

    نوجُ اللحِّاظِ رخيم الدَلِّ فيْنانُ

    I delight in his honey-sweet manners, his coquettish

    glances, his soft allure, his luxuriant locks.