1. تَقَبَّلِ المُهرَ مِن أَخي ثِقَةٍ

    أَرسَلَ ريحاً بِهِ إِلى مَطَرِ

    Accept the colt from a trustworthy brother,

    who sent, in it, a wind to the rain.

  2. مُشتَمِلاً بِالظَلامِ مِن شِيَةٍ

    لَم يَشتَمِل لَيلُها عَلى سَحَرِ

    It is cloaked in the darkness of a coat

    whose night enfolded no dawn.

  3. مُنتَسِباً لَونُهُ وَغُرَّتُهُ

    إِلى سَوادِ الفُؤادِ وَالبَصَرِ

    Its color and brow trace their kinship

    to the heart's dark core and the eye's pupil.

  4. تَحسِبُهُ مِن عُلاكَ مُستَرِقاً

    بَهجَةَ مَرأى وَحُسنَ مُختَبَرِ

    You would think it had stolen from your eminence

    beauty of appearance and excellence when tried.

  5. حَنَّ إِلى راحَةٍ تَفيضُ نَدىً

    فَمالَ ظِلٌّ بِهِ عَلى نَهرِ

    It yearned for a palm overflowing with dew,

    so, in it, a shadow leaned over a river.

  6. تَرى بِهِ وَالنَشاطُ يُلهِبُهُ

    ماشِئتَ مِن فَحمَةٍ وَمِن شَرَرِ

    You see in it, as vigor sets it aflame,

    whatever you wish of coal and sparks.

  7. لَو حَمَلَ اللَيلُ حُسنَ دُهمَتِهِ

    أَمتَعَ طَرفَ المُحِبِّ بِالسَهَرِ

    If night bore the beauty of its blackness,

    it would make wakefulness a delight to the lover's eye.

  8. أَحمى مِنَ النَجمِ يَومَ مَعرَكَةٍ

    ظَهراً وَأَجرى بِهِ مِنَ القَدَرِ

    Safer than a star on a day of battle

    is its back, and on it one is swifter than fate.

  9. اِسوَدَّ وَاِبيَضَّ فِعلُهُ كَرَماً

    فَاِلتَفَتَ الحُسنُ فيهِ عَن حَوَرِ

    It is black, yet its conduct is white with nobility,

    so beauty in it turned away from the charm of black-and-white eyes.

  10. كَأَنَّهُ وَالنُفوسُ تَعشَقُهُ

    مُرَكَّبٌ مِن مَحاسِنِ الصُوَرِ

    It is as though, while souls adore it,

    it were composed of the beauties of every form.

  11. فَاِزدَد سَنا بَهجَةٍ بِدُهمَتِهِ

    فَاللَيلُ أَذكى لِغُرَّةِ القَمَرِ

    So grow in radiant splendor through its blackness,

    for night lends greater radiance to the moon's bright face.

  12. وَمِثلُ شُكري عَلى تَقَبَّلِهِ

    يَجمَعُ بَينَ النَسيمِ وَالزَهرِ

    And gratitude like mine for your accepting it

    unites the breeze and the blossoms.