بروحيَ طرس جاءني متضمِّناً

بروحيَ طرس جاءني متضمِّناً

بدائع يسري الفكر فيها ويسرح

بدائع يسري الفكر فيها ويسرح

With my soul I would ransom a sheet that came to me, bearing

My spirit, Tarsus came to me carrying

marvels through which thought journeys and roams.

Marvels, in which thought flows and wanders

به من غريب اللفظ والخط مجتلى

به من غريب اللفظ والخط مجتلى

فيالك طرساً للغريبين يشرح

فيالك طرساً للغريبين يشرح

Within it is a spectacle of rare wording and script;

With strange words and writing gathered

so what a sheet you are, explaining both rarities!

So Tarsus explains to strangers

ولغزٌ هداني نحو معناه أنَّه

ولغزٌ هداني نحو معناه أنَّه

أتى وبهِ عرفٌ من الروضِ ينفح

أتى وبهِ عرفٌ من الروضِ ينفح

And a riddle—what guided me toward its meaning was that it

And a riddle guided me to its meaning that

came bearing a fragrance wafting from the garden.

It came with a scent of the garden blowing

يشفُّ على مكتوبه طيبُ ما حوَى

يشفُّ على مكتوبه طيبُ ما حوَى

وكلُّ إناءٍ بالذي فيه ينضح

وكلُّ إناءٍ بالذي فيه ينضح

The fragrance of what it held surpasses its writing,

It heals the good contained in its writing

and every vessel exudes what is within it.

And every vessel spills what's in it overflowing

ولو كنت تبغي كتم مخبره لما

ولو كنت تبغي كتم مخبره لما

بعثت بنمَّامٍ يقول ويفصح

بعثت بنمَّامٍ يقول ويفصح

And had you sought to conceal its inner nature, you would not

If you wanted to hide the secret of its message

have sent a talebearer who speaks and makes things plain.

You wouldn't have sent a gossip to speak and tell

هو الاسم لكن نصفه فعلُ كله

هو الاسم لكن نصفه فعلُ كله

إذا جعلت أسرار معناه تلمح

إذا جعلت أسرار معناه تلمح

It is the name, yet half of it is the action of the whole,

It is the name but all of it is an action

if you begin to glimpse the secrets of its meaning.

When you guess the secrets of its meaning

ومقلوبة أحجية مثل لم يجد

ومقلوبة أحجية مثل لم يجد

فدونك نظماً عاجزاً ليس يصلح

فدونك نظماً عاجزاً ليس يصلح

And a reversed form is a riddle whose like he did not find.

And the riddle is backwards, unlike any

So take this feeble verse, which is not fit to serve.

So here is an inadequate poem that cannot excel

أجابَ فإن قال الصواب أو الخطأ

أجابَ فإن قال الصواب أو الخطأ

فمثلك هديٌ أو فمثلك يفصح

فمثلك هديٌ أو فمثلك يفصح

It answered; so if it spoke rightly or wrongly,

Answer, whether right or wrong

then one like you is a guide, or one like you speaks plainly.

So you are a guide or from you comes speech