1. مولاي أمرُكَ قد تقدّمْ

    بالصفحِ عمّا قد تقدّمْ

    My lord, your command has already come,

    to pardon what has already passed.

  2. فقبلتُه وأتيتُ أقْ

    دَمَ صاحبٍ في الهول أقدَمْ

    So I accepted it and came to the oldest

    companion, the boldest amid terror.

  3. ومن الفدامة أن أُخا

    لفَ بعدَ ما فُضّ المُفَدَّمْ

    And it is dull-wittedness to go

    against you once the stoppered vessel is unsealed,

  4. عن قهوةٍ بوجودِها

    ألبابُنا لا شكّ تُعْدَمْ

    revealing wine whose presence

    surely robs us of our wits.

  5. أخرتُها من بعدِ ما

    طُلبتْ فصحّ القولُ أقدَمْ

    I delayed it after it

    was requested; so the word “older” proved apt.

  6. فكؤوسُها تفترّ عن

    دمِ قهوةٍ في صِبْغِ عندَمْ

    So its cups smile open, revealing

    the blood of wine, the color of ʿandam dye.

  7. ويحلُّ للمضطرِّ بع

    دَ ثلاثةٍ ما شاءَ منْ دَمْ

    And for one in dire need, after

    three days, whatever blood he wishes is lawful.

  8. ونعمْ سأخدمُها ومث

    لُ جلالِك المشهورُ يُخْدَمْ

    And yes, I shall serve it; the like

    of your renowned majesty deserves service,

  9. ببديعِ ذهنٍ غادرَ الش

    عراءَ يَقْفو ما تردّمْ

    with a wondrous mind that has left the

    poets behind, pursuing what has been patched.

  10. يَبْني فيَهْدي للصوا

    بِ بما بناهُ وليس يُهدَمْ

    It builds, and guides to what is

    right through what it built, which is not demolished.

  11. والله أخّر يا مقد

    مُ كلّ ذي فضلٍ وقدّمْ

    And God has set back, O foremost

    one, every man of merit, and advanced you.

  12. ولديك أوجدَني المحا

    سنَ لا عَدِمْناها واعدِم

    And with you He let me find the

    beauties—may we never lack them—and brought want.

  13. وافَى قريضُك تلهبُ ال

    أنفاسُ فيه أم لِدَمْ

    Your verse arrived, with the

    breaths within it set aflame by Umm Lidam.

  14. زادَتْهُ حُسناً فهو ين

    شُرُ كلّما أبدى ويؤدَمْ

    She added beauty to it; thus it spreads

    whenever it is displayed, and is seasoned.

  15. وبه جيوشُ الهمّ تصْ

    دَعُ شملَها أبداً وتصدِمْ

    And through it the armies of sorrow have

    their ranks forever scattered and battered.

  16. وذكرتُ دهراً قادماً

    وافى إليكَ أسرّ مَقدَمْ

    And I spoke of an approaching time

    that reached you with the happiest arrival:

  17. من نرجسٍ جيشُ الريا

    ضِ وراءَهُ وهو المُقدّمْ

    of narcissus, with the army of the

    gardens behind it, while it leads the way.

  18. ونضير منثورٍ يُشوّ

    قُني الأسورُ والمَخدّمْ

    And fresh stock-flowers stir

    my longing: the braceleted and the ankleted.

  19. فتلوتُ دمدَمَ ربَّهُمْ

    في إثْرها والعودُ دمدَمْ

    So I recited, “Their Lord thundered,”

    in its wake, while the lute rumbled.

  20. فأنا المُنادِمُ إن حضر

    تُ وإن أغِبْ فأنا المندَّمْ

    So I am the drinking companion if I am

    present; if I am absent, I am left regretting.

  21. مهلاً أبا بكر فأن

    تَ وما أحابيكَ المُقدَّمْ

    Easy, Abu Bakr! For you

    are—and I show you no favoritism—the foremost.

  22. ومنَ العجائبِ أنْ غَدا

    بينَ الشَفا والجسْمِ يوْدَمْ

    And among the marvels is that it has come

    to be seasoned between the lip and the body.

  23. شيدتُ قافيةً بنا

    ءُ نُجومِها عندي تهدّمْ

    I raised a rhyme; the structure

    of its stars has, to my mind, collapsed.

  24. وحبَسْتُ كوْدَنَ خاطري

    عن أجردٍ كالبرقِ صلْدَمْ

    And I held back the plodding hack of my thought

    from a sleek, lightning-like, hard-hoofed steed.

  25. أقدامه يُنسي ربي

    عةَ يا ربيعُ فتى مكدَّمْ

    His daring makes one forget Rabīʿah,

    —O Rabīʿ—the young man of Mukaddam.

  26. فالدالُ قبل الميمِ من

    وجدانِ صافي الودِ أعدَمْ

    So dāl before mīm is more bereft

    of finding pure affection.

  27. ومن العلوّ أتى بأجد

    مَ راغباً في الدالِ أجْدَمْ

    And from the heights came, bearing Ajdam,

    a maimed man longing for the dāl.

  28. وقفَ النِعالَ فدَعْ فني

    قاً يذرَعُ البيداءَ مُكرَمْ

    He held the sandals back; so leave a noble

    camel to stride the wilderness, honored.