يذوب فؤادي لإذكار الحبائب

ومن هيف الأتراب تهفو ترائبي

My heart melts at the remembrance of loved ones;

And for slender companions of like age, my breast flutters.

ويطربني عهد الوصال وإن غدا

بعبد التنائي من بعيد المآرب

And the time of union thrills me, though it has become

Through separation's distance [reading uncertain], a far-off desire.

كأن جيوش الشوق في غزو مهجتي

طوالب ثأر من دموعي السواكب

As though longing's armies, invading my heart,

Were seeking vengeance from my streaming tears.

فقد حسبتها مطفئان لحره

وما تطفىء الأبحار ما ضم جانبي

For I had thought them two quenchers of its heat,

Yet oceans cannot quench what my side enfolds.

ومذ خفقت لي أضلع خلت أنني

رئيس على بعث الهوى في المغارب

And when my ribs fluttered, I imagined myself

A commander of love's expedition in the western lands.

فلم ألف من هذي الرئاسة راحة

وما ازددت إلا بؤس عيش مواثبي

But I found no rest in this command,

And gained only the misery of a life that assails me.

رعى اللّه عهدا لم ينغص نعيمه

حواجب قرب أو عيون مراقب

May God preserve a time whose bliss was not disturbed

By barriers to closeness or a watcher's eyes—

زمان ترى عيناي طلعة أحمد

وبي من حديث منه هزة شارب

A time when my eyes beheld Ahmad's face,

And his talk stirred in me a drinker's thrill.

حليفي على غدر الزمان وأهله

خليلي على شحط المزار وصاحبي

My ally against the treachery of time and its people,

My dear friend despite the distance of visits, and my companion.

بديع المعاني ليس إلا بيانه

بباءاته الأغناء عن باء كاعب

Inventive in meaning—his eloquence alone,

With its bā-rhymes, dispenses with union with a full-breasted maiden.

يكاتبني مناوذلك دأبه

وما العتق إلا من نجار المكاتب

He corresponds with me as a favor, and that is his habit;

And nobility comes only from the correspondent's stock.

علا في المعالي رتبة ومكانة

ونقب عن إدراك اسنى المناقب

He rose among the highest honors, in rank and standing,

And searched deeply to attain the noblest virtues.

له منطق كالراح يلعب بالنهى

وحاشاه فيه من محاكاة لاعب

His speech is like wine, toying with the intellect,

Yet far be it from him to mimic a trifler in it.

تطاوعه عصم القوافي وان تكن

قد اعتصمت عن غير في شناخب

Rhyme's white-footed mountain goats obey him, even though they may

Have taken refuge from others on lofty peaks.

تنزه عن ذأم وذم وقلما

ترى في الورى خلا خلا عن معايب

He is free from reproach and blame, and seldom

Do you see among mankind a friend free of faults.

له الفضل أن يقبل مديحي وأنه

بمدحته إياي أفضل واهب

He does me the favor of accepting my praise, and he,

Through his praise of me, is the finest of givers.