إشراك الخرقا ومصفوحة جمل

واترك الكيزان واشرب في مدل

[Unclear wording: involving the foolish woman and a camel's flattened object.]

And leave the drinking mugs; drink from [an unclear vessel].

فالهوى والعشق في ذا الدهر قد

ذهبت أيامه والأثم حل

For desire and passion in this age—

Their days have passed, and sin has settled in.

واستمع مني نظاماً قد حلى

واحفظ التفصيل منه والجمل

And hear from me a poem made lovely,

And remember its details and its main points.

هات قل لي يا جمال بالنبي

هل تجد ذا الدهر من له حسن دل

Come, tell me, O Jamal, by the Prophet:

Do you find in this age someone with lovely coquetry,

أهيف القد اسيل الخد من

طرفه الفتان يسبى بالكحل

Slender of figure, smooth of cheek, one whose

Bewitching gaze captivates with kohl?

كلما قورزت أو جاناً له

استحى واحمر خده من خجل

Whenever [unclear action], or [unclear phrase] toward him,

He grows shy, and his cheek reddens with embarrassment.

أو درى أنك مضنى مولع

لازم الهجر وابدالك شغل

Or, if he knows you are languishing, infatuated,

He persists in estrangement and shows you he is busy [uncertain wording].

لا وجدك يا جمالي ما رأت

مقلتي يا صاح مرتج الكفل

No, by your good fortune, O Jamali, never has

My eye, O friend, seen one with a quivering rump.

يا ابن ابينا يا كريم الأصل قد

حار فكري في هوى ظبي المحل

O son of our father, O noble-born one, indeed

My mind is bewildered by love for the gazelle of this abode.

سامي الجيد وسحاب الرنا

درى الثغر الذي فيه العسل

Lofty of neck, with clouds of lingering gazes,

Pearly of mouth, a mouth that holds honey.

إن حساه الصب في وقت الشتاء

طرد البرد وحولاب الكعل

If the lovesick lover sips it in wintertime,

It drives out the cold, and [the remaining phrase is unclear].

فارتشفه يا جمالي عاجلا

وان بدت صفراء فاقمعها بخل

So sip it at once, O Jamali,

And if yellow bile appears, quell it with vinegar.

سف ريح الجو من فوق الجباء

وغذا ما شئت فاصطاد الخيل

Draw in the air's breeze from above [an unclear place].

And when [uncertain reading] you wish, hunt the horses.

شاترد ايام مرت قد حلا

عيشها والأنسن فيها قد كمل

[Unclear opening] days gone by, when sweet was

Their life, and companionship in them was complete [uncertain wording].

وبسفح البير يجمع شملنا

من دخل يخرج ويخرج من دخل

And at the foot of the well we are reunited.

Whoever enters goes out, and out goes whoever entered.

وابلغ الضرغام في يوم الوغى

فارس الخيل وخصاب الأسل

And convey to the lion on the day of battle—

The rider of horses and stainer of lances—

أحسن المشهور ما بين الملا

الهمام السامي الندب الأجل

The finest of those renowned among the people,

The valiant, exalted, gallant, most august—

السلام الطيب الأسنى الذي

ذكره يا صاح من خير العمل

The good, most radiant greeting of peace, whose

Utterance, O friend, is among the best of deeds.

جمعت مشواره مقولة

وترى جلسته مثل المدل

A saying has encompassed his journey;

And you see his seated posture like [an unclear object].

وإذا ما سألوا عن قده

قلت مقدار ذراعٍ أو أقل

And whenever they ask about his stature,

I say: a cubit's measure, or less.

ومحياه حكى سمسمة

ما درينا وسطها أين المقل

And his face resembles a sesame seed;

We could not tell where the eyes were within it.

وإذا أعطيته خشخاشة

فهي تكفيه طعاماً إن أكل

And if you give him a poppy seed,

It is enough food for him, if he eats.

وإذا أعطيت مشروباً له

مص منه في الهوى مثل الوشل

And if you give him a drink,

He sucks from it in love, like a scant trickle.

وله ألف مكان في الحشا

كم وكم من ذا إلى هذا نقل

And he has a thousand places in the heart's depths.

How often, how often, he was moved from this place to that!

كم بساتين له في مهجتي

هو كالطيف بها والوهم حل

How many gardens he has within my soul!

He is like a phantom there, and fancy has settled in.

خصره ما نظرته مقلتي

لا ولا أبصرت في القد الكفل

My eye has never seen his waist,

No, nor have I seen the rump on his frame.

لست أدري أين هو من لطفه

لا ولا في القلب مني اين دخل

I do not know where he is, so delicate is he,

No, nor where he entered this heart of mine.

إنما عيني رأت طلعته

كشعاع الشمس من ثقب نزل

My eye saw only his visage,

Like a sunbeam descending through a hole.

وله خد حكى خردلة

وله أنف على قدر المحفل

And he has a cheek resembling a mustard seed,

And he has a nose the size of the assembly hall.

إن تثنى قلت سارت ذرة

أو من النامس محبوب وصل

If he sways, I say: a tiny ant has moved,

Or a beloved from among the mosquitoes has arrived.

فلهذا همت بالوهم به

كل من سار على الدرب وصل

So for this reason I became enamored of him in imagination;

Everyone who walks the path arrives.