1. فيك أمّا في سواك فَلاَ

    أنظمُ التشبيبَ والغزلا

    Of you—but of no one else—

    I compose amatory preludes and love poetry.

  2. وأسدُّ الأذنَ إن عذلوا

    فيك كيلا أسمع العَدَلاّ

    And I stop my ear if they reproach me

    over you, lest I hear reproach.

  3. مَنْ لِقَلبٍ ما سلاك وإن

    قالتِ العُذّالُ فيه سلا

    Who will tend a heart that has not forgotten you, though

    the reproachers say of it, 'It has forgotten'?

  4. ودموعٍ فيك حين جرتْ

    جعلتْ خدّي لها سُبُلا

    And tears for you, when they flowed,

    made my cheek their pathways;

  5. وخيالٍ منك حين سرى

    يتخطّى نحوي المُقَلاَ

    and a phantom of you, when it traveled by night,

    stepped over the eyes toward me.

  6. قد رأى قلبي فَسَلْهُ إذاً

    هل رأى في طيّهِ بدلا

    It has seen my heart; ask it, then,

    whether it saw a replacement within its folds.

  7. ونصيحِ غير مُتّهَمٍ

    قد أطال العذْل فيك بلا

    And a counselor beyond suspicion

    has prolonged his rebukes over you in vain.

  8. يا نصيحي أنتَ أكبر مِن

    أن تقولَ الغيّ والخطلا

    My counselor, you are too great

    to utter error and foolishness.

  9. أنتَ فيما قلته ثقةٌ

    غير أن القلب ما قبلا

    You are trustworthy in what you have said,

    but the heart has not accepted it.

  10. كيف أسلو حُب ذي كفلٍ

    بهلاك الخلق قد كفِلاَ

    How can I forget loving one whose hips

    have guaranteed the ruin of all creation?

  11. كم رنا ثم انثنى مَيَداً

    فأغارَ البيضَ والأسلا

    How often he gazed, then turned, swaying,

    and made bright swords and spears jealous!

  12. ليت شعري عن لواحظه

    أسيوفاً كنَّ أم مُقَلاَ

    Would that I knew about his glances:

    were they swords, or eyes?

  13. وعنِ الأعطافِ هَل سرقت

    مَيَدَ الأغْصَانِ والميَلا

    And of his flanks—have they stolen

    the sway and bending of branches?

  14. وفتُورٍ في لواحظِهِ

    كيف يوهي الفارسَ البطلا

    And the languor in his glances—

    how does it weaken the valiant horseman?

  15. وكؤوسٍ مِنْ مَرَاشفِهِ

    حوتِ الصَّهباءَ والعَسَلا

    And cups from his lips

    held tawny wine and honey,

  16. كخِصالِ الفَضْلِ إذ جُمعَتْ

    فِي سليل السَّادة الفُضَلا

    like the qualities of excellence, when gathered

    in the scion of virtuous lords—

  17. من إذا جادَتْ أناملُه

    قالتِ العَلْياءِ لاَ شلَلاَ

    one for whom, whenever his fingertips give generously,

    Glory says, 'May they never be paralyzed!'

  18. كم لَهُ في النّاس من نعمٍ

    ضربتْ بين الوري مثلاَ

    How many favors he has bestowed on people

    have become proverbial among mankind!

  19. كمْ قتامٍ تحت ظلمته

    عانَقَ العسّالَةَ الذيُّلا

    Beneath how many a dust cloud's darkness

    has he embraced the long, quivering spears!

  20. تركَ الأترابَ في تعبٍ

    وعلى هامِ السّماك عَلاَ

    He left his peers weary,

    and rose above the crown of al-Simāk.

  21. ربّما ازدادَتْ طلاقتُه

    حينَ يلقى الحادثَ الجلَلاَ

    Often his cheerfulness increases

    when he faces a momentous calamity.

  22. لو رأتْ عينَاكَ نائِلَهُ

    لرأيتَ العارضَ الهطِلا

    Were your eyes to see his bounty,

    you would see a raincloud pouring down.

  23. أو تبدّي يومَ مَعْركةٍ

    قلت ليث الْغَاب قد حَملا

    Or, were he to appear on a day of battle,

    you would say, 'The lion of the thickets has charged!'

  24. سيّدي وافى قريضُكمُ

    فشَقَى الأَوصَابَ والعَللاَ

    My master, your poetry arrived,

    and made pains and ailments suffer.

  25. وطلبتُم أن أجيبكمُ

    فأطعتُ الأمر مُمْتثِلا

    And you asked me to answer you,

    so I dutifully obeyed the command.