1. لا تَأمَنَنَّ عَلى سِرّي وَسِرِّكُمُ

    غَيري وَغَيرَكِ أَوطَيَّ القَراطيسِ

    Never entrust my secret and yours

    To anyone but me and you, nor to folded sheets of paper,

  2. أَو طائِراً سَأُحَلّيهِ وَأَنعَتُهُ

    قَد كانَ صاحِبَ تابيدٍ وَتَأسيسِ

    Nor to a bird I shall portray and describe.

    It was once a master of making things endure and laying foundations.

  3. صُفرٌ تَرائِبُهُ سودٌ ذَوائِبُهُ

    حُمرٌ حَماليقُهُ في الحُسنِ مَغموسِ

    Yellow is its breast, black are its locks;

    Red are its eyelid-rims; it is steeped in beauty.

  4. قَد كانَ هَمَّ سُليمانٌ لِيَقتُلَهُ

    لَولا سِعايَتُهُ في عَرشِ بِلقيسِ

    Solomon had indeed intended to kill it,

    But for its report concerning Bilqis's throne.