1. سَلِ العرصات والبانا

    عنِ الظبيِ الّذي بانا

    Ask the dwelling-grounds and the ban trees

    about the gazelle who departed.

  2. وقُل هل جاوزَ الأحبا

    ب في الركبان ركبانا

    And ask: have the beloveds overtaken

    caravans among the riders?

  3. وَهل قاضتهم الرحلا

    ت بالخودانِ خودانا

    And did the journeys compensate them

    for fair maidens with fair maidens?

  4. لَقد تَركوا القلوبَ لهم

    وَللأوطانِ أوطانا

    They have indeed left the hearts, for themselves

    and for the homelands, as homes.

  5. ربوع كم بها جرّر

    تُ أذيالاً وأردانا

    Abodes—how often there I trailed

    hems and sleeves.

  6. وصدتُ جآذراً من سر

    بِ ساكنها وغزلانا

    And I hunted wild-ox calves from the herd

    of their dwellers, and gazelles.

  7. وَباعثة جيوش الحب

    بِ ألحاظاً وأجفانا

    And a woman who sends forth love's armies—

    glances and eyelids—

  8. تُقاضيني بصفوِ الود

    دِ إعراضاً وهجرانا

    repays me for pure affection

    with aversion and desertion.

  9. فَقَلبي لا يزالُ لخص

    رِها الظمآن ظمآنا

    So my heart never ceases to thirst

    for her thirsty waist.

  10. تهزّ إِذا مَشت غُصناً

    بِماءِ الحسن ريّانا

    She sways a bough when she walks,

    lush with the water of beauty.

  11. وتَحلو حين تبسمُ مث

    ل سمط الدرِّ أَسنانا

    And when she smiles, her teeth are lovely,

    like a string of pearls.

  12. ووجهاً كلّما صدّت

    بهِ في حسنهِ زانا

    And her face, whenever she turns

    it away, grows more beautiful,

  13. كمثلِ البدرِ إلّا أن

    نها لم تَخش نُقصانا

    like the full moon, except that

    she fears no waning.

  14. يظلُّ إِزارها من رد

    فها الملآن ملآنا

    Her wrap stays filled out

    by her full rump.

  15. تُريني بالرِضا والسخ

    طِ جنّات ونيرانا

    Through favor and displeasure she shows me

    gardens and fires,

  16. وتبدي لي من الإدلا

    لِ طاعات وعصيانا

    and out of coquetry she shows me

    obedience and defiance.

  17. أَلا يا طالباً في سع

    يهِ يُسراً وإمكانا

    Listen, O you who seek in your striving

    ease and opportunity:

  18. سلِ السلطان محي الجو

    د يعرب نجل سلطانا

    ask the sultan, reviver of generosity,

    Ya'rub, son of Sultan.

  19. مليكٌ لا تقس شرفاً

    بهِ سيفاً وعرّانا

    A king—do not compare in nobility

    Sayf and 'Arran with him.

  20. يعير الفخر مفرق رأ

    سهِ بيضاً وتيجانا

    Glory lends the crown of his head

    helmets and crowns.

  21. وَينسي ذكرهُ الفتح اِب

    نَ خاقان بن خاقانا

    And mention of him makes al-Fath

    ibn Khaqan forget Ibn Khaqan.

  22. لهُ بأسٌ يزلزل أه

    لَ كحلان وكحلانا

    His might shakes the people

    of Kahlan—and Kahlan itself.

  23. إِذا ذُكرت سياستهُ

    فما عثمانُ عثمانا

    When his statecraft is mentioned,

    then 'Uthman is no 'Uthman,

  24. وَلا قابوس قابوساً

    ولا حسّان حسّانا

    nor Qabus Qabus,

    nor Hassan Hassan.

  25. كأنّ أكفّه للجو

    دِ سيحان وجيحانا

    It is as though his palms, in generosity,

    were Sayhan and Jayhan.

  26. وَلَو جَدواه غيثاً كا

    نَ كالطوفانِ طوفانا

    Were his bounty rain, it would

    be a flood like the deluge.

  27. وَلكن سحب كفّيه

    هَمت ورقاً وغفيانا

    But the clouds of his two palms

    rain down silver and gold.

  28. لَقد فضلت به نخلٌ

    عِراقاً بل خُراسانا

    Indeed, through him Nakhl has surpassed

    Iraq—indeed, even Khurasan.

  29. وَجاوزَ فضلها في شأ

    وهِ حلباً ونجرانا

    And its excellence, in its reach, has surpassed

    Aleppo and Najran.

  30. أَلا يا مَن لَنا قد أت

    بعَ الإحسانَ إحسانا

    Listen, O you who for us have followed

    kindness with kindness,

  31. وَمَن هو بالندى في مد

    دةِ الأحيانِ أحيانا

    and who, through generosity, throughout

    the span of time, have given us life:

  32. لَقد أُعطيت في ملك ال

    عبادِ الأمرَ والشانا

    you have indeed been granted, in ruling

    the people, authority and eminence.

  33. وَأَصبحَ مجدُك العالي

    على كيوان كيوانا

    And your lofty glory has become

    a Saturn above Saturn.