1. صَبراً عَلى نَكَدِ الحَبيبِ وَمَطلِهِ

    فَإِذا العِذارُ أَتى أَتاكَ بِشَغلِهِ

    Be patient with the beloved’s vexations and delays.

    For when cheek hair appears, it brings you its own cares.

  2. حَلَقاتُ شَعرٍ تَستَديرُ كَأَنَّها

    حَلَقُ البَريدِ بِها قَعاقِعُ عَزلِهِ

    Ringlets of hair curl into circles, as though they were

    the courier’s rings, in which his dismissal clatters.

  3. يا مَن يُوَفّي المُحسِنينَ أُجورَهُم

    وَيَزيدُهم مِن فَضلِهِ في فَضلِهِ

    O one who pays those who do good their rewards in full,

    and, in his generosity, gives them more from his bounty:

  4. إِن يمكُرِ الأَعداءُ مَكراً سَيِّئاً

    فَالوَعدُ حَقٌّ أَن يَحيقَ بِأَهلِهِ

    If enemies devise an evil scheme,

    then the promise is true: it will recoil upon its perpetrators.