1. صادَ الفُؤادَ بِرَملِ رامَةَ ريمُ

    فَالقَلبُ عِندَ الريمِ لَيسَ يَريمُ

    A gazelle captured my heart on Rama's sands.

    So my heart remains beside the gazelle, never departing.

  2. مُتَدَلِّلٌ صَلَفاً عَلى مُتَذَلِّلٍ

    كَلَفاً يَهُمُّ بِسَلوَةٍ فَيَهيمُ

    He is coy and haughty toward one abased

    by passion, who thinks of forgetting, then grows love-mad.

  3. فَالمَوتُ إِن يَنظُر وَإِن يَنفُر مَعاً

    وَقعُ السِهامِ وَنَزعُهُنَّ أَليمُ

    So death comes alike whether he looks or recoils:

    The arrows' impact and their removal are painful.

  4. حَبُّ الغَمامِ يُغيرُهُ مُتَبَسِّماً

    وَالدُرُّ في التَقصارِ وَهوَ نَظيمُ

    He makes the clouds' hailstones jealous as he smiles,

    and pearls fall short, even when strung.

  5. أَنا في هَواهُ لا أَبينُ لِناظِرٍ

    جِسمي مِنَ الطَرفِ السَقيم سَقيمُ

    In my love for him, I am invisible to an onlooker;

    my body is sick from his languid gaze.

  6. لَو ذُقتُ بَردَ رُضابِهِ لَشُفيتُ مِن

    سَقَمي لِأَنَّ رُضابَهُ تَسنيمُ

    If I tasted the coolness of his saliva, I would be healed of

    my illness, for his saliva is Tasnim.

  7. ما ذُقتُ بَردَ العَيشِ بَعدَ فِراقِهِ

    فَالماءُ سُمٌّ وَالنَّسيمُ سَمومُ

    I have not tasted life's coolness since parting from him;

    so water is poison, and the breeze a scorching wind.

  8. وَحَياةِ مالِكِنا المُعظَّمِ إِنَّها

    قَسمٌ لَنا لَو تَعلَمونَ عَظيمُ

    By the life of our lord al-Mu'azzam—it is

    a mighty oath for us, if you only knew.

  9. إِنّي عَلى نارِ الغَضى بِفِراقِهِ

    لا النارُ عَنها صينَ إِبراهيمُ

    Indeed, parted from him, I am on a fire of ghada wood—

    not the fire from which Ibrahim was protected.

  10. مَلِكٌ تَطيرُ العُربُ مِنهُ مَخافَةً

    وَالعُجمُ عَن أَوطانِها وَالرومُ

    A king from whom the Arabs take flight in fear,

    and non-Arabs and Romans flee their homelands.

  11. وَلِبيضِهِ في الهامِ تَكسيرٌ وَلِل

    سُمرِ الذَّوابِلِ فيهمُ تَحطيمُ

    His bright swords shatter skulls, and the

    dark, slender spears crush them.

  12. فَكَأَنَّهُ الأَسَدُ الغضَنفَرُ هازِماً

    وَالقَومُ كُلٌّ مِنهُمُ مَهزومُ

    He is like a mighty lion, routing them,

    and every one of the host is routed.

  13. يَطوي البِلادَ بِشُهبِهِ وَبِنُجبِهِ

    فَيَنالُ ما يَختارُهُ وَيَرومُ

    He folds up the lands with his gray steeds and noble mounts,

    and attains whatever he chooses and desires.

  14. لَو كانَ في تِلكَ المَناسِكِ أَنفُسٌ

    لَسَعى إِلَيهِ زَمزَمٌ وَحَطيمُ

    If there were souls in those pilgrimage sites,

    Zamzam and Hatim would surely hasten to him.

  15. مَلِكٌ تَفَرَّعَ في العُلومِ مَناظِراً

    فَعَلا وَلَم تَعزُب عَلَيهِ عُلومُ

    A king who scaled the heights of learning in debate,

    so he rose high, and no branch of learning eluded him.

  16. فَالنَحوُ فيهِ سيبَوَيهِ جَليسُهُ

    وَأَبو عَلِيِّ الفارِسِيُّ نَديمُ

    As for grammar, Sibawayh is his companion,

    and Abu Ali al-Farisi his boon companion.

  17. وَالتاجُ تاجُ الدينِ زَيدٌ إِن تُنا

    ظِرهُ أَتى مِنهُ لَهُ التسليمُ

    And al-Taj—Taj al-Din Zayd—if brought

    into debate with him, would concede to him.

  18. وَالشِعرُ فيهِ أَبو نُواسٍ عَبدُهُ

    في جدِّهِ إِذ هَزلُهُ مَذمومُ

    And in poetry, Abu Nuwas is his servant

    in his serious verse, since his jesting is condemned.

  19. وَبِحَجِّهِ حازَ الكَمالَ بِأَسرِهِ

    فَلَهُ جَديدُ سَعادَةٍ وَقَديمُ

    And through his pilgrimage he attained perfection in full,

    so his is good fortune, both new and old.

  20. وَالفِقهُ عَنهُ تَقاعَسَت أَربابُهُ

    إِذ كانَ فيهِ لِشَأوِهِ التَقديمُ

    And in jurisprudence, its masters have lagged behind him,

    for his attainments earn him precedence in it.

  21. وَلِمَذهَبِ النُعمانِ فيهِ سَعادَةٌ

    طَلَعَت بِها في الخافِقَينِ نُجومُ

    And in him, al-Nu'man's school enjoys good fortune,

    through which stars have risen in East and West.

  22. لَو ساعَدَ المَملوكَ سَعدٌ سارَ في

    كَنَفِ الرِّكابِ وَإِنَّهُ لَكَريمُ

    Had fortune favored this servant, he would have traveled in

    the shelter of the caravan—and he is surely generous.

  23. لَكِنَّهُ لَمّا تَأَخَّرَ فاتَهُ

    مِنهُ نَعيمٌ وَاِحتَوَتهُ جَحيمُ

    But when he stayed behind, he missed

    bliss from him, and hell engulfed him.

  24. لَم يَنقَعِ الظَّمَأَ الَّذي بِفُؤادِهِ

    حَجُّ المَقامِ بَلِ الأُوامُ مُقيمُ

    The thirst within his heart was not quenched

    by pilgrimage to the abode; rather, the burning thirst remains.

  25. أَنا إِذ بَعُدتُ كَصاحِبِ الحوتِ الَّذي

    نادى الإِلَهَ وَإِنَّهُ لَكَظيمُ

    When far away, I am like the companion of the fish, who

    called upon God while choked with anguish.

  26. إِن لَم تُوافِ إِلَيهِ رَحمَةُ رَبِّهِ

    نُبِذَ العَراءَ فَبانَ وَهوَ ذَميمُ

    Had his Lord's mercy not reached him,

    he would have been cast into the open, exposed and disgraced.

  27. يا أَيُّها المَلِكُ المُطاعُ وَجُندُهُ

    لِلبيضِ فَوقَ رَؤوسِهِم تَسويمُ

    O king who is obeyed, whose troops

    wear marked helmets upon their heads!

  28. كَم في بُسَيطَةَ قَد بَسَطتَ مَكارِماً

    أَحيَت عِظامَ الجودِ وَهيَ رَميمُ

    How many generous deeds you have spread in Busayta,

    reviving generosity's bones when they had crumbled!

  29. فَالشَوكُ وَردٌ وَالحَصا دُرٌّ وَذا

    كَ الماءُ راحٌ وَالعِضاهُ كُرومُ

    So thorns are roses, pebbles pearls, and that

    water is wine, and thorn trees are grapevines.

  30. لي مُذ خَلَت مِنكَ الدِيارُ فَلا خَلَت

    بِدِمَشقَ شَوقٌ مُقعِدٌ وَمُقيمُ

    I have, since the dwellings lost you—may they never lack you—

    in Damascus a longing that cripples me and holds me fast.

  31. فَأُقابِلُ البابَ العَزيزَ مُقَبِّلاً

    عَتَباتِهِ وَبِهِ الدُموعُ سُجومُ

    So I face the august gate, kissing

    its thresholds, while tears pour down there.

  32. الشَّمسُ أَنتَ فَلا دَنَت لِأُفولِها

    إِن غِبتَ عَنّا فَالأَغَرُّ بَهيمُ

    You are the sun—may it never approach its setting!

    If you are absent from us, the bright day turns pitch-dark.

  33. لا فارَقَ المَلِكُ المُعَظَّمُ مُلكَهُ

    أَبَداً وَدانَ لِشأوِهِ التَعظيمُ

    May King al-Mu'azzam never leave his kingdom,

    ever, and may veneration bow before his eminence.