1. أهواءنا المختلفة

    قد أصبحت مؤتلفة

    Our differing passions

    Have now become united

  2. في شامخ بأنفه

    على العوالي أنفه

    In a lofty one who holds his nose high,

    His nose above the lofty spears;

  3. وذي جناح لم يطر

    ولك طير ألفه

    And a winged one who has never flown,

    And you have a bird familiar with him.

  4. جناحه طول المدى

    يبدي علينا رفرفة

    His wing, throughout all time,

    Displays its fluttering above us.

  5. كم من كئيب عاشق

    أهدى له مشرفه

    How many a sorrowful lover

    Has sent him his honored missive!

  6. ولا يزال مرسلاً

    لنجوه ملطفه

    And he is always sending

    His gentle note to his confidant.

  7. في الريح ضاع قول من

    على هواه عنفه

    Lost upon the wind were the words of one

    Who rebuked him for his passion.

  8. عليله الصحيح كم

    شفى قلوباً دنفة

    His ailing yet healthy breeze—how often

    It has healed hearts sick with longing!

  9. وروحه لطيفة

    وذاته منحرفة

    And his spirit is subtle,

    And his body is bent.

  10. عن قلبه الدين أرى

    حب الهوى قد صرفه

    Religion from his heart, I see,

    Has been driven out by love of desire.

  11. ولم يكن مع الهوى

    أعطافه منعطفه

    And even in the midst of passion,

    His flanks were never bent.

  12. هواه تحت طوعه

    كيف يشاء يصرفه

    His desire is subject to his will;

    He directs it however he wishes.

  13. كم عممت غمامة

    هامته المنكشفة

    How often a cloud has turbaned

    His uncovered head!

  14. ما زال غير ساكن

    ساكنه مذ ألفه

    Ever restless remains

    His dweller, since first befriending him.

  15. وكلما لاح له

    من الهواء التقفه

    And whenever there appears to him

    Anything of the air, he snatches it up.

  16. فنى الوليد ذاته

    بذاته مؤتلفه

    Al-Walid's courtyard is his very substance,

    United with his own self.

  17. سكانها سميها

    في الغرب يبدي حيفه

    Its inhabitants are its namesake;

    In the west he displays his injustice.

  18. فيه تشتي عصبة

    قد اصبحت مصيفه

    In him a band spends winter,

    Though they have now entered summer.

  19. ببدر ذو الرشد ولا

    ينسبه إلى السفه

    At Badr is the prudent man; nor

    Does he ascribe him to folly.

  20. حمدت مع تبذيره

    وبذله تصرفه

    I praised, despite his squandering

    And lavish giving, his conduct.

  21. وكل ما أسرف في

    بلد شكرنا أسرفه

    And whenever he spent lavishly in

    A town, we praised his most lavish act.

  22. ونصفه مع جبل

    ملك سطاه متلفه

    And half of him, with a mountain,

    Is a king whose might brings ruin.

  23. تصحيف ثلثيه جلت

    فض حديثه الشفة

    The redotting of two thirds of him—polished is

    The silver of his speech by the lip.

  24. وثلثه حر فإن بلل

    حرف فدع من حرفه

    And one third of him is heat; if you moisten

    A letter, leave whoever altered him.

  25. أنفاسه كم أودعت

    محاسناً مستلطفة

    How often his breaths have deposited

    Delightful beauties!

  26. كم رنحت من غصن

    ذي قامة مهفهفة

    How many a bough they have set swaying,

    Of slender, graceful stature!

  27. معلتة وهو الصح

    يح عند من قد عرفه

    Ailing [text uncertain], though he is sound

    In the eyes of those who have known him.

  28. وثوبه البيض لا

    يزال يبدي صلفه

    And his white garment never

    Ceases to display his haughtiness.

  29. آخره مصنف

    لعالم قد صنفه

    His ending is a book

    By a scholar who composed it,

  30. وبيت سلطان غدا

    يصون فيه تحفه

    And a sultan's house, where he now

    Keeps his treasures safe.

  31. يكنى بسدسي لفظه

    عصابة مستنكفة

    By two sixths of his name is designated

    A disdainful band.

  32. وسدسه أرى السما

    والأرض والماء يألفه

    And one sixth of him, I see, the sky

    And earth and water all befriend.

  33. فاكشف معمى قلبه

    فمثلكم من كشفه

    So solve the riddle of his heart,

    For one like you can unveil it.

  34. نهار ذهنكم محى

    من الظلام سدفه

    The daylight of your mind has erased

    From the darkness its dusky veils.

  35. يجري لحل المشكلا

    ت لم يخف توقفه

    It races to solve difficult problems;

    No fear is felt that it will falter.

  36. وبحركم در وما

    صادفت فيه صدفة

    And your sea is pearls, and never

    Have I found a shell within it.

  37. وللرقاب قلدت

    هباتك المؤلفة

    And around necks have been strung

    Your gifts that bring accord.

  38. كل البرايا نكرة

    وأنت فيهم معرفة

    All creatures are indefinite,

    And you among them are the definite one.

  39. وخذ عروساً شنفت

    مذ جليت مشنفة

    And take a bride who has delighted ears

    Since she was unveiled, adorned with earrings.

  40. زهير لو بان له

    زهر جلاها قطفة

    Had Zuhayr caught sight of

    The blossoms of her unveiling, a picked bouquet,

  41. أغشى سناء طرفها

    إذا لاح طرف طرفه

    The radiance of her marvels would have dazzled

    His eye, if but a glimpse appeared.

  42. حديقة حاسدها

    يرعد مثل السفعه

    A garden, whose envier

    Trembles like a palm frond [reading uncertain].