1. أهواءنا المختلفة

    قد أصبحت مؤتلفة

    Our differing desires

    have now become united

  2. في شامخ بأنفه

    على العوالي أنفه

    in a towering one, its nose held high,

    its nose above the lofty heights.

  3. وذي جناح لم يطر

    ولك طير ألفه

    And in a winged one that has never flown,

    and you have a bird that has grown fond of it.

  4. جناحه طول المدى

    يبدي علينا رفرفة

    Its wing, throughout all time,

    shows a fluttering above us.

  5. كم من كئيب عاشق

    أهدى له مشرفه

    How many a sorrowful lover

    has offered it a respectful letter,

  6. ولا يزال مرسلاً

    لنجوه ملطفه

    and still keeps sending

    a gentle note for his secret converse.

  7. في الريح ضاع قول من

    على هواه عنفه

    Lost in the wind were the words of one

    who rebuked it harshly for its passion.

  8. عليله الصحيح كم

    شفى قلوباً دنفة

    Its ailing one, though sound—how often

    it has healed ailing hearts!

  9. وروحه لطيفة

    وذاته منحرفة

    Its spirit is delicate,

    and its form is bent.

  10. عن قلبه الدين أرى

    حب الهوى قد صرفه

    I see that, from its heart, religion

    has been driven away by love of passion.

  11. ولم يكن مع الهوى

    أعطافه منعطفه

    And never, with passion,

    have its sides been bent.

  12. هواه تحت طوعه

    كيف يشاء يصرفه

    Its desire is under its command;

    it directs it however it wishes.

  13. كم عممت غمامة

    هامته المنكشفة

    How often a cloud has turbaned

    its uncovered head!

  14. ما زال غير ساكن

    ساكنه مذ ألفه

    Never still has been

    its inhabitant, since it grew fond of it.

  15. وكلما لاح له

    من الهواء التقفه

    And whenever something appears to it

    from the air, it snatches it up.

  16. فنى الوليد ذاته

    بذاته مؤتلفه

    Al-Walid perished; his essence

    is united with his own essence.

  17. سكانها سميها

    في الغرب يبدي حيفه

    Its inhabitants; its namesake

    shows its injustice in the west.

  18. فيه تشتي عصبة

    قد اصبحت مصيفه

    A band spends winter within it,

    which has now taken to summering.

  19. ببدر ذو الرشد ولا

    ينسبه إلى السفه

    With Badr, the discerning one does not

    ascribe it to folly.

  20. حمدت مع تبذيره

    وبذله تصرفه

    I praised, despite its extravagance

    and its giving, its conduct.

  21. وكل ما أسرف في

    بلد شكرنا أسرفه

    And whenever it spent lavishly in

    a land, we thanked its greatest spendthrift.

  22. ونصفه مع جبل

    ملك سطاه متلفه

    And half of it, with a mountain,

    is a king whose might is destructive.

  23. تصحيف ثلثيه جلت

    فض حديثه الشفة

    The altered dotting of two-thirds of it was made clear;

    the lip unsealed its tale.

  24. وثلثه حر فإن بلل

    حرف فدع من حرفه

    And a third of it is a vulva; if someone moistens

    a letter, leave whoever altered it.

  25. أنفاسه كم أودعت

    محاسناً مستلطفة

    Its breaths—how often they have bestowed

    delightful beauties!

  26. كم رنحت من غصن

    ذي قامة مهفهفة

    How many a bough they have made sway,

    with a slender, graceful stature!

  27. معلتة وهو الصح

    يح عند من قد عرفه

    Ailing [reading uncertain], yet it is the sound

    one, to anyone who has known it.

  28. وثوبه البيض لا

    يزال يبدي صلفه

    And its white garment never

    ceases to show its arrogance.

  29. آخره مصنف

    لعالم قد صنفه

    Its ending is a written work

    by a scholar who compiled it.

  30. وبيت سلطان غدا

    يصون فيه تحفه

    And a sultan's house, where he now

    safeguards his treasures.

  31. يكنى بسدسي لفظه

    عصابة مستنكفة

    By two-sixths of its wording is designated

    a disdainful band.

  32. وسدسه أرى السما

    والأرض والماء يألفه

    And a sixth of it—I see the sky

    and the earth and water grow fond of it.

  33. فاكشف معمى قلبه

    فمثلكم من كشفه

    So uncover the enigma of its heart,

    for one like you is the one to solve it.

  34. نهار ذهنكم محى

    من الظلام سدفه

    The daylight of your mind erased

    from the darkness its murky veils.

  35. يجري لحل المشكلا

    ت لم يخف توقفه

    It hastens to solve difficul—

    —ties; its stopping is not feared.

  36. وبحركم در وما

    صادفت فيه صدفة

    And your sea is pearls, and I have never

    encountered a shell within it.

  37. وللرقاب قلدت

    هباتك المؤلفة

    And upon necks have been hung

    your gifts that bring people together.

  38. كل البرايا نكرة

    وأنت فيهم معرفة

    All creatures are unknown,

    and you among them are well known.

  39. وخذ عروساً شنفت

    مذ جليت مشنفة

    And take a bride, adorned with earrings,

    wearing them ever since she was unveiled.

  40. زهير لو بان له

    زهر جلاها قطفة

    Were Zuhayr to see

    the bloom of her unveiling, he would pluck it [reading uncertain].

  41. أغشى سناء طرفها

    إذا لاح طرف طرفه

    The radiance of her glance dazzles,

    when it shines forth, the corner of his eye.

  42. حديقة حاسدها

    يرعد مثل السفعه

    A garden whose envier

    trembles like a palm frond [reading uncertain].