1. طفل السرور من الصهباء مولودُ

    فعاطنيها وصافي العيش موجودُ

    The child of joy is born of tawny wine.

    So pass it to me, while life's serenity is at hand.

  2. بكرا معتقةً صفراء رائقةً

    لها محبان سكيتٌ وعربيد

    A virgin wine, aged, yellow, and clear,

    With two lovers: a silent man and a riotous drunkard.

  3. شمساً إذا ما انجلت في الكاس مشرقةً

    فللمتيّم تهيامٌ وتغريدُ

    A sun that, whenever it shines forth radiantly in the cup,

    Brings the love-stricken lover rapture and song.

  4. سلافةً من قديم العصر صافيةً

    لم يدر مولدها هودٌ وداودُ

    Pure, choice wine from an ancient age,

    Whose birth neither Hud nor David knew.

  5. كادت تطير لنا لو لم يكن زردٌ

    من الحباب على الكاسات منضودُ

    It would almost fly to us, but for links of mail

    Made of bubbles arrayed across the cups.

  6. راقت مزاجاً وقد رقّت زجاجتها

    حتى توهّمتُ ان الراح منقودُ

    Its blend was delightful, and its glass so delicate,

    Until I imagined the wine to be coin [wording unclear].

  7. كأنها ذوب ياقوتٍ له حببٌ

    من خالص الدر مسبوكٌ ومعقودُ

    As though it were molten ruby, bearing bubbles

    Of pure pearl, cast and strung together.

  8. باتت تدارُ علينا من مهفهفةٍ

    جبينها كوكبٌ والقد املودُ

    All night it was passed among us by a slender woman,

    Her brow a star, her figure supple.

  9. بسامة الثغر وضّاحٌ عوارضها

    معسولة الريق في الخدين توريدُ

    Her mouth ever smiling, her teeth gleaming,

    Her saliva honey-sweet, her cheeks flushed with roses.

  10. طبيّة من ظبا عسفان نافرةٌ

    تسبيك مقلتها السوداءُ والجيدُ

    A skittish doe from the gazelles of Usfan,

    Her black eye and her neck take you captive.

  11. غيداءُ مولعة بالتيه عابثة

    بالعاشقين كذاك الخد والغيدُ

    A supple beauty, fond of disdain, toying

    With lovers; her cheek and graceful sway do likewise.

  12. وتبيت ريّانة الأجفان من سنةٍ

    وفي جفون أخي الأشفاق تسهيدُ

    And all night her eyelids brim with drowsiness,

    While the anxious lover's eyelids are kept sleepless.

  13. ما اسكرتني شمول بت اشربها

    لكن شمائلها والأعينُ السودُ

    It was not the wine I drank all night that intoxicated me,

    But her graces and those black eyes.

  14. سحارة الجفن فتاكٌ لواحظها

    في ثغرها واللمى مسك وقنديدُ

    Enchanting of eyelid, deadly in her sidelong glances,

    In her mouth and dusky lips are musk and spiced wine.

  15. تميس والدلّ يثني من معاطفها

    غصناً تجاذبه لينٌ وتاويد

    She sways; coquetry bends her supple frame—

    A branch tugged by softness and gentle bending.

  16. قد ارسلت لام صدغيها تجرُّ به

    قلوب أهل الهوى وللام توكيد

    She has let fall the lam-shaped curl at her temples, drawing with it

    The hearts of lovers; and lam gives emphasis.

  17. يريك صدق جمالٍ في مقبلها

    ان الملام بها أفكٌ وتفنيد

    The true beauty of her kissable lips shows you

    That reproach of her is falsehood and disparagement.

  18. بحسنها وردت من ورد رجنتها ال

    حمرا وشامتها الخضرا اسانيد

    In proof of her beauty come, from the roses of her cheek—

    That red cheek—and her green beauty spot, chains of testimony.

  19. يسمو بغرّتها بدر الجمال كما

    سما بقاكم كهف المجد والجود

    The full moon of beauty rises with her radiant brow, just as

    Your enduring life rose high, O refuge of glory and bounty.

  20. وهو الأمير الذي اضحت مدائحه

    عند المحامد ترويها الأماجيد

    He is the prince whose praises have come to be

    Recounted by the illustrious whenever virtues are praised.

  21. يهتز حين وفود الركب من طربٍ

    كأنما صوت راجيه تغاريد

    He thrills with delight at the caravan's arrival,

    As though his petitioner's voice were birdsong.

  22. أوفى همامٍ على أقدامه شهدت

    بيض القواضب والخطيّة الميد

    Most faithful of noble heroes, whose boldness is attested by

    Bright, keen swords and swaying Khatti spears.

  23. الباسم الثغر والهيجاءُ عابسةٌ

    والقاحم الخيل تطوي خلفها البيد

    Smiling of mouth while battle wears a frown,

    And driving his steeds headlong as they fold the deserts behind them.

  24. مولىً كريمٌ سريٌّ ماجدٌ فطنٌ

    كأن يوم يراه المرتجي عبيد

    A generous lord, noble, illustrious, discerning,

    As though the day a hopeful petitioner sees him were a feast [probable reading].

  25. كم واعدٍ نفسه بالخير منه وقد

    جادت وفاءً له تلك المواعيد

    How many a man has promised himself bounty from him, and

    Those promises have generously come true for him.

  26. مهذبٌ عزمه في نبل مكرمةٍ

    بثابت النجم معقودٌ ومشدود

    Refined, his resolve toward noble generosity

    Is tied and firmly bound to the fixed star.

  27. طابت خلائقه حسناً وشمته

    كذاك من نهضت فيه المواليد

    His character is fair and pleasing, and his disposition too [wording unclear].

    Such is one whose natal influences have risen high.

  28. شهمٌ من السادة الشهب الذين همُ

    أهل المروءة والشمّ الصناديدُ

    A gallant man of those radiant lords, who are

    Men of honor and lofty, mighty champions.

  29. فكل فضلٍ يرى بين الكرام فهو

    لفضل والدهِ المأمون تقليد

    So every virtue seen among the noble is

    An imitation of his trusted father's virtue.

  30. غدت بعدل أبيه الفرد راتعةً

    في ساحة الأمن بنت الشاة والسيد

    Through his peerless father's justice, there graze freely

    In the field of safety, the ewe's lamb and the wolf.

  31. يا قاسم المال والأعدا بلا حرجٍ

    وجامع الحمد قد والاه تشييد

    O Qasim, divider of wealth and cleaver of foes without hesitation,

    And gatherer of praise, ever attended by exaltation,

  32. هُنئت هنئت يا مولاي في ولدٍ

    سما بمولده عزٌّ وتأييد

    Congratulations, congratulations, my lord, on a son

    At whose birth glory and support rose high.

  33. نجمٌ اضا في سماء الحسن مرتفعاً

    بالسعد والمجد موصوفٌ ومحمود

    A star that shone aloft in the sky of beauty,

    Described and praised for good fortune and glory.

  34. جاءت إلى مهده العلياءُ حاضنةً

    والخيرُ ينشد أن العمر محدود

    High honor came to his cradle as a nurse,

    And goodness chants that life's span is bounded.

  35. هو الأمير المجيد المرتقي شرفاً

    بجده وأبيه وهو مسعود

    He is the illustrious prince, ascending in honor

    Through his grandfather and his father—he is Masud, the fortunate.

  36. فلا تزال مدى الأيام ذا فرحٍ

    فيه وعزك مشهورٌ ومقصود

    So may you remain, through all the days, rejoicing

    In him, while your glory is renowned and sought after.

  37. وخذ فتاة مديح قد أتت بها

    فمٌ على المدح موقوفٌ ومرصود

    And accept a maiden of praise, brought by

    A mouth consecrated and set apart for praise.