1. وافى يطوف بشمس كاسه

    قمرٌ تلثم في نواسه

    He came round bearing the sun of his cup—

    a moon veiled in his trailing locks.

  2. طاب الصبوح فخذ على

    وردٍ بوجنته واسه

    The morning draught is sweet; drink to

    the rose upon his cheek and his myrtle.

  3. تكسو الحميّا خده

    قبساً هدينا باقتباسه

    The wine's heat clothes his cheek

    in a flame by whose borrowed light we were guided.

  4. حلو اللمى لكنهُ

    ولّى الجفون على احتراسه

    Sweet are his dusky lips, yet he

    has set his eyelids to guard him.

  5. أبداً يجور بلحظهُ

    من جفنه سيف افتراسه

    He is forever cruel with his glance;

    from his eyelid comes the sword with which he preys.

  6. ظبيٌ تملك حبهُ

    قلب المتيم مع حواسه

    A gazelle: love for him has possessed

    the lovesick one's heart, together with his senses.

  7. فتن الخواطر جفنه

    لما تنبه من نعاسه

    His eyelid bewitched minds

    when it awoke from its drowsiness.

  8. وغدا الفؤاد كناسه

    فعلام يفتك في كناسه

    And the heart became his lair;

    why, then, does he slay within his lair?

  9. أفدي بروحي أهيفاً

    ما دمت حيّا لم أناسه

    With my soul I would ransom a slender-waisted youth,

    whom I shall not forget as long as I live.

  10. من قاس بالأغصان قا

    متهُ توهمّ في قياسه

    Whoever compares his stature to branches

    is mistaken in his comparison.

  11. جاذبته بيد الهوى

    حتى غدوت أعز ناسه

    I grappled with him with love's hand,

    until I became the dearest of his people.

  12. أتراه قاسي ما لقيتُ

    من النوى أو لم يقاسه

    Has he, I wonder, suffered what I suffered

    from separation, or has he not suffered it?

  13. مذ غاب عني لم يرق

    لي مؤنسٌ بعد ائتناسه

    Since he left me, no companion has pleased

    me, after the intimacy I knew with him.

  14. قد كان لي كبدٌ بها

    ألقى النوى وشديد بأسه

    I once had a liver with which

    I faced separation and its fierce assault.

  15. لكنني قد بعتها

    بالوصل أيام اختلاسه

    But I have sold it

    for union in the days of its stolen moments.

  16. لم انسَ يوم لقائه

    لم أنسه وحياة راسه

    I have not forgotten the day of meeting him;

    I have not forgotten it—by the life of his head!

  17. يا در مبسم ثغرهِ

    لا زلت ترشف من لعاسه

    O pearls of his smiling mouth,

    may you ever sip the moisture of his mouth.

  18. أصبحت تحكي نظم منشي النظم

    من بعد اندراسه

    You now resemble the verse of him who brought forth poetry

    after it had faded away:

  19. حسن الثنا العطار

    صدر الفضل بل مولى أناسه

    Hasan al-Attar, of fair renown,

    foremost in excellence—nay, master of its people.

  20. حبرٌ سحاب علومهِ

    لم يرم يوماً باحتباسه

    A scholar: the cloud of his learning

    has never been accused of withholding its rain.

  21. ومهذب ينحط كلّ

    مهذبٍ دون اقتعاسه

    And a refined man: every

    refined man sinks beneath his lofty bearing.

  22. أما الذكاءُ فإنهُ

    أذكى وأبرع من أياسه

    As for intelligence, he is

    cleverer and more accomplished than its Iyas.

  23. أضحى البديع رقيقه

    لما تفرّد في جناسه

    The art of embellishment has become his slave,

    since he is unrivaled in his wordplay.

  24. لم يلتبس من مشكلٍ

    إلا جلا وجه التباسه

    No difficult matter ever grew obscure

    but he unveiled the face of its perplexity.

  25. في أي فنٍ شئتهُ

    فكأنهُ باني أساسه

    In whatever discipline you choose,

    he seems the builder of its foundation.

  26. يا من بلاغته حكت

    سيل الحيا عند انبجاسه

    O you whose eloquence resembles

    the torrent of rain when it bursts forth,

  27. خذ بنت فكرٍ أقبلت

    تهدي القريض لبان اسه

    take a daughter of thought who has come

    offering verse to the builder of its foundation.

  28. ترجو نوال تسامحٍ

    لم تأتِ إلا بالتماسه

    She hopes for a gift of indulgence;

    she has come only to ask for it.

  29. واسلم ودم ما أهيفٌ

    وافى يطوف بشمس كاسه

    And be well, and live on, as long as a slender-waisted youth

    comes round bearing the sun of his cup.