1. جاءَت تميس وقدها الخطارُ

    هيفاءُ تحسد وجهها الأقمار

    She came swaying, her figure swaying proudly,

    a slender-waisted beauty whose face the moons envy.

  2. ودنت تروم تحية فتسابقت

    للقائها الألباب والأفكار

    She drew near, seeking a greeting, and they raced one another

    to meet her—the minds and the thoughts.

  3. تهتز من تحت الحليِّ وتنثني

    كالغصن أشرق فوقه النوار

    She sways beneath her jewelry and bends,

    like a branch above which blossoms gleam.

  4. تجلو عوارض ذي حبابٍ عاطرٍ

    يصبو إليه الخمر والخمار

    She bares the teeth of a fragrant, bubbling mouth,

    for which wine and the wine-seller yearn.

  5. سمحت بنضو لثامها لكنهُ

    يحميه عقرب صدغها الدوار

    She consented to remove her veil, but it

    is guarded by the coiling scorpion of her temple-lock.

  6. آنست في الخدين ناراً عندما

    سفرت وفي قلبي لذلك

    I perceived a fire in her cheeks when

    she unveiled—and in my heart, because of that...

  7. جعلت تغازلني بغنج لحاظها

    حتى سكرت وما لديّ عقار

    She began to flirt with me through her glances' coy charm,

    until I grew drunk, though I had no wine.

  8. فرأيت من ذاك المحيا كوكباً

    يهفو إليه الكوكب السيار

    Then I saw in that face a star

    toward which the wandering star yearns.

  9. عجبي لطرة شعرها وجبينها

    أنّى يكون مع الظلام نهار

    How I marvel at her fringe of hair and her brow:

    how can daylight coexist with darkness?

  10. باتت تنادمني وفي أجفانها

    أثر الحياءِ وللهوى آثار

    She kept me company all night, and in her eyelids

    was a trace of modesty, while love had left its traces.

  11. تملي عليّ من الحديث طرائفاً

    فكأنها عند الحديث هزار

    She regaled me with delightful conversation,

    as though, when speaking, she were a nightingale.

  12. فكأن ما في جيدها في لفظها

    وكأن أقداح السلاف تدارُ

    It was as though what adorned her neck lay in her words,

    and as though cups of choice wine were being passed around.

  13. تجني لحاظي ورد وجنتها فيا

    للّه ما فازت به الأنظارُ

    My glances pluck the rose of her cheek—oh,

    by God, what a prize these eyes have won!

  14. تشكو لديها ما لقيت من الهوى

    فتزيد وجداً والوقارُ وقارُ

    They complain to her of what I suffered from love,

    and longing grows, while composure remains composure.

  15. حتى الصباح بدا فقمت مودعاً

    والدمع من أجفاننا مدرارُ

    Until dawn appeared, and I rose to take my leave,

    while tears streamed from our eyelids.

  16. جادت وما ضنت بحسن زيارةٍ

    لكن أوقات الصفاءِ قصارُ

    She was generous, not begrudging a lovely visit,

    but moments of serenity are brief.

  17. فوددت أن الليل دام وزدته

    من ناظريّ ولم تكن أسحارُ

    So I wished the night would last, and I could add to it

    from my own eyes, with no dawning hours.

  18. يا لائمي أني جننت بحبها

    أقصر فليس على المتيم عارُ

    O you who blame me for going mad with love for her,

    desist: there is no shame upon one enslaved by love.

  19. لو كنت تدري ما الصبابة والصبا

    كانت لديك أقيمت الأعذار

    If you knew what ardent longing and youthful passion are,

    you would have found my excuses justified.

  20. اللَه يعلم ما أراش بمهجتي

    عند التداني لحظها السحارُ

    God knows what arrows were feathered in my heart

    by her bewitching glance when we drew near.

  21. فكأنما أجفانها لما رنت

    سيف الأمير الصارم البتارُ

    It was as though her eyelids, when she gazed,

    were the emir's keen, cleaving sword.

  22. أعني الشهابيّ البشير المرتضى

    رب الحجى والفارس الكرارُ

    I mean the Shihabi, Bashir, the chosen one,

    master of wisdom, the knight who charges again and again.

  23. من جاءنا بالمكرمات وأصبحت

    تجلى بنور جبينه الأخطارُ

    He who brought us noble deeds, so that

    dangers came to be dispelled by the light of his brow.

  24. صدر السعادة والسيادة ماجدٌ

    أعدى الأعادي عنده الدينارُ

    Foremost in happiness and sovereignty, a noble man

    whose fiercest enemy is the dinar.

  25. شهم إذا سل الصفيحة في الوغى

    سُلّت على صفحاتها الأعمارُ

    A gallant man: when he draws his blade in battle,

    lives are stripped away along its broad faces.

  26. أو هزّ خطيّا فهذا واقع

    فوق الثرى خوفاً وذا فرّارُ

    Or if he brandishes a Khatti spear, one man falls

    to the dust in fear, while another flees.

  27. مولىً لاسمره العلى مملوكةٌ

    ولبذلهِ تستعبدُ الأحرارُ

    A lord whose dusky spear owns the heights of glory,

    and whose generosity enslaves the free.

  28. هذا الذي قد قيل فيه أنه

    يمناهُ يمنٌ واليسارُ يسارُ

    This is the one of whom it has been said:

    his right hand is good fortune, his left hand prosperity.

  29. وهو الذي من فيض راحة جوده

    اضحت تفيض على الأنام بحارُ

    He is the one whose generous palm overflows,

    so that seas now pour forth upon humankind.

  30. سادت به العلياءُ وانكشفت له

    منها معاني المجد والأسرار

    Lofty glory reigned through him, and to him were revealed

    its meanings of greatness and its secrets.

  31. مذ ضاءَ في لبنان كوكب سعدهِ

    أمست تقرُّ لفضله الأمصارُ

    Since the star of his good fortune shone in Lebanon,

    the cities have come to acknowledge his merit.

  32. يا أيها المولى الذي بوجودهِ

    سعد الزمان وراجت الأشعارُ

    O lord, through whose presence

    the age prospered and poetry flourished,

  33. بكت السحائب خجلة لما رأت

    سحبان كفك قطرهنّ نضارُ

    the clouds wept in shame when they saw

    the rain-clouds of your hand, whose drops are pure gold.

  34. إن قيل أيّ الناس أكرم نسبةٍ

    فاليك يا بدر الكرام يشارُ

    If one asks who among people has the noblest lineage,

    then it is to you, full moon of the noble, that they point.

  35. تُهنا بتشريفات عزّ أقبلت

    تزهو وفيها من ثناك فخارُ

    We gloried in honors of might that arrived,

    resplendent, bearing pride in the praise of you.

  36. خلعٌ أتت بالسعد وهي أنيسة

    لكن لها بجمالك استكبارُ

    Robes of honor came with good fortune, companionable,

    yet your beauty gives them a haughty pride.

  37. زفت إليك شريفةٌ لم يرضها

    في غير مهد علائك استقرارُ

    A noble robe was brought to you as a bride; no rest pleased her

    outside the cradle of your lofty glory.

  38. فاض السرور على الورى بورودها

    وتنوّرت بسنائها الأقطارُ

    Joy overflowed upon all people at her arrival,

    and the lands were illuminated by her radiance.

  39. لا زلت يا مولاي أحسن سيدٍ

    تحظى من العليا بما تختار

    May you ever remain, my lord, the finest master,

    attaining whatever heights you choose.

  40. واسلم ودم بالأمن ما طلع الضيا

    وشدت على غصن الربى الأطيارُ

    Be safe and endure in peace as long as light rises

    and birds sing upon the hills' branches.

  41. وبخلعة العام السعيدة أرّخوا

    هنّيتم ما دامت الأدهار

    And date this year's auspicious robe with these words:

    “May you be felicitated as long as the ages endure.”