1. ورد الكتاب مصرحاً ومسطراً

    بحديث محبوب عشقت ولم أرى

    The letter arrived, plainly expressed and written out,

    with news of a beloved I loved but had not seen.

  2. وافى وكان وروده وردا لذي

    ظلم المّ به الغرام واسعرا

    It came, and its coming was a draught for one

    burdened by oppression, whom passion had assailed and set ablaze.

  3. ففضضت منه ختامه ولطالما

    فاضت دموع قبله لن تكرا

    So I broke its seal—and how often

    tears had flowed before it, never to recur.

  4. ولثمت محياه فاشرق ثغره

    ورشفت كاسا من لماه معطرا

    I kissed its face, and its mouth shone,

    and sipped a perfumed cup from its dusky lips.

  5. اهدي إلى المشاق نشأة مغرم

    فاحت رياح الشوق منها عنبرا

    A lover's creation was offered to the yearning soul;

    from it, breezes of longing wafted ambergris.

  6. فكأن اسطره ذوائب غادة

    هيفاء لاحت من ترائب قيصرا

    So its lines seemed the tresses of a maiden,

    a slender one, whose locks showed from Caesar's breast.

  7. وكأن صفحته صفيحة وجه من

    ملك الجمال بها العذار تعذّرا

    And its page seemed the surface of the face of one

    who possessed beauty, where cheek-down could find no place.

  8. أو ان احرفه مراشف أعين

    تعطي الرحيق معللا ومقطرا

    Or its letters were the eyes' lips,

    giving nectar, repeatedly served and distilled.

  9. وقلائد العقيان خلت جمانه

    او ثغر محبوب تبسمّ جوهرا

    And I took its pearls for necklaces of pure gold,

    or for a beloved's mouth smiling jewels.

  10. اربى على سحبان سحب فصاحة

    لو شامها الكندي عاد موخرا

    It surpassed Sahban with clouds of eloquence;

    had al-Kindi glimpsed them, he would have returned outstripped.

  11. وكذا ابن ساعدة الايادي لو رآ

    ه لعاد منه مخجلا متسترا

    Likewise Ibn Saʿidah al-Iyadi, had he seen

    it, would have returned from it abashed, concealing himself.

  12. رق النسيم للطف معناه كما

    شهد الفواد بفضله لما قرا

    The breeze softened at the delicacy of its meaning, just as

    the heart bore witness to its excellence when it read it.

  13. يا حسن برق من محياه بدا

    عن نصر فتح الله لاح مخبرا

    How lovely the lightning that appeared from its face,

    shining, bringing tidings of Nasr Fathallah.

  14. نشأت ينصر الله روح صبابة

    وابى الفؤاد لغيرها ان يذكرا

    A spirit of ardent longing arose—may God grant aid—

    and the heart refused to think of any other.

  15. فرع لفتح الله اينع مخصبا

    بحديقة الأداب شب واثمرا

    A branch of Fathallah, ripening luxuriantly,

    grew and bore fruit in the garden of letters.

  16. ولذا اسم قلبي حين اشبه قلبه

    فبناه صرف الحب لما ان طرا

    Thus my heart's name, when it resembled his heart,

    was fashioned by love's turning when love arose.

  17. فاليك يعزى الفضل يا من لاح لي

    منه الوداد ولن يراني ويبصرا

    To you belongs the credit, O you who revealed to me

    your affection, though you will not see or behold me.

  18. قربا لدار كنت فيها وحبذا

    الشهباء نصر الله فيها قد سرى

    May I draw near the home where you dwelt! How dear

    al-Shahba, where Nasrallah has journeyed by night.

  19. واهاً لها لما حللت ربوعها

    رغداً وآها من بعادك اوفرا

    Ah for it, when you dwelt in its quarters,

    in ease—and a fuller sigh at being far from you!

  20. يا ليت لا كان البعاد ولا النوى

    يا ليت لاشط المزار ولا الذرى

    Would that neither distance nor separation had ever been!

    Would that neither the meeting-place nor the heights were far away!

  21. الواه من حر البعاد وطالما

    جار البعاد على الأحبة وافترى

    Alas for separation's burning heat! How often

    separation has wronged loved ones and slandered them.

  22. خذها لقد وافت من ابن كرامة

    برسائل الأشواق تهدي الأسطرا

    Take it: it has come from Ibn Karama,

    with messages of longing, offering these lines,

  23. تنبيك عن حب سماعيّ الهوى

    متجاوز حدّ القياس لدى الورى

    telling you of a love whose passion comes through hearing,

    surpassing the bounds of comparison among humankind.