1. Who has not tasted the sweetness of youth
Knows not what I reveal or what I conceal

2. Death took him from me, faithful,
One who knows no deceit or betrayal

3. You can read in his eyes all that
In his soul about himself he hides

4. Three things in him knew no lack of virtue:
His tongue, his hem, and his loins

5. He was wont to spend his money
And to spur on him who stumbles

6. His generosity almost impoverished him
And generosity has that which impoverishes

7. In his death nobleness was smitten
And manners, and the questioner, and the destitute

8. We were, in the days of youth, seven friends
Glorying in pleasures for their own sake

9. Al-Babili was the choicest of our lads
And the son of al-Mawlaḥi, the most famed scribe

10. And Saadiq, the best of the sons of Sayyid
And Bayram, while his branch was still green

11. And Abdallah was intimate company for us
And the company of Abdallah cannot be denied

12. A noble pleasure that pure remained
Unstained, and no profligate witnessed it

13. How many a sweet session had we
Yearned for by Harun or by Ja'far

14. We would play with words as we wished
Concealing the meaning, nothing revealed

15. And we would release the subtle jest
As if from another, in beauty unsurpassed

16. Then this one was folded away, and that one, and what
Is folded of the days cannot be unfolded

17. How many a grove where a tempest blew
And the stars gaze out from their shelter