1. I parted her lips from her teeth and kohl,
And brought together her drink and morsel.

2. I distracted myself from her apple cheeks
And sang the praises of her lips over cups.

3. I heard in kissing the sound of her bliss,
And felt secure in embracing from the lash of torment.

4. I saw her swaying, intoxicated,
And plucked from it intermingled flowers.

5. Drunkenness made lawful the loosening of her waist-wrap
After I had forbidden the loosening of her veil.

6. Beauty is what she reveals above her eyelids
As kohl, and what she hides beneath her clothes.

7. Laila's whiteness in union is like her smile,
Her forehead, her breeze, her youth.

8. Urbanite not bedouin is her character,
An eloquent debater, firm in argument.

9. Take pride, O Kuthayr, pride is yours,
Leave the beautiful one, I am more deserving of her.

10. The dust of my killer emits musk,
Fragrant, her pride like her dust.

11. I come and stumble in threading her pearls,
While you keep stumbling in her twisting speech.

12. The melodies answer me from her strings
When I visit, not the howling of her dogs.

13. Do not lie, passion is only for her,
From me and from you, and grief only for her.

14. You are no man, you have no value,
Unless you become one of her loved ones.

15. You say the heart breaks from her glances,
Or does the lid not break from her lashes?

16. She was, and I was, and it was the house
Would that she were not, nor we in it!

17. A house whose pebbles were scattered rubies,
And smiling mouths strung its expanse.

18. Magic from its flowers, honey from
Its trees, beauty from its plants.

19. How many Edens we entered there
Without counting, paradises without reckoning!

20. Then it folded in the hand of erosion, and days
Broadcast for all eyes the secret of its ruin.

21. So if you look upon the gardens you see them
As if plundered spoils before your eyes.

22. If but a quarter of Abu Ali's generosity
Its door would be safe from time's changes.

23. Unstinting munificence, expansive by nature,
Secured from reversal throughout its eras.

24. To him leadership came a suitor,
Though it had wearied seeking his courtship.

25. They titled him with it, though his names
Had enriched him, rendering titles needless.

26. The times said, when it resisted him,
May your hand wither, you are not of its mold!

27. Go your own way, you are not of its lords,
Turn back, you are not of its companions!

28. By the honor of our master and honor's master,
The sun of its trials has been humbled.

29. His good fortune came to his door,
Not like one who strives to enter its doors.

30. Kings bow their faces to his for its sake,
Rather, they are led to his door by their necks.

31. He preoccupied kings with his words while his soul
Was busy with remembrance in its niche.

32. He wearied himself with fasting and prayers,
Certain of the good outcome of easing his burden.

33. And he hastened to desist from sins,
Trusting in the beauty of its ends.

34. So the critic equaled his dispraise with love,
And the slanderer equaled his censure with affection.

35. Let the world take pride in the ruler of its realm,
Its scholar and student of its books.

36. Its faster, its caretaker, its teacher,
Its worker, its giver, its bestower.

37. So delight in the blessings you were congratulated with,
For its Lord they bowed to its lords.

38. Protected from its disgrace and claims,
And safe from its blame or criticism.

39. And delight in a feast day that came to you,
Running to you with its reward and recompense.

40. And let me delight in your generosity,
Though I transcend you in your robe.

41. You have honored me and overwhelmed me with boons
That nearly flooded my field with clouds.

42. And you clothed me in a garment whose like
My coats had never known in their wonder.

43. You saw my worth languishing in the wild
So made my worth the wild's fangs.

44. So may my words thank you beyond what
A heart poured forth whose call you answered.

45. A soul thanked you, you who are the root of its life,
And its survival, its food, and its drink.