1. يا نسيمَ الصبا وريحَ الجنوبِ

    روّحا مُهجتي بنشر الحبيبِ

    O breeze of the east wind and wind of the south,

    refresh my soul with the beloved's fragrance.

  2. إنَّ روحَ المحبوب رَوحٌ لقلبي

    ما لقلبي آسٍ سوى المحبوبِ

    Indeed, the beloved's spirit is solace to my heart;

    my heart has no healer but the beloved.

  3. وَعلى البعد منه إن تحملاه

    فعليَّ انفحا به من قريبِ

    And if, despite the distance from him, you carry it,

    then waft it upon me from close at hand.

  4. لو سوى نشر يوسفٍ شمَّ يع

    قوبُ إذاً لم يزَل جوى يعقوبِ

    Had Jacob smelled anything but Joseph's fragrance,

    Jacob's anguish would not then have ceased.

  5. وعجيبٌ بميَّةٍ ذابَ قلبي

    ويرى طبَّه بنشرِ المذيبِ

    Strange that my heart has melted for Mayya,

    yet sees its cure in the fragrance of the one who melted it.

  6. ليت يا عذبة اللمى من فؤادي

    فيه أطفأتِ بعضَ هذا اللهيبِ

    If only, O sweet dark-lipped one, from my heart

    you had quenched some of this blaze within it;

  7. أو على السفح للوداع حبست ال

    ركبَ مقدار لفتة من مُريبِ

    or, at farewell upon the hillside, had you held back the

    caravan for the span of a wary person's glance.

  8. منكِ لو نال ساعدي ضمَّةَ التو

    ديع أدركتُ غاية المطلوبِ

    Had my arm won from you a farewell

    embrace, I would have attained my utmost desire.

  9. وعلى المتن كان منكِ هلالاً

    حين شرَّقتِ جانحاً للغروبِ

    Upon your back it would have formed a crescent,

    as you went eastward, while it inclined toward setting.

  10. ما لطيف الخَيال ضاعف شوقي

    حين وافى بوعده المكذوبِ

    Why did the dream-phantom double my longing

    when it came with its false promise?

  11. فيه جاءت من بعد توهيمه الرك

    ب حذاراً من عاذل ورقيبِ

    In it she came, after it had misled the caravan,

    for fear of a reproacher and a watcher.

  12. قلتُ أنَّى وفت فعاد نصيبي

    وصلُها والمِطال كانَ نصيبي

    I said, 'How did she keep her word, making my portion

    union with her, when delay had been my portion?'

  13. بينما في العناق قد لفَّنا الشو

    قُ ضجيعين في رداء قشيبِ

    While longing had wrapped us in an embrace,

    two lying together in a fresh robe,

  14. وإذا الوصل في انتباهي أراه

    سرق الإِفكَ من سرابٍ كذوبِ

    suddenly, upon waking, I saw that union

    had stolen its deceit from a lying mirage.

  15. أين منِّي ميّ وقد عوَّذَتها

    غلمةُ الحيّ بالقنا المذروبِ

    How far Mayy is from me, when she is protected

    by the tribe's young men with sharpened spears.

  16. شمس خدرٍ حجابُها حين تبدو

    جُنحُ ليلٍ من فرعها الغربيبِ

    A sun within her chamber, whose veil, when she appears,

    is a stretch of night from her raven-black tresses.

  17. وهي عن بانةٍ تميسُ دلالاً

    وهي ترنو عن طرف ظبي ربيبِ

    She sways coquettishly like a bān tree,

    and gazes with the eyes of a hand-reared gazelle.

  18. وسوى البدر في الإِنارة لولا

    كُلفةُ البدر ما لها من ضَريبِ

    Only the full moon might rival her radiance, but for

    the moon's dark marks; she has no equal.

  19. حسدتني حتَّى عيوني عليها

    لو تذكَّرتها لأضحت تشي بي

    Even my own eyes envied me for her;

    if I remembered her, they would betray me.

  20. أو سرت مُوهناً إليَّ لظنَّت

    كلَّ نجمٍ في الأُفق عين رقيبِ

    Or, if she came to me late at night, she would think

    every star on the horizon a watcher's eye.

  21. بُركت ليلةٌ تخيَّلت من أر

    دانها عُطّرت بنشر الطيبِ

    Blessed was a night when I imagined that, from its sleeves,

    I was perfumed with wafting fragrance.

  22. قلتُ ذا الطيبُ من كثيب حماها

    حَملته لنا الصَبا في الهُبوبِ

    I said, 'This fragrance is from the dune of her sanctuary;

    the east wind has carried it to us as it blows.'

  23. قال لي الصحب من بشير أتانا

    من حِمى الكرخ لا الحِمى والكثيبِ

    My companions said, 'It comes from a herald who reached us

    from Karkh's sanctuary, not that sanctuary and dune,

  24. مُخبراً عن محمدٍ كوكب المجد

    سرى الدَّاءُ للحسود المريبِ

    bringing news of Muhammad, the star of glory:

    the illness has passed to the envious doubter.'

  25. أيّهذا البشير لي حبَّذا أنت

    بشيراً ببرءِ داءِ الحبيبِ

    O herald, how welcome you are to me,

    bearing news that the beloved's illness is cured!

  26. لو سواهُ روحٌ لجسمي لأَتحف

    تك فيه وقلَّ من موهوبِ

    Had my body a soul apart from him, I would have offered

    it to you for this, though it would be a paltry gift.

  27. لي أهديتَ فرحةً ما سرت قبلُ

    ولا بعدُ مثلها في القلوبِ

    You gave me a joy whose like never flowed before,

    nor afterward, through hearts.

  28. عرسَ الدهرُ قبلها الذنبَ عندي

    فغدا مثمراً بعفوٍ قريبِ

    Time had lodged an offense against me before this,

    and now it bore fruit in forgiveness close at hand.

  29. وغريبٌ من الزمان وما زال

    لديه اختراع كلّ غريبِ

    Strange it is of time, though it has always

    devised every manner of marvel,

  30. أن أراني وما أراني سواه

    حسناتٍ تُجنى بغرس الذنوبِ

    that it showed me—as nothing else ever did—

    good deeds harvested by sowing sins.

  31. عجباً كيف أَولد النحسُ سعداً

    شقَّ في نوره ظلامَ الخطوبِ

    A wonder: how ill fortune begot good fortune

    whose light cleft the darkness of calamities!

  32. فمحيا الدنيا غدا وهو طلقٌ

    ما بصافي بياضه من شحوبِ

    So the world's face has become cheerful,

    with no pallor in its clear whiteness,

  33. ضاحكٌ من غضارة البشر أُنساً

    وهو بالأمس موحشُ التقطيبِ

    smiling in delight with the bloom of gladness,

    though yesterday its frown was forbidding.

  34. أيها الواخدُ المغلّس في عز

    مٍ على الهول ليس بالمغلوبِ

    O swift traveler setting out before dawn, with a resolve

    that terror cannot overcome,

  35. صِل على الأمن ناجياً لمحلٍ

    في ذرى الكرخ بالندى مهضوبِ

    arrive safely, unharmed, at a dwelling

    on Karkh's heights, drenched in generosity:

  36. مستجارٌ بالعزِّ يحرس أَو با

    لحافِظَينِ الترغيبِ والترهيبِ

    a refuge guarded by might, or by

    the twin guardians, inducement and intimidation.

  37. وبه حيّ صفوةَ الشرف المحضِ

    ربيعَ العُفاة عند الجُدوبِ

    There greet the very essence of pure nobility,

    the springtime of supplicants in times of drought.

  38. طيبُ الأصل فرعه في صريح ال

    مجد يُنمى إلى نجيب نجيبِ

    Noble in root, his branch in unalloyed

    glory traces back to noble after noble.

  39. وافرُ البشر والسماح إذا المحلُ

    بدا عامُه بوجهٍ قطوبِ

    Abundant in cheer and generosity when drought

    shows its year with a scowling face,

  40. جاد حتَّى مسَّ الوفود من الأخ

    ذ لغُوبٌ وما به من لغوبِ

    he gave until, from receiving, the delegations felt

    weariness, though he himself felt none,

  41. في زمانٍ لو الخصيب به ين

    شره الله لم يكن بالخصيبِ

    in an age when, if al-Khasib were raised

    by God, he would not be bountiful.

  42. قل له يا محمدٌ صالحٌ أَنت

    لإِحراز كلِّ فضل غريبِ

    Say to him, 'O Muhammad, you are fit

    to attain every rare excellence.

  43. ليس تنفكّ أنت واليمن في ظلّ

    رواقٍ من العُلى مضروبِ

    You and good fortune remain ever beneath the shade

    of a canopy pitched from lofty honor.

  44. ولك السعدُ حيث كنت قرينٌ

    لم يمل عنك نجمه لغروبِ

    Felicity is your companion wherever you may be;

    its star has never inclined away from you toward setting.

  45. كمل الأُنس حين صرت تهنّى

    بشفى أُنسك الأعزّ الحبيبِ

    Joy was complete when congratulations came to you

    on the healing of your dearest, beloved companion.

  46. وأَخوك الذي قِداحُ المعالي

    للمعلى منها حوى والرقيبِ

    And your brother, who among the arrows of high honors

    has won al-Mu‘alla and al-Raqib,

  47. ماجد هُذّبت خلائقه في ال

    مجد والفخرِ غايةَ التهذيبِ

    is noble, his character refined in

    glory and pride to the utmost refinement,

  48. ذو بنانٍ ندٍ ووجهٍ جميل

    ولسانٍ طلقٍ وصدرٍ رحيبِ

    with dew-moist fingertips and a handsome face,

    a fluent tongue and an open heart.

  49. فابقيا للعلاءِ ما بدت الشم

    سُ ومالت في أُفقها للغروبِ

    May you both endure for exalted honor as long as the sun appears

    and inclines on its horizon toward setting,

  50. في سرورٍ صافٍ وطرف قريرٍ

    ونعيم باقٍ وعيشٍ رطيبِ

    in unclouded joy, with contented eyes,

    lasting bliss, and a flourishing life.'