جور حكم الهوى يهين النفيسا

ولهيب النوى يذيب النفوسا

The tyranny of passion's rule debases the noble;

and separation's blaze melts souls.

وامتناع الحبيب أصحبني الد

دهر لباس الضنا وقلبا يؤوسا

And the beloved's refusal has given me, for

all time, the garb of wasting sickness and a despairing heart.

وزمان إذا ذكرت أسى منه

تذكرت معضلا ليس يوسا

And an age in which, whenever I recall one of its sorrows,

I recall an intractable ill that cannot be healed.

فازجر العيس عن بلاد بها

العيش عسير مناله يا عيسى

So drive the pale camels away from lands where

a living is hard to obtain, O Isa.

غلساً نقطع الفيافي ومن

امعن في السير صاحب التغليسا

In predawn darkness we cross the wastes, and whoever

goes far in travel makes predawn departures his companion.

فالدنا مطعما نعيم وبؤس

ولقد ذفتها نعيما وبوسا

For worldly life has two flavors: bliss and misery,

and indeed I have tasted it in bliss and in misery.

فعلى السهو ان أعانت كريما

وعلى العمدان أغاثت خسيسا

So if it aids a noble man, it does so by oversight;

and if it rescues a base man, it does so deliberately.

صرف اللَه عن مداها عناني

وأراني المبارك المرغوسا

God turned my reins away from its domain,

and showed me the blessed, richly favored man:

الأمير الأجل محمود من لو

جال فرداً رأيت منه خميسا

the most illustrious emir, Mahmud, who, if he

went forth alone, would seem to you an army.

والشجاع الذي تهاب الضواري

أن ترى بعضها لديه جليسا

And the brave man: the beasts of prey dread

seeing any of their own seated beside him.

والكريم الذي تشح السواري

وأياديه تستقل الدخسيسا

And the generous man: the night clouds turn stingy,

while his benefactions deem even abundance small.

جاذب جوده إليه بآمالي

حتى حسبته مغنطيسا

His bounty drew my hopes toward him,

until I thought him a magnet.

صادق لا برى النسائس طبعا

وبآرائه يداوي النسيسا

Truthful, with no natural bent for slander,

and with his counsel he heals life's failing breath.

هو ليث مستأنس وعجيب

أن تري الأغلب الهزبر أنيسا

He is a sociable lion; how wondrous

to see the thick-necked lion as a companion.

فرع مجد ما زال يثمر معروفاً

فلا زال يانعاً مغروسا

A branch of glory that keeps bearing kindness as fruit;

may it ever remain flourishing and rooted.

هزه للندى سرور كما اهتز

وحاشاه من يعاني الرسيسا

Joy stirs him to bounty, as one trembles

with fever's onset—far be that from him.

وأخو الجود منتشى العطف للعافي

ولو عاف دهره الخندريسا

And bounty's brother sways drunkenly before the petitioner,

even if he has shunned aged wine all his life.

وبشير العطاء في جهه البشر

ضحى والمنوع يضحى عبوسا

And bounty's herald—the cheer upon his face is

midmorning light, while the grudging man turns grim.

يا رئيساً من الأنام وقد قل

مقالى لغيره يا رئيسا

O chief among humankind—seldom indeed

have I said to another, 'O chief!'

ونفيسا من الزمان وقد

دنس الاك أهله تدنيسا

And O precious one of this age, which has indeed

utterly sullied its people, except you.

زدعلا يبعد الحسود ويبدي

لك من لمح ناظريه الدسيسا

Rise in eminence: the envious man falls back and reveals

to you, through his eyes' glances, his hidden malice.

فأبونا ما ضره مكر ابليس

بمعشار ضره ابليسا

For Iblis's scheming did not harm our father

a tenth as much as he himself harmed Iblis.

وابق في الدهر حارساً ذروة

العلياء من شر مارد خروسا

And remain through time, guarding the summit

of high glory from the evil of a rebellious demon [final epithet unclear].

لا اري مطلباً سواك وطلاب

المعاني لم يقصدوا التجنيسا

I see no goal but you; and seekers

of meaning have not aimed at punning.

ومن النقص بالبضاعة مهما

طلبت ان ازد بها التدليسا

And it is a defect in the wares whenever

I seek to increase the deception in them.