1. يا بحر علم يزخر

    يغرق فيه الأبحر

    O surging sea of knowledge,

    in which the seas drown!

  2. حاجيت في أربعة

    منها اشتبهت الصور

    I posed riddles about four,

    whose forms resemble one another.

  3. تصحيف عكس لفظها

    مثل خلاف يظهر

    A change of dots, a reversal of their wording:

    a likeness or an opposite appears.

  4. وتلك عندي تسعة

    أعداها وأكثر

    And those, by my reckoning, are nine;

    I count them—and more.

  5. بل ربما ركبتها

    فكان ما لا يحصر

    Indeed, sometimes I have combined them,

    and then there was what cannot be counted.

  6. مدينة قديمة

    فيها الشمول تعصر

    An ancient city,

    where wine is pressed;

  7. وروضة أريضة

    بستانها منور

    and a lush meadow,

    its garden in bloom;

  8. ومدة لمثلها

    الروم تعزى أشهر

    and a span of time, to the like of which

    the Romans' months are ascribed;

  9. ومغن شيخ أشيب

    وجده من يذكر

    and an old, gray-haired singer,

    found by whoever remembers.