1. كُلُّ جارٍ لِغايَةٍ مرْجُوّهْ

    فهْوَ عِندي لمْ يعُدْ حدَّ الفُتوّهْ

    Everyone striving toward a hoped-for goal

    has not, in my view, overstepped the bounds of chivalry.

  2. واراكَ اقْتحمْتَ ليْلاً بَهيماً

    مُولِجاً منْكَ ناقَةً في كُوّهْ

    And I see that you plunged into a pitch-black night,

    inserting a she-camel of yours into a wall-opening.

  3. لا اتِّباعاً ولا اخْتِراعاً أرَتْنا

    إذْ نظَرْنا عَروسُكَ المَجْلوَّهْ

    Neither imitation nor invention did she show us—

    your unveiled bride, when we looked.

  4. كُلُّ ما قُلْتَهُ فقدْ قالَه النا

    سُ مَقالاً آياتُهُ مَتْلُوّهْ

    Everything you said has already been said by the people,

    in a discourse whose verses are recited.

  5. لمْ تَزِدْ غيْرَ أنْ أبَحْتَ حِمى

    الإعْرابِ في كلِّ لفْظَةٍ مَقْروّهْ

    You added nothing, save that you threw open the protected ground

    of grammatical inflection in every word read.

  6. فسَلِ اللهَ فكْرَةً تُلزِمُ العقْ

    لَ الى حِشْمَةٍ تَحوطُ المُرُوّهْ

    So ask God for a thought that binds the mind

    to modesty that safeguards manly honor.

  7. وعَزيزٌ عليّ أنْ كُنْتَ يَحْيَى

    ثمّ لمْ تأخُذِ الكِتابَ بقُوّهْ

    And it pains me that you were Yahya,

    yet did not take the Book with strength.