1. مَنْ قصدُهُ يرشفُ ماءَ اللمى

    يصبرُ في الحبِّ لما ألما

    Whoever seeks to sip the moisture of dusky lips

    must endure in love when he has afflicted

  2. بي وبمَنْ قد لامني من صلا

    شباك طرفٍ وانتضى منصلا

    me and whoever blamed me—he who set

    the snares of a glance and drew a blade.

  3. وبعدما تيَّمني بلبلا

    فؤاديَ المضنى بلي بل بلا

    And after he enslaved me with love, he unsettled

    my exhausted heart: it wore out—rather, he wore it out.

  4. يا عاذلي رفقاً فقد ضرَّ ما

    في مهجتي مِنْ هجرِهِ ضرَّ ما

    O my reproacher, gently! For what has harmed me

    is a hurt in my heart from his desertion.

  5. أهوى حبيباً وجهُهُ قد حُبِي

    حسْناً به يستعذبُ القدحَ بي

    I love a beloved whose face has been endowed

    with beauty, through which he delights in disparaging me.

  6. فَهْوَ مليء لازمُ المطلِ بي

    ما نلتُ مِنْ تقبيلِهِ مطلبي

    So he is wealthy, yet keeps putting me off;

    I have not attained my wish of kissing him.

  7. قلبي إلى نارِ الجوى أسلما

    فلو رآهُ كافرٌ أسلما

    He surrendered my heart to the fire of passion;

    and if an unbeliever saw him, he would embrace Islam.

  8. لم أحتملْ مَنْ لامني أو سعى

    فانصحْ لغيري مرةً أوسعا

    I could not bear anyone who blamed me or carried tales;

    so, for once, offer fuller counsel to someone else.

  9. سيَّانِ مَنْ لم يدعُ لي أو دعا

    فيمنْ بقلبي جمرةٌ أودعا

    Those who did not pray for me and those who did are alike

    concerning him who lodged an ember in my heart:

  10. فتى على سفكِ دمي أقدما

    وما رعى لي موثقاً أقدما

    a youth who dared to spill my blood

    and honored no earlier pledge to me.

  11. ما ضاعَ فيه سهدُ عيني ولا

    يضيعُ مني في عليٍّ ولا

    My eye's sleeplessness for him was not wasted, nor

    will any loyalty of mine to Ali be wasted.

  12. يحيا بهِ يحيى فما أجملا

    مسعاهُ في تفصيلِ ما أجملا

    Through him Yahya lives; how splendid

    his effort to unfold what he had summarized!

  13. يا خلعةَ الملْكِ لقد رقَّ ما

    عليكَ يحيى وابنُهُ رقما

    O royal robe of honor, truly delicate is what

    Yahya and his son have embroidered upon you.

  14. أرهفَ أقلامَ المعالي وسنْ

    فناظرُ الملكِ بهِ في وسنْ

    He sharpened the pens of high distinction and honed them;

    so through him the eye of kingship rests in slumber.

  15. ذلك فضلُ اللهِ يؤتيهِ مَنْ

    يشاءُ يولي المرءَ منْ غيرِ مَنْ

    That is God's bounty; He bestows it on whomever

    He wills, granting a man favors without holding them over him.

  16. فراحتاهُ أَيَّةٌ منهما

    تلامسُ الصخرَ جرى منه ما

    As for his two palms, whichever of them

    touches a rock, water flows from it.

  17. تهذي به العليا لتهذيبهِ

    وألسنُ الحسادِ تهذي بهِ

    The heights rave about him for his refinement,

    and the tongues of the envious babble about him.

  18. فتى كشيخٍ حسن تجريبهِ

    سوابقُ التوفيقِ تجري بهش

    A youth like an elder, well proven by experience,

    the coursers of success race with him [final word uncertain].

  19. والدهرُ عبدٌ لعلاهُ فما

    يخلي منَ الأمداحِ فيه فما

    And time is a servant to his eminence, so it does not

    leave any mouth empty of praises for him.

  20. ما نصبَ السلطانُ فيمنْ نصبْ

    مثلَ علاءِ الدينِ ينفي نصبْ

    Never has the sultan appointed, among his appointees,

    the like of Ala al-Din, who banishes hardship.

  21. يا محيياً للفضلِ ذكراً ذهبْ

    تنشي لنا دراً فننشي ذهبْ

    O reviver of merit's vanished remembrance,

    you fashion pearls for us, and we fashion gold.

  22. أنشرَ تأهيلُكَ لي أعظما

    فحقَّ لي واللهِ أنْ أعظما

    Your honoring me has brought bones back to life;

    so it is fitting for me, by God, to extol you.