1. ألا حيِّها في حَيِّها أوْجُهاً غُرّا

    فإنّيَ لا أنْسى اغْتِراري بها غِرّا

    Ah, greet those radiant faces in their quarter!

    For I do not forget how they beguiled me in my innocence.

  2. وقُلْ ليَ هلْ توسى زمانَةُ عاشِقٍ

    بعودةِ أيّامِ الزّمانِ الذي مَرّا

    And tell me: can a lover's affliction be healed

    by the return of the days of time gone by?

  3. تقضّى كمثلِ الطّيفِ إن زارَ في الدُجى

    يُرَى عندَما لاحَ الصّباحُ قدِ ازْوَرّا

    It passed away like a dream-vision that, if it visits in the dark,

    is seen to have turned away when morning dawns.

  4. وهلْ مازَجَتْ أنفاسُ أحْبابِنا الصّبا

    وإلا فلِمْ رقّتْ ولمْ عبَقَتْ نَشْرا

    And have our loved ones' breaths mingled with the east wind?

    And if not, why has it grown gentle, and why does it exude perfume?

  5. أيا مَنْ لصَبٍّ قد غَدا دُرُّ دمْعِهِ

    على خدِّه نظْماً وفي نحْرِهِ نَثْرا

    O, who will aid a lovesick man whose tear-pearls have become

    strung upon his cheek and scattered upon his throat?

  6. فمُذْ خالَهُم دُرّاً وصارتْ قِبابُهُمْ

    لهُمْ صدَفاً أجْرى مدامِعَهُ بحْرا

    For since he imagined them as pearls and their pavilions became

    shells for them, he made his tears flow as a sea.

  7. وممّا أجدَّ الوجْدَ حُسْنُ عَقيلةٍ

    تفوقُ جَمالاً كُلَّ غانيةٍ عَذْرا

    And among what rekindled my longing was a noble lady's beauty,

    who surpasses every lovely virgin in beauty.

  8. فيا حُسْنَها من روضةٍ أدبيّةٍ

    غَدا عَرْفُها شِحْراً ومنظَرها سِحْرا

    How lovely she is—a garden of letters!

    Her fragrance became Shihr, and her appearance enchantment.

  9. لقد راقَني إجْمالُها وجَمالُها

    فأصْبَحْتُ مشْغوفاً بغُرَّتها الغَرّا

    Her concision and beauty have indeed delighted me,

    so I became enamored of her radiant brow.

  10. فأبْدى مُحيّاها ليَ البِشْرَ والرّضى

    ووافَتْ على حُكْمِ السّعادةِ بالبُشْرى

    Then her countenance revealed cheerfulness and contentment to me,

    and she came by good fortune's decree, bearing glad tidings.

  11. وقد راقَ لوْنُ الحِبْرِ فوقَ بياضِها

    كَما راقَ لوْنُ الخالِ في وجْنةِ العَذْرا

    And indeed, the ink's color was lovely upon her whiteness,

    as a beauty mark's color is lovely on a virgin's cheek.

  12. حَباني بها ذو الفضْلِ والمجْدِ والتُقَى

    فطاوَلتُ بالشُهْبانِ من أفْقِها البَدْرا

    A man of excellence, glory, and piety bestowed her upon me,

    so, with shooting stars from her horizon, I rivaled the full moon in height.

  13. لَئِنْ كان فينا شخْصُهُ يطأ الثّرى

    ففوْقَ الثُريّا مجْدُهُ قد علا قدْرا

    Though his body treads the earth among us,

    yet his glory has risen in stature above the Pleiades.

  14. يَروعُ أعاديهِ بغُصْنِ يراعِهِ

    فتحْسِبُها في كفِّهِ صعْدةً سَمْرا

    He terrifies his enemies with the branch of his reed pen,

    so you take it in his hand for a tawny spear.

  15. سقاها مُدامَ الحِبْر حتّى اسْتَمالَها

    فهلْ سجدتْ شُكْراً كما رجَحَتْ سُكْرا

    He gave it the wine of ink to drink until he made it incline;

    did it then prostrate itself in gratitude, as it swayed in drunkenness?

  16. لك الفِقَرُ الغُرُّ التي قد حبَيْتَني

    بها فأنا لا أشْتَكي بعدَها فَقْرا

    Yours are the radiant passages that you have favored me

    with; so after them I no longer complain of poverty.

  17. وقُدْت قوافِي الشّعْرِ طوْعاً وحُكتَها

    فأبْدَيْتَها زَهْراً وأطْلَعْتَها زُهْرا

    And you led poetry's willing rhymes and wove them,

    so you displayed them as blossoms and made them rise as radiant stars.

  18. أتتْ والنُهى تصْبو إليها فإنّها

    تُطيعُك مهْما تُنْفذُ النّهْيَ والأمْرا

    They came while minds yearned toward them, for they

    obey you, whatever prohibitions and commands you impose.

  19. ودونَكَها منْ صوْنِ عقْلي عقيلَةً

    منَ النّظمِ فَلْتَبْذُلْ لها السّمْحَ والبِشْرا

    And take her from my mind's safekeeping: a noble maiden

    of verse; so offer her generosity and good cheer.