1. أقسمت من فرقك بالفجر

    والشعر بالليل إذا يسري

    I swore by dawn in the parting of your hair,

    and by your hair—the night when it journeys:

  2. لاملت في الحب إلى سلوة

    ما دمت حتى الطي والنشر

    I would never turn in love toward forgetfulness,

    as long as I live, until folding and unfolding.

  3. يا عاذلي عذراً فإني امرؤ

    اخو غرام والهوى عذري

    O my censurer, pardon me, for I am a man,

    a brother of ardent love, and passion is my excuse.

  4. لا تلح في الحب لمن لم يمل

    لنحو زبد لا ولا عمرو

    Do not reproach for love one who has never inclined

    toward Zabd—no, nor Amr.

  5. علقته كالظبي عن طرفه

    هاروت يروي آية السحر

    I loved him, gazelle-like; from his glance

    Harut recites a verse of magic.

  6. ساق لنا عنقودها قد جنى

    من صدغه في سالف العصر

    A cupbearer had already plucked its grape-cluster for us

    from his temple in an age long past.

  7. بها لنا حبي فقلنا له

    يا مرحبا بالشمس والبدر

    With it came my beloved to us, and we said to him:

    Welcome to the sun and the full moon!

  8. ورحت من فيه ومن ريقه

    نشوان من كأس ومن خمر

    And from his mouth and from his saliva I went away

    intoxicated by a cup and by wine.

  9. كم ليلة بت بها ساهرا

    وهو بها وسنان لا يدري

    How many a night I spent awake,

    while he lay drowsy through it, unaware.

  10. ارقب ضوء البدر من وجهه

    اذا بدا في حندس الشعر

    I watch the full moon’s light from his face

    when it appears in the deep darkness of his hair.

  11. ولاح في الافق هلال الدجى

    كأنه طوق على نحر

    And the crescent of night gleamed on the horizon,

    as though it were a neck-ring upon a throat;

  12. او لا سوار ضاق عن معصم

    اولا يدٌ دارت على خصر

    or no—a bracelet too tight for a wrist;

    or no—a hand encircling a waist;

  13. او لا جبين بالصبا مشرقٌ

    سه لنا يبدو سنا الفجر

    or no—a brow radiant with youth;

    [Unclear opening word]—dawn’s radiance appears to us;

  14. او حاجب كالقوس من نبله

    وساوس تخطر في الصدر

    or a bow-like eyebrow, from whose arrows

    whisperings flit within the breast;

  15. او لا قضيب مال في دوحه

    لما عليه سجع القمري

    or no—a branch leaning in its grove,

    when the turtledove cooed upon it;

  16. او خادم مال مكبا على

    اقدام من رق به شعري

    or a servant leaning, bowed low, over

    the feet of him through whom my verse grew tender:

  17. مولى سما قدرا ومجدا ولم

    يزل عليا سامي القدر

    a master who rose in rank and glory, and has

    always remained exalted, lofty in rank;

  18. فرد بلا ثان له في العلا

    أعذيه بالشفع والوتر

    unique, with no second to him in eminence—

    I seek protection for him by the even and the odd.

  19. يمينه تروي لنا عن عطا

    ووجهه الضحاك عن بشر

    His right hand narrates to us from Ata—Giving;

    and his laughing face from Bishr—Gladness.

  20. اندى من الغيث يدا كفه

    وجوده اوفى من البحر

    His palm is more generous than the rain,

    and his generosity more abundant than the sea.

  21. ما فيه من عيب سوى انه

    يعطي ولم يخش من الفقر

    There is no fault in him except that

    he gives and has never feared poverty.

  22. هباته لم تحص عد وقد

    جلت عن التعداد والحصر

    His gifts have not been counted; indeed, they

    have risen beyond enumeration and reckoning.

  23. لولاه ذات الثغر ما اشرقت

    ولا بدت باسمة الثغر

    Without him, she of the frontier would not have shone,

    nor appeared with smiling lips.

  24. اقسمت بالعصر لئن ملت عن

    مديحه اني لفي خسر

    I swear by Time: if I turn away from

    praising him, I am surely in loss.

  25. يا ناظر الجيش وعين الورى

    وغرة في جبهة الدهر

    O overseer of the army and eye of humankind,

    and a bright blaze upon the forehead of Time,

  26. زادت على الابحر يمناك بال

    وفاء من ابحرها العشر

    Your right hand has surpassed the seas in

    fullness—even their ten seas.

  27. وذكر موسى بعد طي لنا

    نشرته يا طيب النشر

    And Musa’s memory, once folded away, for us

    you unfolded, O sweetly fragrant one.

  28. فامدد يمينا للاعادي بها

    جزرت يا ذا المد والجزر

    So stretch forth to the enemies a right hand with which

    you cut them down, O master of flow and ebb.

  29. ومن عطاياك علينا أفض

    فانها احلى من القطر

    And pour upon us some of your gifts,

    for they are sweeter than the rain.

  30. فكم لا يدبك ايدٍ على

    مثلي في العسر وفي اليسر

    How many favors [apparently from your hands] have been bestowed upon

    one like me, in hardship and in ease!

  31. وخذ قصيدا بك رفت وقد

    تنظم عقدا من الدر

    And take a poem that fluttered for you, and has

    been strung into a necklace of pearls:

  32. عذرية الاوصاف طائبة

    عقيلة انتجها فكري

    virginal in its qualities, sweet,

    a noble maiden brought forth by my thought.

  33. يروم حسن النثر في نظمها

    والنظم قد يحسن بالنثر

    My thought seeks prose’s beauty in its verse,

    and verse may be beautified by prose.

  34. فاسلم وعش عمرا طويلا بلا

    مضارع يا ماضيَ الامر

    So remain safe, and live a long life, without

    an equal, O you of decisive command.

  35. لا زلت ترقى في علو علي

    مطالع الجوزاء والنسر

    May you always ascend in height above

    the rising points of al-Jawza and the Eagle;

  36. ولم يزل نجمك شمس العلا

    يبقى ويحيا ابد الدهر

    And may your star, the sun of eminence, never cease

    to endure and live for all time,

  37. ما غردت ورقاء في ابكة

    ومالت الاغصان بالزهر

    as long as a gray dove warbles in a thicket,

    and the branches sway with blossoms,

  38. وضاء ثغر المدح وافترّ عن

    نظم ثنايا جوهر الشكر

    and praise’s mouth shines and parts to reveal

    a string of front teeth—the jewels of gratitude.