1. يا ظبية البان يا غصن النقا النضر

    استغفر اللّه بل يا طلعة القمر

    O gazelle of the bān trees, O fresh branch of the dune,

    I ask God's forgiveness—rather, O radiant face of the moon!

  2. من اين للغصن ما بالقد من هيف

    من اين للظبي ما باللحظ من حور

    Where could a branch find the slender grace of your figure?

    Where could a gazelle find the dark-eyed beauty of your gaze?

  3. يا من اذا ما تبدت فالحسان لها

    بالحسن تشهد في بدو وفي حضر

    O you, whenever you appear, all beautiful women

    Bear witness to your beauty, in desert and town.

  4. ما ضر لو ان لي اهديت بعض كرى

    وكنت قابلته حملا على بصري

    What harm, if you gave me a little sleep,

    And I received it, bearing it upon my eyes,

  5. وجدت بالطيف حتى ان من دهش

    اقول هذا لعمري ليلة العمر

    And you bestowed a dream-vision, so that in wonder

    I would say, 'By my life, this is the night of a lifetime!'

  6. لكن اخذت فؤادي والرقاد وما

    ابقيت للصب من عين ومن اثر

    But you took my heart and sleep, and did not

    Leave the lovesick lover a thing, or even a trace.

  7. هلا خفرت ذمامي في الغرام على

    ما فيك يوجد من دل ومن خفر

    Why did you not safeguard my pledge in love, given

    All the coquetry and modesty found in you?

  8. ورب ليل به زارت وملبسنا

    ثوب العفاف بلا واش إلى السحر

    And many a night she visited, while our garment was

    The robe of chastity, with no tale-bearer, until the hour before dawn.

  9. وأسفرت فاراد الصبح يفضحنا

    خافت فأبدت لنا ليلا من الشعر

    She unveiled her face, and dawn sought to expose us;

    She feared, and revealed to us a night of hair.

  10. للّه لذة اوقات نعمت بها

    بالبسط دهرا على بسط من الزهر

    By God, the delight of hours I enjoyed,

    Long in gladness, upon carpets of flowers!

  11. يروق مغتبقا كأسي ومصطحبا

    ولم ازل اصل الآصال بالبكر

    My cup delights me at evening drink and in company,

    And I never ceased joining evenings to mornings.

  12. حيث الشباب واثواب الصبا جدد

    والعيش حلو الجنى صاف بلا كدر

    Where youth and youth's garments were fresh,

    And life was sweet-fruited, clear and unclouded.

  13. وقينة من بني الاتراك ما سفرت

    الا وآذن بدر التم بالسفر

    And a singing girl of the Turks—never did she unveil

    Except that the full moon announced its departure.

  14. وما بدت بصباح الثغر باسمة

    الا وقد قميص الليل من دبر

    Nor did she appear smiling, her mouth a dawn,

    Except that night's shirt was torn from behind.

  15. لا تستطيع اليها العين تنظرها

    كالشمس تحجب رائيها عن النظر

    The eye cannot look upon her;

    Like the sun, she bars her beholder from gazing.

  16. ازرت بيان النقا لينا معاطفها

    وغبرت في وجوه الكنس العفر

    Her supple curves put the bān trees of the dune to shame,

    And cast dust in the faces of the tawny, covert-dwelling gazelles.

  17. رشيقة القد ترنو من لواحظها

    وقدها باحياء البيض والسمر

    Slender of stature, she gazes with her sidelong looks,

    And her figure brings bright blades and dusky spears to life.

  18. رخيمة الدل يغنى حسن منطقها

    وثغرها لك عن كاس وعن وتر

    Soft in her coquetry, her lovely speech suffices,

    And her mouth, for you, in place of cup and string.

  19. تبرقعت برداء الحسن واتشحت

    بحندس الشعر واستغنت عن الخمر

    She veiled herself in beauty's robe, and draped herself

    In her hair's deep darkness, needing no veils.

  20. قوامها باعتدال قد غدا الفا

    في غاية الوصف بين الطول والقصر

    Her well-proportioned figure has become an alif,

    In the finest description, between tall and short.

  21. صغيرة السن بالالباب عابثة

    اتى بها الحسن من آياته الكبر

    Young in years, playing with minds,

    Beauty brought her forth among its greatest signs.

  22. لو لم تكن من ذوات الخدر اذ نفرت

    لقلت ما هذه يوما من البشر

    Had she not been one of the secluded maidens, when she shied away,

    I would have said, 'This woman is never of humankind.'

  23. يا قاتل الله عذالي بها فلقد

    لا موا فباؤوا بذنب غير مغتفر

    Ah, may God smite my reproachers over her! Indeed,

    They blamed me, and incurred an unforgivable sin.

  24. واكثروا في الهوى عذلي بجهلهم

    وقل من لومهم في الحب مصطبري

    They heaped reproach on me for love, in their ignorance,

    And their blame diminished my endurance in love.

  25. فليت لي مرشدا يهدي عذلي بجهلهم

    قاضي القضاة عسى اشكو له ضرري

    If only I had a guide to counsel my ignorant reproachers—

    The chief judge, to whom I might complain of my hurt.

  26. مولى به في الورى عز لمنتصر

    حبرٌ به في الندى جبر لمنكسر

    A patron through whom, among mankind, the seeker of aid finds strength;

    A scholar whose generosity brings healing to the broken.

  27. بحر يجود لنا بالدر نائله

    من كل منتظم منه ومنتثر

    An ocean whose bounty lavishes pearls upon us,

    Of every kind, from him, strung and scattered.

  28. وقد حلا موردا طابت مصادره

    منه ففي الورد محمود وفي الصدر

    He is a sweet watering place, with pleasant departures

    From him: praised when approached for water, and when left.

  29. لا يسمع العذل في بذل النوال ولا

    يشين حسن العطا بالمن والكدر

    He heeds no reproach for bestowing bounty, nor

    Mars the beauty of giving with reminders and vexation.

  30. تكاد من جوده الانواء تغرقنا

    فليت لو كان اجراها على قدر

    The rainstorms of his generosity almost drown us;

    Would that he had made them flow in measured amounts!

  31. قالوا هو الغيث قلت الغيث بعض ندى

    يمناه حين تجود السحب بالمطر

    They said, 'He is the rain.' I said, 'Rain is but some of the bounty

    Of his right hand, when the clouds lavish rain.'

  32. قالوا هو البحر قلت الفرق بينهما

    اضوا من الشمس لا يخفى على البشر

    They said, 'He is the sea.' I said, 'The difference between them

    Is brighter than the sun, hidden from no mortal.'

  33. هذا به يبلغ الآمال قاصده

    وصاحب البحر موقوف على الخطر

    Through this man, the seeker reaches his hopes,

    While the seafarer remains exposed to danger.

  34. تعوذ البذل حتى أنّ راحته

    لم تخش من تعب كلا ولا ضجر

    He has grown so used to giving that his palm

    Has feared no fatigue—no, nor vexation.

  35. كل المحامد في اوصافه انحصرت

    لكن جود نداه غير منحصر

    All praiseworthy qualities are gathered in his attributes,

    Yet his generous bounty knows no bounds.

  36. وكم لشرح معانيه البديعة من

    مطوّل قد حلا فيها ومختصر

    How many, expounding his wondrous qualities, are the

    Lengthy works made delightful by them, and the abridgments!

  37. يا ذا الذي في العلا قد شاد منزلة

    لم يبق من بعدها فخر لمفتخر

    O you who have built a station in the heights,

    Beyond which no glory remains for any seeker of glory,

  38. ومن تجانس فقري بالنوال اذا

    ما عنه اعربت الاسجاع والفقر

    And you who match my poverty with gifts, whenever

    Rhymed phrases and passages give it expression—

  39. خذها عقيلة فكر أنتجت غررا

    من كل معنى بديع اللفظ مبتكر

    Accept her, thought's noble maiden, bringing forth brilliant verses

    Of every freshly conceived meaning, exquisitely worded.

  40. غيداء من خدرها زفّ محاسنها

    عذراء بكر المعاني غرة الغرر

    A supple maiden, her charms escorted from her chamber—

    A virgin of untouched meanings, the fairest of the fair.

  41. لم يقض منها لعمري زيدها وطرا

    لعل منك عسى يقضى بها وطري

    By my life, her Zayd has not fulfilled a desire through her;

    Perhaps, through you, my desire may be fulfilled by her.

  42. لا زال يرنو اليك السعد ناظره

    حيث اتجهت مقيما او على سفر

    May Fortune's eye never cease to gaze upon you,

    Wherever you turn, at home or on a journey.

  43. ولا تزال الى ابوابك الشعرا

    بالحج تسعى فهم كالنمل في زمر

    And may poets never cease coming to your doors,

    Hastening on pilgrimage, like ants in swarms.

  44. ودمت في نعمة مع حسن خاتمة

    ممتعا بالهنا في اطول العمر

    And may you remain in blessing, with a happy ending,

    Enjoying happiness throughout the longest life,

  45. ما اعرب اللحن قمري الرياض وما

    غنى فأغنى عن العيدان والوتر

    As long as the gardens' turtledove gives voice to melody,

    And sings, leaving no need for lutes and strings.