1. للشوقِ عِندكَ مُقعِدٌ ومُقيمُ

    ذاك الصِّحيحُ وأنتَ منهُ سقيمُ

    Longing is given a seat and made to stay with you;

    it is hale, while you are sick from it.

  2. إن كانَ هذا الشوقُ داءً حادثاً

    فالحُبُّ داءٌ في الفُؤادِ قديمُ

    If this longing is a newly arisen illness,

    then love is an ancient illness in the heart.

  3. في كُلِّ قلبٍ للصَّبابةِ مَنزِلٌ

    ولكلِّ صَبٍّ مشرَبٌ معلومُ

    In every heart, ardent longing has a dwelling,

    and every lover has a drinking place he knows.

  4. والحُبُّ أشبَهُ بالحبيبِ كَرامةً

    فكريمُهُ حيثُ الحبيبُ كريمُ

    Love resembles the beloved in nobility,

    so it is noble wherever the beloved is noble.

  5. جَرَتِ القُلوبُ على الخِلافِ لحكمةٍ

    إنَّ الذي خَلَقَ القُلوبَ حكيمُ

    Hearts have taken differing courses for a wise purpose;

    indeed, He who created hearts is wise.

  6. لولا التَّفاوتُ في البريَّةِ لم يكُنْ

    وَجهٌ بمَصحلةِ العبادِ يقومُ

    Were it not for differences among humankind, there would be no

    means of sustaining people's welfare.

  7. في كل عينٍ نُزهةٌ وطُلاوةٌ

    ولكلِّ نفسٍ لَذةٌ ونعيمُ

    In every eye there is delight and charm,

    and every soul has pleasure and bliss.

  8. ولَعلَّ بعضَ السيئاتِ بزَعمِهمْ

    حَسَنٌ وبعضَ الطيباتِ ذميمُ

    And perhaps, in their view, some bad things

    are good, and some good things are blameworthy.

  9. ولَرُبَّ عاذِرِ نفسِهِ في خَلَّةٍ

    يَنْهاكَ عنها ناصحاً ويلومُ

    And many a man who excuses himself for a habit

    forbids you to do it, offering counsel and reproach.

  10. وإذا انتهيتَ ظلمتَ نفسكَ مرَّةً

    فلَعلَّ بعضَ الناصحينَ ظَلُومُ

    And if you desist, you sometimes wrong yourself;

    for some advisers may be deeply unjust.

  11. أهلُ الزَّمانِ على خِلافٍ لازمٍ

    مِثلَ الزَّمانِ وفي الخِلافِ لُزومُ

    The people of the age live in constant discord,

    like time itself; and in discord lies necessity.

  12. أحكامُ دَهرٍ ليسَ يَعلَمُ سِرَّها

    إلا حكيمٌ بالإلهِ عليمُ

    Time's decrees—no one knows their secret

    except a sage deeply versed in God.

  13. أنتَ المُشارُ إليه في ما نَدَّعي

    يا مَن لهُ المنطوقُ والمفهومُ

    You are the one we point to in what we claim,

    O you to whom the spoken and the understood belong.

  14. يا بحرَ فيضٍ والبحارُ جداولٌ

    يا بدرَ تمٍّ والبُدورُ نجومُ

    O sea of bounty, while seas are mere streams!

    O perfect full moon, while full moons are mere stars!

  15. يا سيّداً جادَ الزَّمانُ لنا بهِ

    خَجَلاً لمن قال الزَّمانُ لئيمُ

    O master with whom time has generously blessed us,

    to the shame of whoever said, 'Time is mean.'

  16. لكَ في الكلامِ فوائدٌ منثورةٌ

    حَكَمت بأن يُهدَى لكَ المنظومُ

    Your words hold insights scattered through your prose,

    which have decreed that verse be offered to you.

  17. تلك الحقائقُ في عُلاكَ تحجَّبت

    وبَدَت لعين الناظرِينَ رُسومُ

    Those truths became veiled in your loftiness,

    and outlines appeared to the onlookers' eyes.

  18. اطعلتَ من سِحرِ البيانِ لطائفاً

    سُحَراءُ بابلَ دُونَهُنَّ تَهيمُ

    You brought forth subtleties from the magic of eloquence;

    Babylon's sorcerers wander bewildered, falling short of them.

  19. أحيا عُلومَ الأوَّلين بك الذي

    يُحيِى عِظامَ المَيْتِ وَهْيَ رميمُ

    Through you, He has revived the learning of the ancients—He who

    revives the bones of the dead, though they are decayed.

  20. هذا سلَيمانُ الوَرَى لكنَّهُ

    في طاعةِ الرَّحمن إبراهيمُ

    This is humankind's Solomon, yet he

    is Abraham in his obedience to the Most Merciful.

  21. لا تُنكِرُ الإفرنجُ رِفعةَ شأنهِ

    والتُركُ قد شَهِدت لهُ والرُّومُ

    The Franks do not deny his lofty standing,

    and the Turks have testified for him, as have the Romans.

  22. دَينٌ علينا حمدُهُ ومديحُهُ

    ولكلِّ دَينٍ طالبٌ وغريمُ

    Praising and lauding him are a debt upon us,

    and every debt has a claimant and a debtor.

  23. ولعلَّ عُذرَ المَرْءِ وَهْوَ مُقصِّرٌ

    أدنَى قَبُولاً منهُ وَهْوَ عقيمُ

    And perhaps a man's excuse, when he falls short,

    is more readily accepted than when he is barren.

  24. ويلاهُ قد ضاعَ الزََّمانُ ورَكْبُنَا

    في كلِّ وادٍ لا يزالُ يَهيمُ

    Alas! Time has been lost, while our caravan

    still wanders in every valley.

  25. يا طِيبَ أيَّامِ الصِّبا لو أنَّها

    دامت وغيرُ الله ليسَ يدومُ

    Oh, how sweet were youth's days! If only they

    had lasted—yet nothing but God endures.

  26. عَبِثَتْ بيَ الأيَّامُ وهيَ سفيهةٌ

    فشكوتُها للصبرِ وهوَ حليمُ

    The days toyed with me, foolish as they are;

    so I complained of them to Patience, who is forbearing.

  27. وإذا شكوتَ لسامعٍ خفَّ البِلَى

    فكأنما قُسِمَتْ عليهِ هُمومُ

    And when you complain to a listener, suffering lightens,

    as though worries had been shared with him.

  28. يا أيُّها الحَبرُ الذي قُلنا لهُ

    بحراً فقيلَ إذنْ لهُ المظلومُ

    O learned scholar whom we called

    a sea—whereupon it was said, 'Then he is the wronged one.'

  29. ما بالُنا ندعوكَ بحراً بيننا

    والبحرُ يغرَقُ فيكَ وهو مُليِمُ

    Why do we call you a sea in our midst,

    when the sea drowns in you, itself deserving blame?

  30. عَرَفتْ مُلوكُ العصرِ قَدْرَك حيثُما

    ألقى عَصاك الحافظُ القَيُّومُ

    The kings of the age recognized your worth wherever

    the Preserver, the Ever-Sustaining, laid down your staff.

  31. فحُبِيتَ من زُهر النجوم بطالعٍ

    يُنبِي بسعدِ طُلوعهِ التقويمُ

    So you were favored with a rising star among the shining stars,

    whose auspicious rising the almanac foretells.

  32. أُثني عليك بما علمتُ وفاتَني

    ما فوقَ عِلمِي سِرُّهُ المكتومُ

    I praise you for what I know; yet there escapes me

    that whose hidden secret lies beyond my knowledge.

  33. فإذا عَفوتَ فقد وَفى حُسْنُ الرِّضى

    وإذا اعتذرتُ فقد وَفَى التَّسليمُ

    So if you pardon, gracious acceptance has done its part;

    and if I apologize, submission has done its part.