1. ما بالُ تلكَ الشَّامةِ الخَضراءِ

    في النارِ وَهْيَ كأنَّها في الماءِ

    What is the matter with that green beauty mark,

    amid the fire, yet as though it were in water?

  2. ومنَ العجائِبِ أنَّ ناراً قد بَدَت

    في جَنَّةِ حُمِيَت عنِ الشُّهداءُ

    And among the wonders is that a fire has appeared

    in a paradise barred to martyrs.

  3. يا ظَبيةً في الحيِّ حولَ كناسِها

    سُمْرٌ حَفَفْنَ بصَعْدةٍ سَمْراءِ

    O gazelle in the camp, around whose lair

    dusky ones have gathered around a straight, dusky spear.

  4. ما نَرْتجي والحَرْبُ دائرةٌ إذا

    قابَلْتِنا بالرَّايةِ البَيضاء

    What can we hope for, with war raging, if

    you meet us with the white banner?

  5. لا تَفتَخِر عَيناكِ في سَفكِ الدِّما

    فَلَنا عُيونٌ سافكاتُ دِماءِ

    Let your eyes not boast of shedding blood,

    for we too have eyes that shed blood.

  6. ودعِي مُفاخَرَتي بحُمرةِ وَجنْةٍ

    فقدِ انقلَبتُ بوَجْنةٍ حَمْراءِ

    And cease vying with me over a cheek's redness,

    for I have returned with a red cheek.

  7. في الخيمةِ الزَّرقاءِ بِتِّ كأنَّما

    أمسَيتِ فوقَ القُبَّةِ الزَّرقاءِ

    You spent the night in the blue tent, as though

    you had spent the evening above the blue dome.

  8. ورأيتِ عَينَكِ في سَوادِ مَلابِسٍ

    فظَنَنْتِها صارَتْ من الخُلَفاءِ

    And you saw your eye amid black garments,

    so you thought it had become one of the caliphs.

  9. مَهلاً عليكِ فإنَّ حُسنَكِ دَولةٌ

    ظَلَمَتْ فَليسَ لها طويلُ بَقاءِ

    Easy now, for your beauty is a dynasty

    that has been unjust, and so will not long endure.

  10. قد سُدْتِ أطرافَ الرِّجالِ فكيفَ لو

    سُدْتِ الكِرامَ كسَيِّدِ الأمراءِ

    You have ruled the lesser ranks of men; what, then, if

    you ruled the noble, like the lord of emirs?

  11. الوارثُ الشَّرَفَ الذي يُغنيهِ عن

    إنشاءِ مَرْتَبةٍ ورَفعِ بِناءِ

    Heir to honor that spares him the need for

    establishing a rank or raising an edifice,

  12. والمُنشئُ الحَسَبَ الذي يُغنيهِ عن

    شَرَفٍ تَوارَثَهُ منَ الآباءِ

    and creator of merit that spares him the need for

    honor inherited from his forefathers.

  13. أوفَى وزادَ على القديمِ حديثُهُ

    كصناعةِ التَخْميسِ للشُعراءِ

    His new deeds have completed and added to the old,

    like the poets' craft of expanding verse into five-line stanzas.

  14. وتألَّفتْ أقلامُهُ وسُيُوفُهُ

    فتَشابَهَتْ في هَيبةٍ ومَضاءِ

    And his pens and his swords have come into harmony,

    so they have grown alike in majesty and keenness.

  15. قد عَلَّمَتْهُ المَكْرُماتِ جُدُودُهُ

    فاستَخَدمَ التعليمَ للأبناءِ

    His forefathers have taught him noble deeds,

    so he has used that teaching for his sons.

  16. يجري على طُرُقِ الأمين مُحمَّدٌ

    كالشِّبلِ يَقْفُو الليثَ في البَيْداءِ

    Muhammad runs along the paths of al-Amin,

    like a lion cub following the lion in the desert.

  17. في الشَّرْقِ غَرْبٌ للبلادِ كَشَرقِها

    يَجُلو بهِ القَمرانِ عينَ الرائي

    In the East, the land has a west that is like its east,

    where the two moons brighten the beholder's eye.

  18. قَمرانِ ما للشمسِ يُفرَضُ منهُما

    صُبحٌ ولا للبَدرِ وقتُ مساءِ

    Two moons: no dawn is allotted by them to the sun,

    nor any evening hour to the full moon.

  19. شَوقي إلى تِلكَ الرُبوعِ ومَنْ بها

    شَوقُ العليلِ إلى شِفاءِ الدَّاءِ

    My longing for those abodes and those within them

    is the sick person's longing for a cure for his illness.

  20. تُهدِي لَنا أرَجَ النَّسيمِ فلا تَقُلْ

    أرَجُ النّسيمِ سَرَى من الزَّوراءِ

    They send us the breeze's fragrance, so do not say,

    'The breeze's fragrance has drifted from al-Zawra.'

  21. أَصفَيتُ ساكِنَها العزيزَ مَوَدَّتي

    وعلى مَحَبَّتهِ عَقَدتُ وَلائي

    I have devoted my sincerest affection to its dear inhabitant,

    and bound my allegiance to my love for him.

  22. لاَ يَستطيعُ شِرَاءَ قَلبي غيرُهُ

    فلَهُ بقَلْبي شُفعةُ الشُّرَكاءِ

    No one else can buy my heart,

    for he holds the co-owners' right of preemption over my heart.

  23. إِنْ لم أَزُرْهُ فقد تَزُورُ رَسائلِي

    شَوقاً بكلِّ وَصيفةٍ عَذراءِ

    If I do not visit him, my letters may visit him,

    out of longing, with every virgin handmaid.

  24. فَرْضٌ كتسليمِ المُصِلِّي عِندَنا

    إِهداءُ تَسليمٍ لهُ ودُعاءِ

    For us it is a duty, like the worshipper's salutation,

    to offer him a greeting and a prayer.

  25. أكثَرتُ من مَدحِ الأميرِ فقالَ لي

    أسرَفْتَ فاترُكْ فَضلةً لِسَوائي

    I lavished praise on the emir, so he said to me,

    'You have overdone it; leave some for others besides me.'

  26. فأجَبتُهُ دَعْ في المناقِبِ فَضلةً

    للناسِ واحكُمْ بعَدها بخَطائي

    So I answered him, 'Leave some of the virtues

    for others, and then pronounce me at fault.'

  27. يا ظالمَ الأشرافِ إذ قاسَمْتَهُم

    فأخذتَ كُلَّ سجيَّةٍ غَرَّاءِ

    O you who wronged the nobles when you divided shares with them,

    and took every resplendent trait!

  28. إني رأيتُ الشِّعرَ فيكَ يُطيعُني

    فأرَاكَ تُسِعفُني على الإنشاءِ

    Indeed, I have seen poetry about you obey me,

    so I see you aiding me in composition.

  29. تُبدي ليَ المَعْنَى الذي أثني بهِ

    وأنا أصوغُ عليهِ لفظَ ثَنائي

    You reveal to me the meaning with which I praise you,

    and I fashion upon it the words of my praise.

  30. فَلَك الجميلُ فذاكَ رُوحٌ جِسمُها

    لَفظٌ يُعَدُّ بها منَ الأحياء

    So yours is the credit, for that meaning is a soul whose body

    is wording, counted through that soul among the living.