ليراعكم أهديت إنسان النظر

وشباب طرس شاب من فرط الكبر

To your care I dedicate this gift of man’s vision

And Tarsus’ youth, aged beyond his years

أرسلته عبداً دعوه عنبراً

إذا فاح طيب نشره بين البشر

I sent him as a slave, call him Ambergris

When its perfume spreads among people

أقلامه أخذته حال كتابة

سبحا وألقته على طرس درر

His pens have seized him while writing

Glorifying, and cast upon Tarsus pearls

ويودّ مرسله إلى أبوابكم

لو زاد فيه سواد قلب أو بصر

And his sender wishes him to your doors

If only his heart or sight were blackened more

ليل وإن أبدى لنا ألفاظكم

في صبح طرس أبيض قالوا سحر

Even if your words seemed to us by night

In Tarsus’ bright morning they called it sorcery