يا صاحب الفهم الجلي

قال ابن سودون علي

O you of clear understanding

Ibn Soudan said to me

قد همتُ في غزاله

بمقلة غزّاله

I intended towards its gazelle

With the blink of its gazelle

كريمة في الأصل

بخيله بالوصل

Generous in origin

Stingy with connection

تعبث بالقلوب

بشكلها المحبوب

Playing with hearts

With its beloved form

وافت لجبر كسري

بالوصل بعد هجري

Fulfilling to the might of Chosroes

With connection after my abandonment

فَقُمت بعد لثمي

لها وطيب لمّي

So I stood up after kissing her

And the goodness of my touch

حللتُ باختلاسي

معاقد اللباس

I analyzed with my stealth

The knots of clothing

فَخلتُ عقد عشرين

يقدم عقد ستين

So I untied twenty knots

Preceding sixty knots

فقلت ماذا النقل

لمَ قدّم الأقلّ

So I said what is the matter

Why did the fewer precede?

فقيل يا بليد

لأنه وَدُود

So it was said O slow-witted one

Because it is affectionate

وحب ودّ الروح

والكل مَن يروح

And the love of spirit is affection

And all is from what fades

والشطر منه حبٌّ

وكله يُحبّ

And half of it is love

And all of it loves

فهذه المُقدمه

قد أوجبت تقدّمه

So this introduction

Necessitated its precedence

وجُملة المؤخر

مُلكٌ مع التحرر

And the totality of the delayed

Is property with liberation

وهو ابتداء موعدي

ومصدري وموردي

And it is the beginning of my appointment

And my source and my refuge

لكنه يميل

لأنه كليل

But it inclines

Because it is infirm

ومُلكُ طرفيه اجعل

حرفاً بحُكم الجُمّل

And the possession of its sides I made

A letter by the judgement of beauty

واضممه للمقدّم

ترى اسمه كالعلم

And I incorporated it into the preceded

You see its name like a flag

وعكس تصحيف تقي

مع طرده اسم ما بقي

And the inverse of the misspelling of piety

With the expulsion of the name of what remained

نشرت طيّ رمزي

فانحلّ عقد لُغزي

I disseminated the folding of my symbol

So the knot of the riddle was undone