إلى العالمِ الفَردِ الذي عزَّ نِدُّهُ

بِمغرِبنا نَجلِ السَّراةِ أصيلُ

To the peerless individual whose pride

In our west is the scion of the caravans

إليكَ أبا العباسِ مَن سَار ذِكرُه

كَمِثلِ أريجٍ المسِكِ يَذكو أقولُ

To you, O Abbas’ father, whose fame

Spreads like the aroma of musk igniting, I say:

ألا إنَّ ذاكَ الزَوجَ مَن جاءَ يَشتكي

بزَوجَته والقُولُ فيه طَويلُ

Behold, that husband who came complaining

Of his wife, though the case is complicated

لقد مُنِعَت منه ورَسمُ زَواجِها

بِيمناها فيهِ للشُّهود عُدولُ

She was denied him, though their marriage

Was witnessed by trustworthy men of integrity

وقد نقِطت حاءُ الحَليلِ فأصبحَ ال

حليلُ خَليلاً والخَليلُ حَليلُ

The dot under the “h” of “permissible” was marked out

So the permissible is no longer a lover, nor the lover permissible