ليس السلو كما قد خلتِ من شيمي

أنا الصبور على الحالين فاحتكمي

My behavior was not as you had assumed it to be

I am patient in both joy and sorrow so pass your judgment on me

ما خنت عهد الهوى العذريِّ في صغري

فكيف بعد حلول الشيب والهرم

I did not betray the covenant of love in my youth

So how could I after the onset of grey hair and old age

يا ساكني سلَمٍ أحرقتم كبدي

اللَه بي وبها يا ساكني سلم

O dwellers of Salam, you have scorched my liver

God be with me and with her, O dwellers of Salam

كيف التخلص من ليلٍ يؤرقني

شوقاً لأطول منه من فروعهم

How to get free of a night that keeps me awake

Yearning for those taller than it and its branches

ومن لعيني بأعرابيةٍ نهبت

نوم العيون بعين فتكها عجمي

My eyes were robbed of sleep by a Bedouin woman

Whose killing gaze is that of a foreigner

تدعو الحمام إذا ماست معاطفها

حتى يكاد يناجيها فماً لفم

She calls the doves when their feathers touch her

Until he seems to whisper to her mouth to mouth

لو نولت ريقها هنديةً كفرت

ما فكَّرت بعد موت البعل بالضرم

If she were to become a Hindu, she would deny

The thought of another husband after the death of her spouse

مر الزمان ولم تعذب لها نعمٌ

واستعذبت لعذابي قول لا ولَمِ

Time passed and she was not tortured by blessings

And she found sweet my words of refusal and blame

ليست معذبتي يا قوم قاتلتي

أنا القتيل بما استحسنت من هيمي

It's not me, O people, who tortured her

It's me who's killed by what I approved of her whims

وما أراق دمي المسفوك ناظرها

حاشاه إن عيوني السافكات دمي

It's not her watching eyes that spilled my blood

Far from it! My own eyes spilled my blood

مثل الحسود الذي من سهم غيرته

لا من صوارمِ عبودِ الهمامِ رُمِي

Like the envious one whose arrow of jealousy

Does not come from the swords of the brave heroes

مولىً أبى الفضلُ إلّا أن يلازمه

فلم يقم بمكان فيه لم يقم

My master Abu Al-Fadl insisted on accompanying him

So he did not stay in any place where he did not stay

للَه منه ملاكٌ يرتقي فرساً

وكوكبٌ ناطقٌ يسعى على قدم

To God he is an angel riding a horse

And a speaking star walking on feet

أسرى وأسرع من برق لمنتظر

أجرى وأجرع من ضرغامة الأجم

He rides faster than lightning when awaited

He runs faster than a startled wild camel

له يدٌ تخجل الأبحار بالكرم ال

زخار والذابل الخطار بالقلم

He has a hand that puts oceans to shame with generosity

A blooming and fading hand with the pen

أضحى لدائرة المعروف والكرم ال

موصوف قطب عُلاً لولاه لم تَدُم

He has become the circle of kindness and generosity

Whose pillar of height would not have lasted without him

أهديك يا خلف البحري عاتقةً

لعاتق المجد تهدي جوهر الحكم

I gift you O heir of Bahri a neck

For the neck of glory that gifts the essence of wisdom

إذا قبلت بها كان القبول لها

أعلى وأغلى من الياقوت في القيم

If you accept it, the acceptance will be

Higher and more precious than ruby in value

لا زال بأسك مرهوباً وضدك مغ

لوباً وشخصك محبوباً من الأمم

Your power still strikes awe and fear in your enemies

And your person remains beloved by all nations