سارتْ مطيُّهُمُ بهم تمْطو

وتحمّلوا للبينِ واشتطّوا

Their camels strode with them striding

And they bore separation and yearned

ومحتْ رسومَهُمُ نوًى قذفَتْ

خطواتُها للشوقِ ما خطّوا

And traces of them were erased by a loving glance

Whose steps mapped out their longing

فيهنّ نافرةٌ تلفُّتها

صدٌ وفارطُ قُربِها شحْطُ

Among them a spurning beauty glanced back

With disdain and one missed by his beloved has strayed

وسنانةُ الأجفانِ قد خُرِطَتْ

منها ظُبيَّ بقلوبِنا تسْطو

The teeth of the eyelids have been exposed

From which misfortune in our hearts pours forth

ومُحادثُ الأحداثِ عاجَلَهُ

في عُنفُوانِ شبابِه الوَخْطُ

The conversation of events hastened him

In the prime of his reckless youth

قدحَ الغرامُ زِنادَ صبوتِه

فكأنما زفراتُه سقْطُ

Love ignited the flint of his passions

So that his sighs seem like sparks

ولوى الى مصرٍ أخادِعُهُ

أرَجُ نماهُ ذلك الخَطُّ

And he turned towards a land of tricksters

More tender than that line

في حيثُ راحةُ مُصطَفى ديَمٍ

ينجابُ عن عرَصاتِها القحْطُ

Where there is the comfort of the chosen Mustafa

Bedewed by its threshing floors of drought

ولآلِ سيفٍ ضيفُ مكرمةٍ

متشرِّطٌ في حيثُ لا شرْطُ

And the family of Saif have a guest of honor

Begging wherever pact is bound

المُنتَضونَ مهنّداتِ سُطاً

من شأنِها الإقساطُ والقِسْطُ

Those who seek equal shares of gifts

Whose purpose is moderation and equity

للهِ سيفُ المُلْكِ من ملِكٍ

يُثْني عليه الخطُّ والخِطُّ

By God, the sword of the kingdom belongs to a king

Praised in prose and verse

جذلانُ لا في مِعطَسٍ صلَفٌ

منهُ ولا في حاجبٍ مطُّ

He is open-handed, neither miserly in haven

Nor frowning of brow

طُويتْ خلائقُهُ على شِيَمٍ

ما إن سمِعْتُ بمثلِها قطُّ

His manners are folded in perfection

The like of which I've never heard

ومضَتْ به العلياءُ في شِيمٍ

من دونِهنّ النجمُ منحَطُّ

And nobility has passed to him in perfection

Below which stars pale

إن حازَها في شرْجِه فلقَدْ

مُنِعَتْ بلوغَ أقلّها المطُّ

If he has attained it in his honor, then surely

What is beneath it cannot be reached