سَلاَمٌ إذَا استَعْبَقْتَ رَيَّاهُ أُجلِيَتْ

عَلَيكَ مَسَارِيهِ بِرائِحَةِ العِطْرِ

Peace be with you, when its fragrance surrounds you

Its pleasant scent lingers about you

وخَالِصُ شُكْرٍ لا يغِبُّ كَمَا صَفَتْ

ورَقَّتْ علَى رُوَّاقِها نُطْفةُ الخَمْرِ

Sincere thanks that do not fade like the bouquet

Of blossoms that adorned its portico with wine's dew

يؤَدِّيهِما مَوْلىً وقَفْتُ ثَنَاءَهُ

عَلَيكَ فَلَمْ يَهْتِفْ بِزيدٍ ولا عَمْرو

I praise my Master who enabled me to praise you

Not shouting for Zayd or Amr in acclamation

تَمَلَّكْتَ بالبِرِّ المُضَاعَفِ رِقَّهُ

فَأصْبحَ عَبْداً وهوَ في جلْدِهِ الحُرِّ

You won his heart by your kindness redoubled

So he who was free became your willing slave

ويُنهي إِلَيكَ الحَالَ إن قُعُودَهُ

علَى فرْطِ ما اسْتعتَبْتهُ لَكَ من عُذْرِ

Let your condition make excuse should you sit still

For the cold you so lightly complained of to me

زُكَامٌ لو اسْتَسقَى المَعَاطِسَ صَوْبُهُ

أخُو المحْلِ لاسْتَغنَى نَدَاهُ عن القَطْرِ

A cold that if the sneezer sought its rainclouds

The inhabitant of a mansion would have no need of rain

تَوَخَّى دِمَاغي لا يُزَايِلُ سَاعَةً

كَمَا عَكَفَتْ أُمُّ الفِرَاخِ علَى الوَكْرِ

It has seized my brain and does not quit an hour

As a mother hen broods constantly over her nest

ولَوْلاهُ لَمْ أَقْعُدْ ولَو حَالَ بَينَهُ

وبَينِيَ أطْرَافُ المثَقَّفَةِ السُّمْرِ

And were it not for this cold I would not sit

Though the talkative with her hennaed fingers intervened