يا رَبعُ شُغلَكَ إِنّي عَنكَ في شُغُلِ

لا ناقَتي فيكَ لَو تَدري وَلا جَمَلي

O my companion, I am preoccupied away from you

O campsite ruins, mind your own affairs, for I am too occupied for you;

Though if you knew, neither my she-camel nor my camel are with you

My she-camel is not within you—if you only knew—nor is my he-camel.

عَلَيَّ عَينٌ وَأُذنٌ مِن مُذَكَّرَةٍ

مَوصولَةٍ بِهَوى اللوطِيِّ وَالغَزِلِ

I have an eye and ear from the reminders

My eye and ear are fixed upon a boyish woman,

Connected with the passion of Luṭī and amorousness

Who links the passion of the sodomite with that of the womanizer.

كِلاهُما نَحوَها سامٍ بِهِمَّتِهِ

عَلى اِختِلافِهِما في مَوضِعِ العَمَلِ

Both towards it proceeding with their determination

Both of them aspire toward her with their intent,

Despite their difference in place of action

Despite the difference between them regarding the site of the deed.

يا فَضلُ غايَةُ خَلقِ اللَهِ كُلِّهِمِ

إِذا ضَرَبنا بِجودٍ غايَةَ المَثَلِ

O exceptional, pinnacle of all of God's creation

O Fadl, you are the pinnacle of all God’s creation,

When we cite generosity, the pinnacle of example

Whenever we cite the ultimate example of generosity.

كَم قائِلٍ لَكَ مِن داعٍ وَقائِلَةٍ

نَفسي فِداءُ أَبي العَبّاسِ مِن رَجُلِ

How many a sayer to you and sayeress

How many a man and how many a woman call out to you,

My soul is ransom for Abū al-ʿAbbās from a man

Saying, "May my soul be a ransom for Abu al-Abbas—what a man!"

يُفَدِّيانِكَ ما اِسطاعا بِجَهدِهِما

وَيَسأَلانِ لَكَ التَأخيرَ في الأَجَلِ

They ransom you as much as they can with their effort

They offer themselves for you with all the effort they possess,

And ask for you long life and delay of death

And they pray that your appointed time of death be long delayed.