بعثْتُ بشيءٍ كالجَفاءِ وإنّما

بعثْتُ بعُذْري كالمُدلِّ الى عُذْرِ

I sent something like aloofness, yet

I sent my excuse, pleading, to the excuse

وقلْتُ لنَفْسي لا تُراعَيْ فإنّهُ

كما قيلَ شيءٌ قد يُعينُ على الدّهْرِ

And I said to myself, "Do not worry," for indeed,

As it is said, something that may help against fate

وما كانَ قدْرُ الودِّ والمجْدِ مثلَهُ

فخذْهُ على قدْرِ الحَوادثِ أو قدْري

And it was not the same worth of love and glory,

So take it according to the worth of events or my worth

وإنْ كنتُ لمْ أُحْسِنْ صَنيعي فإنّني

سأحْسِنُ في حُسْنِ القَبولِ لهُ شُكْري

And if I have not done well in my dealings, then I

Will do well in gracefully accepting it, my thanks

وقدْرُكَ قدْرُ النيلِ عنْدي وإنّني

لدى قدْرِكَ العالي أدَقُّ منَ الذرِّ

And your worth to me is like the worth of the Nile, and I

Am more minute than an atom next to your lofty worth

قنِعْتُ وحظّي منْ زَماني ووُدِّكُمْ

هَباءٌ ومثْلي ليسَ يقْنَعُ بالنّزْرِ

I sufficed and my share of my time and your love

Is nonsense, and the like of me is not satisfied with little

أتاني كِتابٌ منْكَ باهٍ مُبارَكٌ

لَقيتُ بهِ الآمالَ يا بهْجَة الثّغْرِ

A proud, blessed letter came to me from you

I met with it hopes, O delight of the mouth!

جَلا من بَناتِ الفِكْرِ بِكْراً وزفّها

الى ناظِري تخْتالُ في حِبَرِ الحِبْرِ

It shone among the daughters of thought as a virgin, and he sent her

To my onlooking eye, swaying in the ink of the inkwell

فألْفاظُها كالزّهْرِ والزّهْرُ يانِعٌ

وقدْرُ المَعاني في الأصالةِ كالزُّهْرِ

So its words are like flowers, and the flowers are blooming,

And the worth of meanings in origin is like flowers

نُجومُ مَعانٍ في سَماءِ صَحيفةٍ

ولكنّها تسْري النّجومُ ولا تسْري

Stars of meaning in the sky of a paper,

But they flow, the stars, and do not flow

تضمّنَ منْ نوْعِ الدّعابَةِ ما بِهِ

رجَوْتُ الذي قد قيلَ في نشْوَةِ الخَمْرِ

Containing some playfulness, by which

I hoped what was said in the intoxication of wine

رعى اللهُ مَسْراها الكريمَ فجلَّ ما

جلَتْهُ منَ البُشْرى وأبْدَتْ منَ البِشْرِ

May God watch over its noble joy! So it surpassed

What it surpassed of good news and showed of good news

لعَمْري لقدْ أذْكَرْتَني دولَةَ الصِّبا

وأهْدَيْتَ لي نوعَ الحَلالِ منَ السّحْرِ

By my life, you reminded me of the days of youth

And you gave me a lawful kind of magic

ولمّا أتَتْ تلْكَ الفُكاهةُ غُدْوةً

وجَدْتُ نشاطاً سائِرَ اليومِ في بشْري

And when that wit came one morning

I found vigor throughout the day in my optimism

ولاسيّما إنْ كان ملْحِمَ بُرْدِها

عَميدُ أولي الألْبابِ نادِرةُ العصرِ

Especially if its salt was led by

The peerless leader of the intelligent minds

نشَرْتَ بها ما قد طوَيْتُ بساطَهُ

زَماناً ولي طيُّ الأمورِ مع النّشْرِ

You spread what I had folded the carpet of

For a time, and folding matters up is typical for me

ونِعْمَ خَليلُ الخيرِ أنتَ مُحافِظاً

على سُنَنِ الإخْلاصِ في السّرِّ والجَهْرِ

And what a good friend of goodness you are, preserving

The ways of sincerity in private and public

ودونَكَها تلْهو بِها وتُديرُها

سُحَيْريّةَ الأنْفاسِ طيّبَة النّشْرِ

And beneath it playing with it and turning it

Is the exhilaration of breaths, pleasant to unfold