أميري يا من ندى كفه

يزيد على العراض الممطر

My prince—O you whose palm’s bounty

surpasses the rain-bearing clouds;

أرى يومنا يوم كأسٍ تدو

ر من يد ذي دعجٍ أحور

I see our day as one when a cup turns

round from the hand of a youth with deep-black, wide eyes;

وأبيض يحدوك سكر الغرام

على لثم شاربه الأخضر

and a fair youth whom love’s intoxication urges you

to kiss upon his green mustache.

بحمرة وجنته تستدل

على أنه من بني الأصفر

By the redness of his cheek you can tell

that he is one of the Sons of Yellow;

وأنك من دونه قد ضرب

ت هامة ذي لبدةٍ قسور

and that, in his defense, you have struck

the head of a fierce, maned lion.

وشعر ابن حجاج يا سيدي

يغني به عبدك الهنكري

And this verse of Ibn Ḥajjāj, my lord,

your servant al-ʿAnbarī sings

غناءٌ وشعرٌ لنا يجمعا

ن ما بين زلزل والبحتري

as song; the singing and my verse bring together for us

the robust manner and the Buḥturian.