1. سِوى حُسنِ وَجهِكَ لَم يَحلُ لي

    وَغَيرُكَ في القَلبِ لَم يَحلُلِ

    Nothing but the beauty of your face has been sweet to me,

    and none but you has dwelt in my heart.

  2. فَكَيفَ سَلوّي وَلي طينَةٌ

    عَلى غَيرِ حُبِّكَ لَم تُجبَلِ

    How can I forget, when my clay

    was molded for nothing but love of you?

  3. أَتَزعُمُ أَنّي أُطيعُ الوُشاةَ

    وَأَصغي إِلى عَذَلِ العُذَّلِ

    Do you suppose that I obey the talebearers

    and listen to the reproaches of the reproachers?

  4. لَقَد نَصَلَ الدَهرُ صَبغَ الشَبابِ

    وَصَبغُ المَحَبَّةِ لَم يَنصُلِ

    Time has indeed stripped away youth's dye,

    but love's dye has not faded.

  5. عَجِبتُ لِقَدِّكَ مَع لينِهِ

    يُرينا اِعتِدالاً وَلَم يَعدِلِ

    I marvel at your stature, for all its suppleness:

    it shows us uprightness, yet has never acted justly.

  6. يَلينُ وَفي فَتكِهِ قَسوَةٌ

    وَذَلِكَ شَأنُ القَنا الذُبَّلِ

    It is supple, yet there is cruelty in its slaying,

    and such is the nature of slender spears.

  7. وَعَيناكَ قَد فَوَّقَت أَسهُماً

    فَمَن دَلَّهُنَّ عَلى مَقتَلي

    And your eyes have nocked arrows;

    who, then, showed them my vital spot?

  8. وَخَدُّكَ موقَدَةٌ نارُهُ

    وَقَلبي بِجُذوَتِها يَصطَلي

    And your cheek—its fire is kindled,

    and my heart warms itself at its ember.

  9. أَيا ما طِلاً لِوُعودِ الوِصالِ

    وَوَعدُ تَجافيهِ لَم يَمطُلِ

    O you who delay the promises of union,

    while the promise of his estrangement has never been delayed.

  10. بَخِلتَ وَقَد حُزتَ مُلكَ الجَمالِ

    وَمَن مَلَكَ المُلكَ لَم يَبخَلِ

    You have been miserly, though you gained beauty's kingdom,

    and whoever possesses a kingdom is not miserly.

  11. فَهلاً تَعَلَّمتَ فَضلَ السَماحِ

    مِن راحَةِ المَلِكِ الأَفضَلِ

    Why, then, have you not learned the virtue of generosity

    from the palm of King al-Afdal?

  12. مَليكٌ إِذا هَطَلَت كَفُّهُ

    تَصاغَرَ قَدرُ الحَيا المُسبِلِ

    A king whose palm, when it pours,

    makes the worth of pouring rain seem small.

  13. يَشيدُ العُلى بِاليَراعِ القَصيرِ

    وَيَفخَرُ بِالطَرَفِ الأَطوَلِ

    He builds high glory with the short reed-pen,

    and takes pride in the longer spear-point.

  14. تَلاقيهِ في الحَربِ صَعبَ المِراسِ

    وَفي السِلمِ ذا الخُلُقِ الأَسهَلِ

    You find him in war hard to contend with,

    and in peace, of the gentlest temper.

  15. أَخَفُّ إِلى الحَربِ مِن ذابِلٍ

    وَأَثقَلُ في الحِلمِ مِن يَذبُلِ

    Swifter to war than a slender spear,

    and weightier in forbearance than Mount Yadhbul.

  16. يُضيءُ لَنا في ظَلامِ الخُطوبِ

    وَيُشرِقُ في حِندِسِ القَسطَلِ

    He gives us light in the darkness of calamities,

    and shines in the blackness of battle-dust.

  17. فَسَيلُ عَطاياهُ لِلمُجتَدي

    وَنورُ مُحَيّاهُ لِلمُجتَلي

    So the torrent of his gifts is for the seeker of bounty,

    and the light of his face is for the beholder.

  18. يُرَمِّلُ بِالدَمِ شِلوَ الكَمِيِّ

    وَيَحنو عَلى البائِسِ المُرمِلِ

    He stains the armored warrior's corpse with blood,

    and shows compassion to the wretched pauper.

  19. مَناقِبُ مَعروفُها تالِدٌ

    مُحَمَّدُ أَورَثَها مِن عَلي

    Virtues whose goodness is ancestral,

    which Muhammad received as a legacy from Ali.

  20. إِلى آلِ أَيّوبَ يُغزى الفَخارُ

    في كُلِّ ماضٍ وَمُستَقبَلِ

    Glory is ascribed to the house of Ayyub

    in every past and future age.

  21. مُلوكٌ لَهُم شَرَفٌ آخَرٌ

    يُخَبَّرُ عَن شَرَفٍ أَوَّلِ

    Kings whose later honor

    speaks of their earlier honor.

  22. يَنُمُّ بِهِم جودُهُم مِثلَما

    تَنُمُّ الرِياحُ عَلى المَندِلِ

    Their generosity reveals them, just as

    the winds reveal aloeswood.

  23. أَيا ناصِرَ الدينِ يا اِبنَ الَّذي

    بِهِ أَصبَحَ المُلكُ في مَعقِلِ

    O Nasir al-Din, O son of the one

    through whom kingship came to rest in a stronghold,

  24. حَباكَ المُؤَيَّدُ تَأيِيدَهُ

    كَذا هِمَّةُ اللَيثِ في الأَشبُلِ

    al-Mu'ayyad granted you his support;

    thus the lion's high resolve lives in its cubs.

  25. وَلَولا وَجودُكَ كانَ السَماحُ

    تَحتَ الصَفائِحِ وَالجَندَلِ

    And were it not for your existence, generosity would lie

    beneath stone slabs and rocks.

  26. فَعَلتَ مِنَ الجودِ ما لَم تَقُل

    وَغيرُكَ قالَ وَلَم يَفعَلِ

    You did in generosity what you had never promised,

    while others promised and did not act.

  27. فَقَلبي بِإِحسانِكُم فارِغٌ

    وَكَفّي بِإِنعامِكُم مُمتَلي

    So through your kindness my heart is free of care,

    and through your favors my palm is full.

  28. سَمَحتَ اِبتِداءً وَلَم أَمتَدِح

    وَأَنعَمتَ عَفواً وَلَم أَسأَلِ

    You gave unprompted, though I had offered no praise,

    and bestowed favors freely, though I had not asked.

  29. وَوالَيتَ بِرَّكَ حَتّى رَحَلتُ

    حَياءً وَلَولاهُ لَم أَرحَلِ

    And you continued your kindness until I departed

    out of modesty; but for it, I would not have departed.

  30. وَلَو شِئتُ نَهضي إِلى قَصدِكُم

    لَخَفَّفتُ عَن ظَهرِيَ المُثقَلِ

    And had I wished to set out to visit you,

    I would have eased the load on my burdened back.

  31. فَأَهمَلتُ واجِبَ سَعيي إِلَيكَ

    وَما كُنتُ عِندَكَ بِالمُهمَلِ

    So I neglected my duty to journey to you,

    though you had never neglected me.

  32. وَكَفَّرتُ عَن زَلَّةِ الإِنقِطاعِ

    بِأَحسَنِ مَن كانَ في مَنزِلي

    And I atoned for the fault of staying away

    with the finest of those in my household.

  33. فَأَرسَلتُهُ راجِياً أَنَّهُ

    يُمَحِّصُ عَن زَلَّةِ المُرسِلِ

    So I sent him, hoping that he

    would wipe away the sender's fault.

  34. فَإِن لاحَظَتهُ عُيونُ الرِضى

    لَكَ الفَضلُ في ذاكَ وَالفَخرُ لي

    So if the eyes of favor look upon him,

    the credit for that is yours, and the pride is mine.

  35. وَإِن لَم يَكُن غايَةً في الجَمالِ

    وَبَدرُ مَعانيهِ لَم يَكمَلِ

    And though he may not be the pinnacle of beauty,

    and the full moon of his qualities is not yet complete,

  36. فَإِنَّ لَهُ غايَةً في الذَكاءِ

    وَلُطفَ البَديهَةِ وَالمِقوَلِ

    he does possess the utmost intelligence,

    and finesse in ready wit and speech.

  37. وَبِكرٍ خَدَمتُ بِها عاجِلاً

    وَسيفُ القَريحَةُ لَم يُصقَلِ

    And I served you in haste with a maiden ode,

    while the sword of poetic inspiration was still unpolished.

  38. أَرومُ إِقامَةَ عُذري بِها

    وَأُثني عَلى فَضلِكَ الأَكمَلِ

    I seek to establish my excuse through it,

    and extol your consummate excellence.

  39. وَمِثلُكَ مَن قَبِلَ الإِعتِذارَ

    وَصَدَّقَ قَولَ المُحِبُّ الوَلي

    And one such as you accepts an apology,

    and believes the word of a loving, loyal friend.

  40. فَوا ضُعفَ حَظّي وَفَوتَ المُنى

    إِذا كانَ عُذرِيَ لَم يُقبَلِ

    Then alas for my poor fortune and the loss of my hopes,

    if my excuse is not accepted!