1. خَطرت بِقامة أَغيدٍ مَيّاسِ

    متلفِّتٍ يُزري بِظبي كناسِ

    She glided past with a graceful, swaying figure,

    Turning this way and that, putting a gazelle in its covert to shame.

  2. وَرنت إليّ بِصارمٍ مِن لَحظِها

    يودي بِقسورة شَديد الباس

    And she gazed at me with a sharp sword of a glance,

    That slays a lion of fierce might.

  3. وَرمت فؤادي عَن قَسيّ حَواجبٍ

    بنبال تيه ما لها مِن آسي

    And she shot at my heart from the bows of her eyebrows,

    With arrows of pride for which there is no healer.

  4. قسماً بطرّتها وَصبح جَبينها

    وَبِطَرفِها المَوصوف بِالنعّاس

    I swear by her forelock and the dawn of her forehead,

    And by her gaze, described as drowsy,

  5. وَبورد خدّيها وَخالٍ قَد غَدا

    لِجَمالها الزاهي مِن الحرّاس

    And by her cheeks' roses, and a beauty spot that has become

    One of the guardians of her radiant beauty,

  6. وَبلؤلؤ يَزهو بِحُسن نِظامه

    وَبريق ثَغر عاطر الأَنفاس

    And by pearls resplendent in their lovely arrangement,

    And by the saliva of a mouth whose breath is fragrant,

  7. وَبجيدها مَع ما حَواه صَدرُها

    مِن مَرمر يَحكي ضيا النبراس

    And by her neck, together with what her bosom holds

    Of marble mirroring a lamp's radiance:

  8. إِني وَإِن طالَ الصدود بِمعزل

    عَن سلوةٍ إِلا عَن الوسواس

    I, though her estrangement lasts long, remain far removed

    From forgetting her—but not from obsessive thoughts.

  9. وَأَنا الَّذي لا أَنثني عَن عشقها

    بِغواية مِن لائم خَنّاس

    And I am one who will not turn away from loving her

    Through the temptation of a skulking reproacher.

  10. يا عاذِلي كَيفَ السلوّ وَإِنَّها

    هَيفا قَد اِختلست جَميع حَواسي

    O my reproacher, how can I forget, when she

    Is slender-waisted and has stolen all my senses?

  11. وَتملكت مِني فؤاداً كانَ مِن

    قَبل الغَرام كَصَخر طود راسي

    And she took possession of my heart, which had been,

    Before love, like the rock of a firmly rooted mountain,

  12. أَو كَالحَديد فلان مِن حرّ الجَوى

    بَعدَ اِتِصافٍ بِالفُؤاد القاسي

    Or like iron—then softened from the heat of love's anguish,

    After being marked by hardness of heart.

  13. حاشا أَميل عَن الهَوى إِلا إِلى

    مَدح الوَزير وليّ عَهد الناس

    Far be it from me to turn from love, except to

    Praise the vizier, the people's heir apparent:

  14. تَوفيقٍ الشَهم الَّذي بِعلومه

    يَسمو عَلى مَأمونها العَباسي

    Tawfiq, the noble-hearted, who through his learning

    Rises above the Abbasid Ma'mun;

  15. مَن رَأيُه في الحُكم أَنسى قيسه

    وَذَكاؤه أَحيا ذَكاء إِياس

    Whose judgment in governance has made Qays forgotten,

    And whose acumen has revived the acumen of Iyas.

  16. وَاِمتازَ عَن كُل الوَرى بِمَناقب

    جلّت عَن الإحصاء في قُرطاس

    And he stands apart from all humankind through virtues

    Too great to be enumerated on a sheet of paper.

  17. مِنها السَماحة وَالفَصاحة وَالوَفا

    بِالوَعد دُون تَغافل وَتَناسي

    Among them are generosity, eloquence, and fidelity

    To promises, without willful neglect or feigned forgetting;

  18. وَالحلم وَالمَعروف وَالعَفو الَّذي

    مِن وَحشة يَهدي إِلى اِستئناس

    And forbearance, kindness, and pardon that

    Guides one from loneliness into companionship.

  19. يا أَيُّها الصَدر الَّذي بِنَواله

    مُحيت رُسوم الفَقر وَالإفلاس

    O chief minister, by whose bounty

    The traces of poverty and bankruptcy have been erased:

  20. إني رَكضت بخيل فكري في الثَنا

    وَإِلى مَديحك سارَعَت أَفراسي

    I spurred the steeds of my thought in praise,

    And my steeds hastened toward your praise.

  21. فَعجزت عَن شُكري لِما أَولَيتَني

    مِن غَير سؤل لا لنقص جناس

    Yet I could not render thanks for what you bestowed on me

    Without being asked—not for lack of wordplay,

  22. لَكن لِأَوصافٍ سِواك ببعضها

    نال المُنى وَسما عَلى الجلاس

    But because someone else, with a few of your virtues,

    Has attained his wishes and risen above his companions.

  23. فَاقبل معاذيري وَقابل بِالرضا

    مَدحاً بِإِخلاصٍ صَحيح قياس

    So accept my excuses, and receive with favor

    Soundly measured praise, offered with sincerity.

  24. وَاسلم لِدَولة والدٍ أَركانُها

    بنيت بِمصر عَلى متين أَساس

    And remain safe for your father's realm, whose pillars

    Were built in Egypt upon a firm foundation.

  25. لا زلت مَعهُ فائِزاً بِالنَصر ما

    عَبث النَسيم بِمائِسات الآس

    May you ever be victorious beside him, so long as

    The breeze toys with the swaying myrtles,

  26. أَو ما بِأَمرك طابَ وَقتك وَاِغتَدى

    مِن فَيض جودك للعفاة يُواسي

    Or while, at your command, your days grow sweet and become

    A comfort to supplicants from your bounty's overflow,

  27. أَو قُلت في حسن اِبتِداء تشكري

    خَطرت بِقامة أَغيد مياس

    Or while I say, in the graceful opening of my thanks:

    She glided past with a graceful, swaying figure.