1. لا تَلمُهُ على الهَوَى فافتضاحُه

    صَونُهُ فيهِ والفَسادُ صَلاحُه

    Do not blame him for love: his disgrace

    is his protection in it, and ruin is his well-being.

  2. كُلُّكُم مَعشرَ العَواذِلِ في نه

    جٍ على العاشقينَ ضاقَ انفِساحُه

    All of you, company of reproachers, are on a

    path whose breadth has narrowed for lovers.

  3. خُنتُمُ الُمستهامَ ظُلماً وجرُتُم

    وزعمتُم بأَنَكمُ نُصَّاحُه

    You betrayed the love-stricken unjustly and dealt unfairly,

    yet claimed you were his sincere advisers.

  4. عَذَّبَت صِبيةً مُطارحَةُ العُش

    قِ فَصَعبٌ على الُمحبِّ اطِّراحُه

    Love's exchange has tormented children,

    so casting it off is hard for the lover.

  5. وقليلٌ إِلى مَواسمهِ بال

    عِينِ منهُ غُدوُّهُ ورواحُه

    And scant are his visits to its gatherings through

    the eye—his morning going and evening return.

  6. يا خليلي سِربي مَتَى ما تبدَّت

    لُمعٌ مِنهُ هَانَ لي إِيضاحُه

    O my two friends, whenever my inner self reveals

    glimmers, I find it easy to explain.

  7. سَل نسيمَ الصَّبا إِذا ريضَ في مِس

    كيِّ رَوضِ الحِمىَ الأَريضِ جِماحُه

    Ask the east wind's breeze, when amid the musk

    of the lush sanctuary garden its wildness is tamed:

  8. أَلِريَّا هذا الذي فيه مِن رَيّا

    أَم الزَّهرُ فتَّحتهُ رياحُه

    Is this fragrance it carries Rayya's,

    or is it the blossom that its winds have opened?

  9. جَادهُ صَّيِّبٌ منَ الُمزنِ يَحكي

    صَوبهُ دَمعُ مُقلتي رياحُه

    A downpour from the clouds watered it; its rainfall is mirrored

    by the tears of my eye—its winds [syntax unclear].

  10. وَرَعى اللهُ عَهدَ ذاتِ جَمَالٍ

    جالَ في كَشحِها الهَضيمِ وِشاحُه

    And may God preserve the memory of a woman of beauty,

    whose sash moved about her slender waist.

  11. غادةٌ خالُ خدِّها أَينَ لثمي

    منهُ في خَدِّها وَأَينِ اِمِّساحُه

    A tender maiden—the mole on her cheek: how far is my kissing

    of it upon her cheek from wiping it away!

  12. شَعرُها والظلامُ مِنه كَسَا جس

    مي سَقاماً أَم وجهُها وصَبَاحُه

    Was it her hair and its darkness that clothed my

    body in sickness, or her face and its dawn?

  13. رَبَّةَ الَمبسَمِ الذي راحةُ الأر

    واحِ في أَن تُريحَها مِنهُ راحُه

    O mistress of the smiling mouth: the repose of

    souls lies in the relief that its wine brings them.

  14. هَبكِ بالوَصلِ تبخلينَ وشرطُ ال

    حُبِّ أَن تَهجُرَ السِّماحَ مِلاحُه

    Granted you are miserly with union, and love's condition

    is that its beauties forsake generosity,

  15. أَجُناحٌ على الخَيالِ إِذا ما

    زارَ وَهناً والليَّلُ وَحفُ جَناحُه

    is the dream-image at fault if ever

    it visits late at night, while night's wing is thick-plumed?

  16. أَرسليهِ فَوانعطافِكِ لا رِي

    عَ بِرُعبٍ ومُقلتاكِ سِلاحُه

    Send it; then, by your tenderness, may it never be

    terror-stricken, with your two eyes for its weapons.

  17. واسأَلِيهِ يُجبكِ كيفَ رُقادي

    فَلقَد طَالَ عَن جُفوني انتزاحُه

    And ask it, and it will tell you how my sleep fares,

    for long has it stayed far from my eyelids.

  18. حسبُ قلبي بأَنَّهُ بالأَسى قَد

    أَعجزَت فِيكَ كلَّ آسٍ جِراحُه

    It is enough for my heart that, in sorrow,

    its wounds for you have baffled every healer;

  19. وفؤادي بِأَنَّهُ جَدَّ فيه الوج

    دُ لمَّا جَنَاهُ مِنهُ مُزاحُه

    and for my heart, that passion grew earnest within it,

    when its jesting harvested that passion from it.

  20. لَكِ مِنّي الهَوَى الذي رَاقَ حُسناً

    ولبدرِ الدِّينِ الرَّحيمِ امتداحُه

    Yours from me is a love of captivating beauty,

    and to merciful Badr al-Din goes my praise.

  21. مَلِكٌ فاتكٌ جوادٌ لِمَن زَا

    غَ ومَن زارَ بأَسُهُ وسَماحُه

    A king, deadly and generous: for those who

    stray, his might; for those who visit, his bounty.

  22. المعالي ارتداؤُهُ فَلَهُ اللَّ

    هُ نصيرٌ وبِالفَخَارِ اتِّشاحُه

    High virtues are his robe, so God is his

    helper, and glory is his sash.

  23. ضَمنِت كَفُّهُ الأَماني وقالت

    للبرايا العافي عليَّ نَجَاحُه

    His palm guaranteed hopes and said

    to all creation: "The petitioner's success rests with me."

  24. أَيُّ بابٍ أَغلَقَهُ الدَّه

    رُ وما كانَ عِندهُ مُفتَاحُه

    What door has Time closed

    without its key being in his keeping?

  25. كُلَّما قَلَّ مَالُهُ بالعَطايا

    زَادَ من صَدرهِ الرَّحيبِ انشِرَاحُه

    Whenever his wealth diminishes through gifts,

    the gladness of his spacious breast increases.

  26. ولَعمري أَبو الفضائلِ ما يَذ

    خَرُ مالاً صانَ العُلَى مُستَباحُه

    And by my life, Abu al-Fada'il does not

    hoard wealth; what he gives freely has preserved high honor.

  27. غَيثُ جدبٍ يُسدي الأَيادي نداهُ

    ليثُ حَربٍ يُردي الأَعادي كِفَاحُه

    Rain in drought—his bounty bestows favors;

    a lion in war—his combat lays enemies low.

  28. ما دَجا ليلُ عِثيَرِ النَّقعِ إلاَّ

    وأَضاءَت سُيوفُهُ ورِمَاحُه

    Never does the night of swirling battle dust grow dark

    without his swords and spears shining forth.

  29. نَثَرَ الجُودُ عَنهُ نَشرَ ثَنَاءٍ

    أَرَّجَ الأَرضَ بالشَّذا نَفَّاحُه

    Generosity spread about him the fragrance of praise,

    whose fragrant breath perfumed the earth with sweet scent.

  30. فالليَّالي والإنسُ والجنَّ والطَّي

    رُ مَعَ الوحشِ كُلُّهمُ مُدَّاحُه

    So the nights, humankind, the jinn, and the

    birds, with the wild beasts—all of them sing his praises.

  31. لَم يُدَبِّر تَدبيرَه الُملكَ لا من

    صُورهُ قَبَلهُ ولا سَفَّاحُه

    Neither governed the kingdom with his skill:

    its Mansur before him, nor its Saffah.

  32. مُستهامٌ بالبِرِّ ما أَلفَت غَي

    رَ شتاتِ الكُنوزِ بالبَذلِ راحُه

    Enraptured with goodness, his palm has known nothing

    but scattering treasures through generosity.

  33. فإِذا لاَمهُ على الرِّفدِ لاحٍ

    زادَ في بَذلِه اللُّهى إِلحاحُه

    So whenever a reproacher blames him for gifts,

    that insistence increases his giving of rich gifts.

  34. مَكرُماتُ قَلبُ المآثرِ والَمج

    دِ بها اليومَ جَمَّةٌ أَفرَاحُه

    Noble deeds: the heart of glorious achievements and

    glory abounds in joy through them today.

  35. مَلِكَ الأَرضِ دَعوةً من وَلِيٍّ

    لاحَ لَّما إِليكَ مالَ فَلاحُه

    King of the earth, a prayer from a loyal friend,

    whose good fortune shone when he turned toward you.

  36. لَو رأى الجَوهريُّ أَشعارَهُ فِي

    كَ لكانَت قَد أُودِعَتها صِحَاحُه

    Had al-Jawhari seen his verses about

    you, they would surely have been lodged in his Sihah.

  37. علَّمتني صِفاتُكَ الشِّعرَ حتَّى

    عَذُبَت رَاحُهُ وَرَاقَ قُراحُه

    Your qualities taught me poetry, until

    its wine grew sweet and its pure water clear.

  38. فرفَضتُ العُلا ولا كُنتُ يَومَ ال

    فَضلِ مِمَّن يُبنُها فُصَّاحُه

    Then may I forsake high honors, and on the day of

    merit not belong to those whose eloquent speakers [extol] them,

  39. إِن حَبَستُ الثَّناءَ عَنكَ إِلى حِي

    نِ أرَى جسميَ الرَّدى يجتاحُه

    if I withhold praise from you until

    I see death sweep away my body.

  40. جُدتَ لي بالنَّوالِ عَفواً وَإِحسا

    نُكَ كَم عَمَّ آمِلاً سحَّاحُه

    You bestowed gifts upon me unasked, and your beneficence—

    how many a hopeful soul its torrent has embraced!

  41. دُمتَ لُلمكِ ما تَغَنَّت مِنَ الطَّي

    رِ على الدوَّحِ عُجمُهُ وَفِصَاحُه

    May you endure for kingship as long as the birds sing

    upon the great trees, their inarticulate and their eloquent alike,

  42. في سُرورٍ قَد قَارنت غُرَراً تُش

    رِقُ مِنهُ طُولَ الَمدى أَوضاحُه

    in joy, joined to radiant days,

    its white gleams shining forth for all time.