1. ما أشبه ألماها الزهري

    بشقيقٍ لاح على نهر

    How closely her rosy, dusky lips resemble

    a poppy gleaming beside a river!

  2. هيفاء بميم مقبلها

    عكف الياقوت على الدر

    A slender-waisted beauty—in the mīm of her mouth,

    rubies clustered around pearls.

  3. بكرٌ تغنيك مراضبها

    عن كل معتقةٍ بكر

    A virgin whose sweet lips spare you the need

    for any aged wine, still untouched.

  4. لا تعجب إن لانت وقست

    واستفت بذلك من يدري

    Do not marvel if she is soft yet hard,

    and consult someone who knows about this:

  5. فالخصر تكوَّن من ماء

    والقلب تكوّن من صخر

    for her waist was formed of water,

    and her heart was formed of rock.

  6. أقسمت بنرجس مقلتها ال

    مكحول بأميال السحر

    I swore by the narcissus of her eye,

    kohled with the rods of enchantment,

  7. وبكوكب غرتها الزاهي

    وبياض محياها البدري

    and by the radiant star of her brow,

    and the full-moon whiteness of her face,

  8. وبفرعٍ مال على كفلٍ

    كشراع سفين في بحر

    and by hair falling upon her rump,

    like a ship’s sail upon a sea,

  9. وبرياها وثناياها

    ومزاياها البيض الغر

    and by her fragrance and her front teeth,

    and her fine qualities, pure and resplendent:

  10. ما ذقت حلاوة مبسمها ال

    معسول ولازمني صبري

    Never did I taste the sweetness of her mouth,

    so honeyed, and still keep my patience.

  11. لم أنس سويعة زورتها

    كالدرة تسطع في الأزر

    I have not forgotten the brief hour of her visit,

    shining like a pearl amid her wraps,

  12. إذ صار الحجل لنا حجلاً

    وأنين الكاس لنا قمري

    when the anklet became a partridge for us,

    and the cup’s moaning became our turtledove,

  13. برياض ضرج سوسنها ال

    تبري بياقوت الخمر

    in gardens whose irises were stained,

    golden as they were, by wine’s ruby.

  14. صبغت بالراح مواردها

    والفضة تصيغ بالتبر

    She stained her lips with wine,

    and fashioned silver with gold.

  15. عذراء العاذل يعذرني

    بهواها والوله العذري

    A maiden—the reproacher excuses me

    for loving her and for my chaste lovesickness.

  16. كان الممتاح مراحمها

    كالطالب ماءً من جمر

    One seeking to draw her mercy was

    like one seeking water from embers.

  17. فغدت بالراح مراشفها

    أسخى وألذ من القطر

    But with wine her lips became

    more generous and sweeter than rain.

  18. ويدي كالطوق لعاتقها ال

    موموق ومفرشها صدري

    And my hand was like a collar around her neck,

    so beloved, and my chest was her couch.

  19. ما فرق بين فمي وفم ال

    نوار سوى نور الفجر

    Nothing parted my mouth from the mouth of

    the blossom but the light of dawn.

  20. فقضى بالذم له بصري

    ولعبد القادر بالشكر

    So my sight condemned it,

    and gave thanks to Abd al-Qadir.

  21. حرم القصاد أبو الأمجا

    د حمى الورّاد رحى الكرّ

    A sanctuary for seekers, Abu al-Amjad,

    a refuge for those coming to drink, the millstone of the charge.

  22. جوّاد أسمح من معنٍ

    وأشد ثباتاً من عمرو

    A lavish giver, more generous than Ma'n,

    and more steadfast than Amr.

  23. لو يملك عمرو شجاعته

    ما فاز عليٌّ بالنصر

    Had Amr possessed his courage,

    Ali would not have won the victory.

  24. أو جاد بما جادت يده

    قارون لأصبح في فقر

    Or had what his hand gave been given

    by Qarun, he would have become poor.

  25. ما أعذب راح خطابته

    ما الشهد وما القند المصري

    How sweet is the wine of his oratory!

    What is honey, and what is Egyptian sugar?

  26. يوليك نداه ومنطقه

    فيفيض الدر على الدر

    He grants you his bounty and his speech,

    so pearls overflow upon pearls.

  27. كالبحر تمد مكارمه

    لو دام البحر بلا جزر

    His acts of bounty swell like the sea,

    if the sea endured without an ebb;

  28. والروض بشوش الوجه إذا

    لم يخل الروض من الزهر

    and like a garden, smiling of face, if

    the garden were never empty of flowers.

  29. فخر المريخ بصارمه

    والعبد يفاخر بالحرّ

    Mars gloried in his keen sword,

    and the slave boasts of the freeborn man.

  30. وشكا الفصّال يراعته

    والبيض تغار من السمر

    And the cleaving sword complained of his reed pen,

    and the white blades envy the brown spears.

  31. بك يا ابن المرسل من مضرٍ

    يعتز المعدم والمثري

    Through you, O son of the Messenger from Mudar,

    the destitute and the wealthy gain honor.

  32. قل للآفات تفارقني

    وتحل بجليات الشر

    Tell afflictions to leave me

    and settle upon the embodiments of evil.

  33. فظلام الشام له عنق

    أولى بالنحر من النحر

    For al-Sham’s dark tyrant has a neck

    more deserving of slaughter than any throat.

  34. أخزاه اللَه وقاتله

    من والٍ أخبث من عبري

    May God disgrace him and strike him down—

    a governor more wicked than a Hebrew!

  35. سموه ضياء شقائقه

    ليسر ويضحك من يدري

    His brothers named him Diya, ‘Light,’

    so that those who know might rejoice and laugh,

  36. ويقول الليل نهار البو

    م ونور خافيش القفر

    and say, ‘Night is the daytime of

    owls, and the light of desert bats.’

  37. لا دين سوى الدينار له

    دين المتشبث بالكفر

    He has no religion but the dinar,

    the religion of one clinging to unbelief.

  38. لو تُعلِمُ رب فروق به

    أخليت الشام من الضر

    If you informed the lord of Furuq about him,

    you would rid al-Sham of harm,

  39. وتضاعف أجرك عند اللَ

    هِ وعمّ وجل عن الحصر

    and your reward with God would multiply,

    and spread everywhere, too vast to reckon.

  40. لازال نداك يزيل ظلا

    مَ العسر بمصباح اليسر

    May your bounty ever dispel the darkness

    of hardship with the lamp of ease,

  41. وبقيت بقاء الدهر لنا

    يا طارد آفات الدهر

    and may you remain with us as long as time endures,

    O banisher of time’s afflictions!