1. فؤاد كطرفِك أمسى عليلا

    وجسمٌ كخصرِك يشكو النحولا

    A heart, like your gaze, has grown ailing,

    And a body, like your waist, complains of wasting.

  2. وأضناه حبُّكِ حتّى اغتدى

    كما تبصرين ضعيفاً نحيلا

    And your love has worn him down until he became

    As you see, weak and thin.

  3. فرفقاً به إنَّه في هواك

    على حالة في الهوى لن تحولا

    So be gentle with him, for in loving you he is

    In a state of passion that will never change.

  4. يبيت بطرْفٍ كثير السهاد

    فلم يذق الغمض إلاَّ قليلا

    He passes the night with an often-sleepless eye,

    So he has tasted only a little sleep.

  5. وشوّقه البرق جنح الدُّجى

    وندب الحمامة ليلاً هديلا

    And lightning stirred his longing in the depths of night,

    And the dove's lamenting coo by night.

  6. فأصبح يشكو حريق الفؤاد

    ويقذف من مقلتيه سيولا

    So by morning he laments the burning of his heart,

    And pours torrents from both his eyes.

  7. وتسكرني نسمات الشمال

    فأغدو كأَنّي سُقيت الشمولا

    And the north wind's breezes intoxicate me,

    So I become as though I had been given wine.

  8. وكم شرب الصب من عبرة

    بذكر الأحبَّة دهراً طويلا

    And how many a tear has the lovesick lover drunk,

    In remembrance of loved ones, for a long time.

  9. فما بلَّ فيها غليل الحشا

    وكيف تبلّ الدموع الغليلا

    Yet with them he has not quenched his heart's thirst,

    And how could tears quench that burning thirst?

  10. قتلتم أحبَّتنا المستهام

    وكم راح مثل المعنّى قتيلا

    You have slain the love-crazed one, O our beloved ones,

    And how many, like the tormented lover, have fallen slain!

  11. وروَّضتموا روض هذا الهوى

    وربع التصبّر أمسى محيلا

    And you have cultivated the garden of this love,

    While the abode of patient endurance has grown barren.

  12. ولمَّا أخذتم بترحالكم

    أخذتم فؤاديَ أخذاً وبيلا

    And when you took to journeying away,

    You seized my heart in a grievous seizure.

  13. غداةَ استقلَّت حُداة الظعون

    تجوب المهامه ميلاً فميلا

    On the morning the drivers of the camel-litters set out,

    Traversing the trackless wastes, mile after mile.

  14. فهلاَّ بعثتم إلينا النسيمَ

    فكانَ النسيمُ إلينا رسولا

    Why, then, did you not send us the breeze,

    So the breeze might be a messenger to us?

  15. بَخِلْتُم بطيف يزور المحبّ

    وما كنت أعهد فيكم بخيلا

    You begrudged a phantom's visit to the lover,

    And I had never known a miser among you.

  16. سددتم سبيل خيال الكرى

    فما وجد الطيف نحوي سبيلا

    You barred the path of the vision of sleep,

    So the phantom found no path toward me.

  17. قفا يا خليليَّ دون الغُوَير

    ولا يتركنَّ الخليل الخليلا

    Halt, O my two friends, this side of al-Ghuwayr,

    And let no friend ever forsake his friend.

  18. لنقضي حقوق ديار عفت

    ونبكي الديار فنسقي الطلولا

    So we may pay the dues of dwellings worn away,

    And weep for those dwellings, thus watering their ruins.

  19. وكانتْ بروجاً لتلك البدور

    فيا ليتها لم تلاق الأُفولا

    And they were towers for those full moons;

    Ah, would that they had never seen those moons set!

  20. فيا دارنا لا عداك الحيا

    وجرَّت عليكِ الغوادي ذيولا

    So, O our dwelling, may rain never pass you by,

    And may morning rainclouds trail their skirts over you.

  21. لعينيك قد ذلَّ أختَ المها

    فهان وكانَ عزيزاً جليلا

    For your eyes he has grown humble, O sister of the oryx,

    So he became lowly, though he had been mighty and august.

  22. إلى كم أداري وأرضي الوشاة

    وأسمعُ في الحبِّ قالاً وقيلا

    For how long shall I humor and please the slanderers,

    And listen, in love, to gossip and hearsay?

  23. لقد لامني في هواك العذولُ

    وألقى على السمعِ قولاً ثقيلا

    Indeed, the reproacher has blamed me for loving you,

    And cast a heavy utterance upon my ear.

  24. فضلَّ العذولُ ضلالاً بعيداً

    وحاول أمراً غدا مستحيلا

    So the reproacher strayed far astray,

    And attempted a thing that proved impossible.

  25. إذا المرءُ ضلَّ سبيل الغنى

    فأنوار عثمان تهدي السبيلا

    If a man loses the path to wealth,

    Then Uthman's lights guide the way.

  26. إلى بذل نائله المستفاد

    نؤمُّ إليه قبيلاً قبيلا

    To gain the bounty he bestows,

    We make our way to him, group after group.

  27. متى أنكرت فضله الحاسدون

    أقامت عليه المعالي دليلا

    Whenever the envious deny his merit,

    His noble attainments offer proof of it.

  28. وإن حلَّ نائله موطناً

    ينادي الهنا بالعناء الرحيلا

    And if his bounty settles in a place,

    Happiness calls on hardship to depart.

  29. سريع الإِجابة سؤّاله

    وما زالَ في كلِّ خيرٍ عجولا

    He is swift to answer his petitioners,

    And has always been quick in every good deed.

  30. نما فرعُه إذ زكا أصلُه

    فطاب فروعاً وطابَ أُصولا

    His branch grew, for his root was pure,

    So his branches were good, and his roots were good.

  31. وفيه نمتْ روضات المكرمات

    ولم يرد عود الأماني ذبولا

    And in him the gardens of noble deeds have grown,

    And the stem of hopes has never wished to wither.

  32. وقد رفع الفضل بعد الخمول

    فلا شهد الفضل فيه الخمولا

    And he has raised excellence out of obscurity,

    So may excellence never witness obscurity in him.

  33. وجدَّ فنالَ بما قد سعى

    مقاماً عليًّا ومجداً أثيلا

    And he strove, attaining through his endeavors

    A lofty station and deep-rooted glory.

  34. ولِم لا ينال العُلى ماجد

    يمدُّ إلى المجد باعاً طويلا

    And why should a noble man not attain the heights,

    Who stretches a long arm toward glory?

  35. ولما استظلَّ به الخائفون

    رأوه لذلك ظلاًّ ظليلا

    And when the fearful sought his shade,

    They found him a deep shade in which to shelter.

  36. أخو البأس يمنع صرف الزمان

    ويعطي المقلّ عطاءً جزيلا

    A man of valor, he wards off time's vicissitudes,

    And grants the needy a lavish gift.

  37. يُنيل وإن لامه الَّلائمون

    ومن يمنع الغيث أن لا ينيلا

    He gives, even if the reproachers blame him,

    And who can keep the rain from giving?

  38. تعشَّقْتُ علويَّ فضل العلوم

    فما تبتغي بالمعالي بديلا

    I have loved the lofty excellence of learning,

    So you seek no substitute for noble attainments.

  39. لقد جئت في معجزات الكمال

    وها أنت تعيي بهنَّ الفحولا

    You have indeed brought forth wonders of perfection,

    And behold, with them you confound the masters.

  40. وحيَّرت فيها فهوم الرجال

    فأبهتَّ فيما أتيت العقولا

    And with them you have bewildered men's understanding,

    So you have astounded minds with what you have done.

  41. عزائمك الكاشفات الكروب

    تكاد الجبال بها أن تزولا

    Your resolves, which dispel anguish,

    Almost make the mountains shift.

  42. ولله من هِمَمٍ في عُلاك

    تعيد الحزون سريعاً سهولا

    And, by God, what aspirations in your eminence,

    That swiftly turn rugged ground into plains!

  43. فلو رمت قلع الرَّواسي بها

    أعدت الرَّواسي كثيباً مهيلا

    So if you sought with them to uproot the firmly set mountains,

    You would turn those mountains into a heap of loose sand.

  44. وأفنت يمينك جمع الحطام

    لكي تستحقَّ الثناء الجميلا

    And your right hand has exhausted the amassed worldly goods,

    So that you might deserve splendid praise.

  45. وأبقيت في الدهر ذكراً حميداً

    تذاكره الناس جيلاً فجيلا

    And you have left a praiseworthy memory through time,

    Which people recount, generation after generation.

  46. بخطّك صيَّرت طرف العُلى

    كحيلاً وخدّ الأماني أسيلا

    With your handwriting you made the eye of eminence

    Kohl-lined, and the cheek of hopes smooth.

  47. أتى بقوافٍ إليك العُبَيْدُ

    تجول بمدحك عرضاً وطولا

    The humble servant has come to you with rhymes,

    Ranging in your praise, far and wide.

  48. أجزني عليها الرضا بالقبول

    فأقصى المنى أن أنال القبولا

    Reward me for them with your approval by accepting them,

    For my highest wish is to win acceptance.