1. ما عَلَيها سَهِرتُ أم بِتُّ نائِم

    بعدَ أَن لا يُلمَّ بي طَيفُ حالِم

    What does she care whether I stayed awake or spent the night asleep,

    now that no dreamer's phantom visits me?

  2. تَسألُ النَّاسَ كيفَ بِتُّ ومَن أَع

    لَمُ مِنها وفاعلُ الشَّيء عالِم

    She asks people how I spent the night—and who knows

    better than she? The doer of a deed knows it.

  3. وغَزالٍ أغنَّ أغيدَ ساجي الط

    طَرفِ مُستَحسنِ الخَليقَةِ ناعِم

    And a gazelle, sweetly nasal-voiced, supple, with languid

    gaze, pleasing in disposition and tender,

  4. رَقَّ حتَّى لا يَبرَحُ العَينَ إمَّا

    وَهو طَيفٌ أَو في الدُّموعِ السَّواجِم

    grew so delicate that he never leaves the eye, either

    as a phantom or in the streaming tears.

  5. لَم يَصِلني ولَم يَعِدني وقالَ اك

    تُم فَماذا أسَرَّ حتَّى أُكاتِم

    He neither granted me union nor promised me, yet said, “Keep

    silent!” What did he confide that I should conceal it?

  6. هامَ قَلبي ولَستُ أذكرُ مِن قَب

    ل هَواهُ هَذا متَى كانَ هائِم

    My heart went love-mad; I do not recall, before

    this love of its, when it was ever so infatuated.

  7. فهوَ يجري ولا رِياضةَ فيهِ

    ربَّما صِرتُ لِلسَّلامةِ سالِم

    So it runs, and there is no training in it;

    perhaps, for safety's sake, I have become safe.

  8. ولَقَد قُلتُ حينَ أرسلتُ فاعتَل

    لَ رَسولي بِالواكِفِ المُتَراكِم

    And indeed I said, when I sent him and he offered an excuse,

    my messenger citing the dripping, heaped-up cloud:

  9. قُم تَصَفَّح في أَوجُهِ السُّحبِ فانظُر

    هل تَرى أَحمدَ بن عَبدِ الدَّائِم

    “Rise, scan the faces of the clouds, and look:

    do you see Ahmad ibn Abd al-Da'im?

  10. فَهوَ نَوءُ النَّدى وإِن كانَ فيها

    فامضِ فالنَّوءُ لَيسَ يَبرحُ قائِم

    For he is bounty's rain-bringing star; and if he is among them,

    go on, for that rain-star remains ever standing.”

  11. ما يَرى أَن يكونَ في الجُودِ بَعضَ الن

    ناسِ حتَّى يكونَ بعضَ الغَمائِم

    He will not count himself, in generosity, as one of the

    people until he becomes one of the rainclouds.

  12. مَجلسٌ كلُّ راحلٍ مُثقَلٌ عَن

    هُ عَلَى أنَّه إِذا خَفَّ قادِم

    A gathering: every departing guest goes heavily laden from

    it, though he is lightly laden when he arrives.

  13. فتَرى كلَّ طائِرٍ واقِعاً في

    هِ كأنَّ النَّدى يَقصُّ القَوادِم

    So you see every bird settled in

    it, as though bounty clips its primary feathers.

  14. والسَّجايا كأنَّها غادِياتٌ

    بِالعَطايا فَما يُلائِم لائِم

    And his virtues seem to go forth in the morning,

    bearing gifts, so no faultfinder's censure is fitting.

  15. بَعضُها في بنيَّةِ المَجدِ يُعلِي

    ها وَبَعضٌ في قُبَّةِ المالِ هادِم

    Some, in the edifice of glory, raise

    it, while others tear down the dome of wealth.