1. النورُ نور اِبتسام

    فاِنظر إِلى زَهَراتِهِ

    The light is the light of a smile;

    So look at its blossoms,

  2. إِذا دموع الغَواني

    جرت عَلى رَوضاتِهِ

    When the fair maidens' tears

    Have flowed over its gardens,

  3. وَقَد يَغني الحمام

    بالفصح من نَغَماتِهِ

    And the doves may sing

    With eloquence drawn from their melodies.

  4. طَيرٌ يَهدل

    وَغَيثٌ يهطل

    Birds coo,

    And rain pours down.

  5. من الأَيّام

    يُصبي إِلى لَذاتِهِ

    From among the days,

    He lures one toward his delights;

  6. ينشر الاثام

    عَليَّ من حَسَناتِهِ

    He spreads sins

    Upon me through his virtues.

  7. مذ غلام

    الحسن بعض صِفاتَهِ

    Since he was a boy,

    Beauty has been among his qualities:

  8. بَدرٌ أُكمِل

    وَيَومٌ مُقبِل

    A full moon made perfect,

    And a day drawing near.

  9. فَدَع طَويل المَلام

    فَلَيسَ مِن أَوقاتِهِ

    So leave off prolonged reproach,

    For his hours are not for that.

  10. وانظر طَريف القَوام

    يَهتَزُّ في خَطراتِهِ

    And behold a wondrous figure,

    Swaying with his movements.

  11. ما شَديدُ الضَرام

    يَجولُ في وَجَناتِهِ

    What a fierce blaze

    Courses through his cheeks!

  12. راح سَلسل

    حَماها أَكحل

    Wine, smooth to drink,

    A dark-eyed one has guarded it.

  13. ما الوَردُ في الاَكمام

    يُصانُ غَضُّ نَباتِهِ

    The roses within their calyxes are not

    Kept safe in their tender growth.

  14. وَالتسام

    يَصُدُّ عَن نَظراتِهِ

    And al-tasām [unclear]

    Bars one from his glances.

  15. فَيا جَميع الأَنام

    قوموا اِنظُروا لصِفاتِهِ

    So, O all humankind,

    Rise; look upon his qualities.

  16. رَوضٌ مُخضَل

    لِرائيهِ يُذَل

    A moist garden,

    Humbled before its beholder.

  17. فقل لِبَدر التَمام

    يَختال بَينَ لداتِهِ

    So say to the moon at its fullness,

    Strutting among his age-mates:

  18. يا حامِلاً لِلحُسام

    غُنيتَ عَنه فَهاتِه

    O bearer of the sword,

    You have no need of it; hand it over.

  19. في مُقلَتيك حسام

    يُغنيك َن سَلاتِه

    Within your two eyes is a sword,

    Sparing you [from] drawing it.

  20. بَل يَقتُل

    فَماذا المنصل

    Rather, it kills—

    Then what use is the blade?

  21. وَباخِلٍ بِالكَلام

    ما البُخل من عاداته

    And one miserly with words—

    Miserliness is not among his habits—

  22. عَلى حَليفِ سَقام

    قَد ذابَ مِن زَفَراتِه

    Toward a companion of sickness,

    Who has melted away from his sighs.

  23. يَكفيهِ مِنكَ سَلام

    يَشفيهِ مِن عِلّاتِهِ

    A greeting from you suffices him;

    It heals him of his ailments.

  24. حِبٌّ يَبخَل

    وَحُبٌّ يُنحل

    A beloved who withholds,

    And a love that makes one waste away.

  25. لَو أَنَّ غير الغَرام

    أَصبحتَ في قَبَضاتِهِ

    If it were something other than passion

    In whose clutches you had come—

  26. أَجاري ذو اِنتِقام

    مُنكل بِعداتِه

    O my neighbor [reading uncertain], a man of vengeance,

    Dealing harshly with his enemies;

  27. طَلائِع الابتسام

    عند النَدى لعُفاتِه

    The forerunners of a smile

    At the giving of bounty to his petitioners:

  28. صَدٌّ يجدِّل

    وَعَبدٌ يُجَذِّل

    A rebuff fells,

    And a servant brings joy.

  29. مِنكَ مُلوك الأَنام

    تَرجو وصولَ صِلاتِهِ

    From you, the kings of humankind

    Hope for his gifts to reach them.

  30. بَحرٌ مِن الدُرِّ طام

    الدُرُّ بَعضُ هِباتِهِ

    An overflowing sea of pearls;

    Pearls are among his gifts.

  31. فان سَطا فالحَمام

    يَلقاكَ مِن سَطواتِه

    So if he attacks, then death

    Meets you through his assaults.

  32. غَيثٌ مُسبِل

    وَلَيثٌ مُشبِل

    Rain pouring down,

    And a lion with cubs.

  33. أَضحى كَفيلَ الامام

    وَكاشِفاً غُمّاتِه

    He has become the imam's protector,

    And the dispeller of his sorrows.

  34. فَما لَهُ مِن مُسام

    يَجري إِلى غاياتِه

    So he has no rival

    Who can race toward his goals.

  35. لا يَهتَدي إِلّا وَهام

    للشيء ما لَم يأَتِه

    Only a conjecturer finds the way

    To a thing he has not yet reached.

  36. طبٌ حوَّل

    نِعمَ مَن تكفل

    A shrewd, resourceful man—

    Excellent is he who has taken charge!