1. لا ورشفِ اللّمى ولثم الخدود

    ما عذولي عليك غير حسود

    No—by sipping dark lips and kissing cheeks,

    my reproacher concerning you is nothing but an envier.

  2. هائمٌ في هواك مثلي ولكن

    يدفعُ الوهم عنك بالتفنيد

    He is lovesick for you, like me, but

    he deflects suspicion concerning you through reproach.

  3. يا مليحاً طرفي به في نعيم

    وفؤادِي في النارِ ذات الوقود

    O fair one, in whom my gaze finds bliss,

    while my heart is in the fuel-fed fire.

  4. لا تسلْ عن مسيل دمعي بخدِّي

    قتلَ الدمعُ صاحب الأخدود

    Do not ask about the stream of my tears down my cheek:

    the tears have slain the owner of the trench.

  5. كلّ يوم تروع قلباً خليًّا

    يا بديع الحلى بحسن جديد

    Every day you startle a carefree heart,

    O wondrously adorned one, with new beauty.

  6. حبَّذا في حلاك لامُ عذارٍ

    لابْتداءِ الغرام والتوكيد

    How lovely among your charms is the lām of cheek-down,

    for beginning passion and giving it emphasis.

  7. لك وجهٌ يعزى له كلّ حسنٍ

    كاعْتزاءِ العلى إلى محمود

    Yours is a face to which all beauty is ascribed,

    as eminence is ascribed to Mahmud.

  8. سيدٌ في مديحه بهجة الصد

    ق كمثلِ التسبيح والتحميد

    A lord in whose praise is the delight of truth,

    like glorifying and praising God.

  9. وإمامٌ أضحت إلى فضلهِ الأق

    لام ما بين ركعٍ وسجود

    And a leader toward whose bounty the pens have turned,

    bowing and prostrating.

  10. ليس فيه عيبٌ سوى أنَّ نعما

    هُ تفيد الأحرار رِقّ العبيد

    He has no fault, save that his bounty

    bestows on free men the bondage of slaves.

  11. ومعاني ألفاظه تنفث الس

    حرَ على بعدها من التعقيد

    And the meanings of his words breathe magic,

    despite their freedom from complexity.

  12. كلّ سجع يهيم وهو مداد

    فوقَ غصنِ اليراع بالتغريد

    Every rhymed phrase is enraptured, though it is ink,

    warbling on the reed pen's bough.

  13. وقريض سلا به كلّ راوٍ

    عن حبيبٍ وشاب رأس الوليد

    And verse through which every reciter ceased longing

    for Habib, and al-Walid's head turned gray.

  14. خصَّ في وصفِ لفظه وبهاه

    بأمينٍ على الورى ورشيد

    In describing his diction and splendor, he was singled out

    as one entrusted with mankind and rightly guided.

  15. وحمته سطوره بصفوفٍ

    زحفت من طروسه ببنود

    And his lines defended him in ranks

    that advanced from his pages with banners.

  16. فإذا جرَّد اليراع فحدّث

    عن سطا كفهِ حديث الجنود

    So when he unsheathes the reed pen, tell

    of his hand's onslaught as one tells of armies.

  17. يا أخا الفضل لا يعطل في با

    بك جيدٌ ومسمعٌ من عقود

    O brother of bounty, let there not be at your

    door a neck or ear bereft of necklaces.

  18. أصبح الدهر جنَّةً بك زهرا

    ءَ فعشْ في الأنامِ عيش الخلود

    Through you, time has become a radiant garden;

    so live among mankind a life of immortality.

  19. لو تصدَّى عبد الحميد لعليا

    كَ لَلَجَّتْ أسبابها في الصعود

    Were Abd al-Hamid to strive toward your heights,

    the paths to them would persist in ascending;

  20. ورَبا كلّ ساعةٍ فضلك الج

    مّ وعبد الحميد عبد الحميد

    and your abundant excellence would grow each hour,

    while Abd al-Hamid remained Abd al-Hamid.

  21. بكَ فازتْ يدي وأنجبَ ظنِّي

    وزكا مقصدي وسار قصيدي

    Through you my hand triumphed, and my expectation bore fruit;

    my purpose flourished, and my poem spread.

  22. كُنَّ موتى بنات فكرِي ولكن

    بعثت من مقامك المحمود

    The daughters of my thought were dead, but

    they were raised to life from your praised station.