قالوا وقد ملكت رقي غلام

قالوا وقد ملكت رقي غلام

عاشق هذا ما عليه ملام

عاشق هذا ما عليه ملام

They said, when I had made a boy my master:

They said, and you have enslaved my reason, boy

'This man is a lover; no blame rests on him.'

This lover is blameless

يا غصن يا أهيف يا طفل يا

يا غصن يا أهيف يا طفل يا

قاتل هذا الشيخ يا والسلام

قاتل هذا الشيخ يا والسلام

O bough, O slender-waisted one, O child, O

O branch, O swaying one, O child, O

slayer of this old man—O—and farewell!

Killer of this old man, goodbye

يا جنة الخال على خدّه

يا جنة الخال على خدّه

ما أنت إلا شامة في الشآم

ما أنت إلا شامة في الشآم

O garden of the mole upon his cheek,

O garden of moles on his cheek

You are but a beauty mark in al-Sham.

You are but a beauty mark in Damascus

وأنت يا مادح سعد التقى

وأنت يا مادح سعد التقى

ما أنتما إلا فريدا الأنام

ما أنتما إلا فريدا الأنام

And you, O praiser of Sa'd al-Tuqa,

And you, O praiser of Saad the devout

You two are but humankind's peerless pair.

You two are unmatched among people

لشعر هذا فضل أيام ذا

لشعر هذا فضل أيام ذا

يقول يا بشراي هذا غلام

يقول يا بشراي هذا غلام

This one's verse enjoys the bounty of that one's days;

This poetry has the merit of that time

He says, 'O glad tidings for me! This is a boy!'

That says, O Bashar, this is a boy

لولاك سعد الدين لم يمح من

لولاك سعد الدين لم يمح من

ظلم ذوي الأقلام عنا ظلام

ظلم ذوي الأقلام عنا ظلام

But for you, Sa'd al-Din, there would have been no dispelling

If not for you Saad al-Din, the injustice

of the darkness of the penmen's oppression from us.

Of the writers would not have lifted its darkness from us

لا زال مثل السرج في نصره

لا زال مثل السرج في نصره

وسعده في فم باغٍ لجام

وسعده في فم باغٍ لجام

May there always be, like the saddle, to aid his victory

He is still, like the saddlecloth, in supporting him

and his good fortune, a bridle in a transgressor's mouth.

And Saad is in the mouth of a drinking cup