1. قل للأمير إذا مثلتَ له

    يا ركن أهل إقامة الخمسِ

    Say to the prince when you stand before him:

    O pillar of those who observe the five prayers,

  2. يَهنيك أن الفطر حين بدا

    نُشِرَ السرور به من الرمس

    May it gladden you that, when Eid al-Fitr appeared,

    joy was resurrected through it from the grave.

  3. نَطَقتْ بناتُ اللهو فيه معاً

    من بعد خفض الصوتِ والهمس

    The daughters of revelry all spoke out during it,

    after lowered voices and whispering.

  4. وجرى لنا فَلَك الكؤوس به

    فأمات هَمَّ النفس ذي الهَجْس

    And the sphere of cups revolved for us during it,

    and so slew the soul's brooding care.

  5. ومنِ السعادةِ أن رأيتَ أبا ال

    عباس ملءَ العينِ والنفس

    And one good fortune is that you saw Abu al-

    Abbas, filling eye and soul.

  6. سَلَّفتَ فيه فراسةً صَدَقتْ

    فحمدتَ ما سلَّفتَ بالأمس

    Your earlier discerning judgment of him proved true,

    and so you praised what you had offered yesterday.

  7. أجْنى جنَىً طابتْ مذاقَتُهُ

    إذ كان غَرسَ مباركِ الغرس

    He yielded fruit whose taste was pleasant,

    for he was planted by one blessed in his planting.

  8. كم فيه من جدِّيَةٍ عَذَرتْ

    مشتقُّ كنيَتِهِ من العبس

    How much seriousness in him has vindicated

    the one who derived his honorific from frowning!

  9. ومحامدٍ نادت مُسمِّيَهُ

    تاللَهِ ما سمَّيتَ بالعكس

    And praiseworthy traits called out to his namer:

    "By God, you did not give him a contrary name."

  10. فاسعد بطول حياته أبداً

    يفضي به حَرْسٌ إلى حَرس

    So rejoice forever in his long life,

    as one long span of years leads him into another.

  11. واشرب على رغم العدو وما

    يلقاه من تعس ومن نكس

    And drink, despite the enemy and what

    he suffers of misery and reversals,

  12. كأساً كأنك حين تشربها

    قمر يُقبل عارَض الشمس

    a cup, as though when you drink it

    you were a moon kissing the sun's cheek—

  13. مشمولةً كالمسك عاتِقةً

    لطُفتْ عن الإدراك باللمس

    wine cooled by the north wind, musklike and aged,

    too subtle to be apprehended by touch.

  14. لنسيمِها في قلب شاربها

    روح الرجاء وراحة اليأس

    Its breeze holds, within its drinker's heart,

    the solace of hope and the repose of despair.

  15. حياك بالشاهِسْفَرَمِّ ضحىً

    والجلّسان ونفحة الكأس

    At midmorning you were greeted with royal basil,

    and roses and the cup's fragrant breath,

  16. فطرٌ ونيروز يجاوره

    طلعا معاً بالسعد لا النحس

    by Eid al-Fitr and Nowruz, its neighbor:

    both rose together in good fortune, not ill.

  17. غَدِقَيْن مُخضَلَّين شأنهما

    إعمال نفي البؤس والبأس

    Both bountiful and drenched, their task

    the active banishment of misery and hardship.

  18. هذا يُبدّي الجلد منك وذا

    يسقيك من صفراءَ كالوَرْس

    This one bares your skin, and that one

    gives you some wine yellow as wars-dye.

  19. نضْحٌ ونشحٌ يغمسانك في

    فرحٍ ونُعم أيَّما غمس

    Sprinkling and sipping immerse you in

    joy and bliss—what an immersion!

  20. هذا لذاك ورُبَّ قافيةٍ

    قد قلتُها كالطعنة الخلس

    This is for that; and many a rhymed poem

    I have uttered like a stealthy thrust.

  21. وأقول عَودا قول ذي لسنٍ

    لم يُؤتَ من عيٍّ ومن ألس

    And again I speak as one endowed with eloquence,

    unassailed by inarticulacy or mental derangement:

  22. لولا كلابٌ غيرُ آلِيتي

    نبحاً إذا أسْمعتُها جَرسي

    Were it not for dogs that spare me no

    barking when I let them hear my voice—

  23. متعرِّضٌ للفَرْس نابِحُها

    والليثُ لا يرضاه للفرس

    their barker courts being torn apart,

    yet the lion does not deem it worthy of mauling.

  24. يؤذي بتكرار النُباحِ وما

    من مَنْهسٍ فيه لذي نَهس

    It annoys with repeated barking, and there is

    no flesh on it for a biter.

  25. فالكَفُّ عن أمثاله غبَنٌ

    ومِراسُهُ من أعظم الوكس

    So holding back from its like means being cheated,

    and grappling with it is among the greatest losses.

  26. كالبيْن بانت عاجَلاً يده

    والبيهقيِّ كبا من التعس

    Like al-Bayn—may his hand soon be severed!—

    and al-Bayhaqi—may he stumble from misfortune!—

  27. وكصاحبٍ لي غيبه دِغلٌ

    أنا منه في قَرص وفي نخس

    and like a companion of mine whose hidden nature is deceit:

    from him I suffer pinches and prods—

  28. لولا أولئك غير مُعتذرٍ

    بالعجز عن وَطءٍ ولا ضَرْس

    Were it not for those—with no plea

    of inability to trample or bite—

  29. أهديتُ قافيةً مصنَّعةً

    في الخدر قد سيمَتْ مِنَ الحبس

    I would have offered a finely wrought poem,

    in the secluded bower, made to endure confinement,

  30. لقريع مجدٍ لا كِفاءَ لَهُ

    من مُصعب للرأس فالرأس

    to a champion of glory who has no equal,

    from Mus'ab, through chief after chief,

  31. ممن يُنيلُ وما استُنيل كما

    يُكسَى المدائحَ غير مُستَكس

    one who gives without being asked, just as

    he is clothed in praises without asking to be clothed.

  32. أعني عبيد الله خير فتى

    بالحق ما في ذاك من لبَس

    I mean Ubayd Allah, the finest young man,

    in truth—there is no ambiguity in that.

  33. ذاك الذي يجزي الجزاء فلا

    يُثني عليه الشعر بالبخس

    He is the one who gives recompense, so

    poetry does not stint him in its praise.

  34. يا من يقولُ بغير مدحتهِ

    البدرُ مُمتنع من اللَّمس

    O you who say, when not praising him,

    "The full moon is beyond the reach of touch."