1. قَد أَذكَرتُ مِن عُهودِ الصَبِّ ما سَلَفا

    فَكادَ يُقضى عَلى تِذكارِهِ أَسَفا

    I have recalled the lovelorn one's bygone days;

    and grief at their remembrance almost proved fatal.

  2. جَيداءُ منصَلت القُرطينَ في غَيَدٍ

    خَطَّت إِلَيَّ كَخُوطٍ تَنثَني قُطُفا

    A long-necked beauty, her earrings dangling, swaying gracefully,

    stepped toward me like a bending bough, with short steps.

  3. بَعيدةُ المُرتَمى تَرمي بِناظِرةٍ

    مِن رِيمِ وَجرَة يُبدي جِفنَهُ وَطَفا

    Far-reaching in her aim, she shoots with the eye

    of a gazelle of Wajrah, showing an eyelid thick with lashes.

  4. خَطت على برحِ وَجدٍ بِتُّ أَكلَؤُهُ

    وَحر وقد شِغاف القَلبِ قَد شَغفا

    She came upon the torment of a longing I guarded through the night,

    and the heat of a blaze that had pierced the heart's membrane.

  5. فَخِلت شَرخَ شَبابي رُدَّ رَيِّقُه

    عَلى مَن كُنتُ مَشغوفاً بِهِ كَلِفا

    I thought the first freshness of my youth had been restored

    with the one I had loved, enthralled and devoted,

  6. إِذا الرُسوم تُرى بِالبِيضِ ناضِرةً

    وَبِالكَواعب تُلفى رَوضةً أُنُفا

    when the old dwellings looked fresh with fair women,

    and, with full-bosomed maidens, seemed an untouched meadow.

  7. وَآفت كَقطعةِ رَوض غِبَّ سارِيَةٍ

    سَقَت أَقاحيهِ مِن رَقراقِها نُطَفا

    And it arrived like a patch of meadow after a night-rain

    that watered its daisies with drops of its shimmering water.

  8. تَرَعرَعت فيهِ أَطفالُ الرُبى وَغَدا

    بَيتَ القَرار إِلى الحَوذانِ مُنعَطَفا

    The hills' children flourished there, and it became

    a home of repose, bending toward the buttercups.

  9. في طَيِّها نَشرُ داريٍّ بِهِ عَطِرت

    أَرجاءُ رَبع نَديها طالَ ما شَرُفا

    In its folds lay the scent of Darin, which perfumed

    the corners of a dwelling whose assembly had long been exalted.

  10. لِلّهِ كَم جَمَعت عُليا بَلاغَتِها

    مِن كُلِّ رائِقٍ مَعنى راقَ أَو لَطُفا

    How much, by God, its lofty eloquence has gathered

    of every graceful meaning, delightful or subtle!

  11. وَضَمّنَتهُ مِنَ الأَشواقِ في فِقَر

    كَأَنَّها الزُهر أَو زَهر الرُبى تَرَفا

    And you filled it with longings, set in passages

    like bright stars, or hillside flowers in their luxuriance.

  12. مِنها التَهاني بِنجم الدينِ عَبدِكُمُ

    وَحَسبُ أَمثالِهِ أَن تَمدَحوا شَرفا

    Among them were congratulations concerning Najm al-Din, your servant;

    and for his like, your praise is honor enough.

  13. وَها بَعَثنا بِديوان الشَريف إِلى

    جَنابِكُم وَبِوَشيٍ إِثر ذَلِكَ قَفا

    And here we have sent al-Sharif's collected poems to

    your honored presence, with a brocade following close behind.

  14. لَكِنَّهُ لا كَوَشيٍ حكتَ بُردَتهُ

    يُلفى اللآلي وَما قَد حكته الصَدَفا

    Yet it is not like the brocade whose mantle you have woven:

    yours proves to be pearls; what I have woven, shells.

  15. لا زِلتَ تُرشِفُ سَمعي كُلَّ رائِقَةٍ

    تَغدو لِأَسماع آذان الوَرى شُنُفا

    May you never cease to let my hearing sip each exquisite utterance,

    becoming earrings for the ears of humankind.