1. أَتَت تَنثَني كَالغُصنِ وَالغُصنُ يابِسُ

    وَتَرنو بِطَرفٍ أَوطفٍ وَهوَ ناعِسُ

    She came swaying like a bough, though the bough is dry.

    And gazes with a long-lashed eye, heavy with drowsiness.

  2. رَداحٌ بخوط البانِ تُزري رَشاقَةً

    وَتَهزَأُ بِالخَطّيِّ حينَ تُقايسُ

    Full-hipped, she shames the bān tree's shoot in grace,

    And mocks the Khattī spear when set beside it.

  3. مِنَ القاصِراتِ الطَرفِ مَهضومة الحَشا

    لَطيفةُ طَيِّ الكَشحِ هَيفاءُ آنِسُ

    One of the modest-eyed, slender of belly,

    Delicate in the fold of her flank, slim-waisted and companionable.

  4. يَفوقُ سَناها البَدرَ لَيلة تِمِّهِ

    وَيَأوي لِداني أُفقِهِ وَهوَ ناكِسُ

    Her radiance outshines the full moon on the night of its fullness,

    And it retreats to the low edge of its horizon, head bowed.

  5. إِذا ما رَنَت نَحوَ الحَليمِ اِستَفَزَّهُ

    هَوىً وَاِستَمالَتهُ ظُنونٌ هَواجِسُ

    Whenever she gazes toward a self-possessed man, he is stirred

    By passion, and whispering fancies draw him away.

  6. أَتَت مَنزلي تَختالُ وَاللَيلُ دامِسٌ

    كَما زارَني وَهناً حَبيبٌ مُؤانِسُ

    She came to my home, swaying proudly, while the night was pitch-dark,

    As a beloved companion visited me late at night.

  7. فَما الرَوضُ بِالأَزهارِ كلّلَه النَدى

    كَما كُلّلت تيجانَهنَّ عَرائِسُ

    For no garden, crowned with blossoms by the dew

    As brides are crowned with their diadems—

  8. بَكاهُ الحَيا حَتّى تَضاحَكَ نَورُهُ

    وَحَلّت عَزالَيها عَلَيهِ البَواجِسُ

    Rain wept over it until its blossoms laughed,

    And gushing clouds opened their spouts over it;

  9. كَسَتهُ يَدُ الأَنواءِ وَشياً كَأَنَّما

    حَبته بِأَنواع التَصاوير فارِسُ

    The hand of the rain-stars clothed it in brocade, as though

    Persia had graced it with all kinds of painted designs;

  10. فَأَصبَحَ غِبَّ القَطر يُزهى لِجَنَّةٍ

    جَنيُّ جَناها لَم يُصافِحهُ لامِسُ

    So after the rain it stood proud before a paradise,

    Whose ripe fruit no hand had clasped;

  11. بِهِ الزَهرُ بِالأَكمامِ يَسطَعُ نَورُهُ

    كَزُهرٍ لَها سَيفُ المَجَرَّةِ حارِسُ

    There the flowers' bloom gleams within the calyxes,

    Like bright stars guarded by the Milky Way's sword;

  12. يَطيفُ بِهِ واشي النَسيمِ فَتَنثَني

    غُصونُ رُباه الهيفُ وَهيَ مَوائِسُ

    The tale-bearing breeze circles it, and so bend

    The slender boughs upon its knolls, swaying proudly;

  13. وَقامَ خَطيبُ الدَوحِ فيها مُغَرِّداً

    عَلَيهِ قَميصٌ حاكَهُ الطلُّ وارِسُ

    And the grove's orator rose there in song,

    Upon him a yellow-dyed shirt, woven by the dew;

  14. تُجاوبه ورقٌ بِأَلحانِ مَعبَدٍ

    وَتَشدُو عَلى الأَغصانِ وَهيَ أَوانِسُ

    Gray doves answer him with Maʿbad's melodies,

    And sing upon the boughs in easy companionship;

  15. تُذَكِّرني عَهدَ التَصابي فَأَنثَني

    وَفي القَلبِ مِن فَرطِ الغمومِ وَساوِسُ

    They remind me of the days of youthful dalliance, and I turn away

    With anxious whisperings in my heart from overwhelming grief—

  16. بِأَحسَن مِنها بِهجَةً حينَ أَقبَلَت

    وَحيّت كَما حَيّت ظِباءٌ كَوانِسٌ

    Is lovelier in splendor than she, when she approached,

    And greeted me as gazelles greet from their thickets.

  17. وَكَيفَ وَمَن وَشّى مَعاطِفَها فَتىً

    نَمتهُ إلى نَحوِ المَعالي مَغارِسُ

    And how could it be, when he who embroidered her curves is a youth

    Whose roots have raised him toward lofty attainments?

  18. رُقى مِن ذرى الآدابِ أَرفَع هَضبَة

    فَمَن ذا يُضاهيهِ وَمَن ذا يُجانِسُ

    He climbed the loftiest peak among the heights of letters;

    Who, then, can rival him, and who can match him?

  19. فَيا اِبنَ الأُلى شادوا الفَخارَ بِعِزِّهم

    وَلَيسَ لَهُم في غَيرِ مَجدٍ تَنافُسُ

    O son of those who built up glory through their might,

    And who vie in nothing but glory—

  20. بَعَثتُ بِنَظمٍ كَالليالي مُنظّماً

    حَكى دُرَّ دَمعي حينَ بانَ المجالِسُ

    I sent verse, ordered like the nights;

    It mirrored the pearls of my tears when my companion departed.

  21. وَكَلَّفتَني عَنهُ الجَوابَ وَحَبَّذا

    سُؤالٌ وَلَكِن أَينَ مِنّي تَجانُسُ

    And you charged me with answering it—how welcome

    A request! Yet how could I be its equal?

  22. أَثبتكَ بِالرضراضِ مِن دُررٍ حَكَت

    عَرائس زَهر قَد جَلَتها الحَنادِسُ

    I repaid you with tiny pearls resembling

    Flower-brides that the pitch-dark nights had unveiled.

  23. فَإِن يَكُ مِنهُ ما يَروقُ لِناظِرٍ

    فإِنّي لَهُ مِن نُورِ وَصفِكَ قابِسُ

    So if anything in it should delight a beholder,

    Then I have borrowed its spark from the light of your description.

  24. وَدُونكها تَمشي الهوينى وَتَنثَني

    حَياءً وَطَرفُ العَينِ فيها يُخالِسُ

    And take her: she walks softly and bends

    In shyness, while the eye steals glances at her,

  25. إِلى بابِكم تَرجُو القَبولَ تَفَضُّلاً

    عَساها بِقُربٍ مِنكَ تَحظى وَتَأنَسُ

    Toward your door, hoping for acceptance as a favor;

    May she win nearness to you and find companionship.

  26. فَلا زِلتَ بِالآدابِ تُتحِف صاحِباً

    مَدى الدَهرِ ما طَنَّت بِعلمٍ مَدارِسُ

    So may you never cease to favor a friend with gifts of letters,

    For all time, as long as schools resound with learning,

  27. وَما ناحَ قُمرِيُّ الرِياض مُغَرِّداً

    وَحَنّ مُشَوقٌ نازِحُ الدارِ آيِسُ

    And as long as the gardens' turtledove mourns in song,

    And the yearning one pines, far from home and hopeless.