1. بشاطيء الواد نهرٌ

    كسا الدرانِكُ أرضَه

    By the wadi's bank is a river;

    Thick-piled rugs have clothed its ground,

  2. خُضراً وصفراً وحمراً

    وبعضها مُبيَضَّه

    Green, yellow, and red,

    And some of them white:

  3. نمارقٌ وزرابٍ

    من النواوير غَضّه

    Cushions and carpets

    Of fresh blossoms.

  4. فالوردُ وَجنةُ خَودٍ

    بيضاءَ غَرَّاءَ بضَّه

    For the rose is a maiden's cheek,

    Fair, radiant, and soft-skinned.

  5. كما البَنفسج خدٌ

    ابقى به اللثمُ عضَّه

    Likewise, the violet is a cheek

    Where kissing has left a bite-mark.

  6. والياسمين نجومٌ

    حازت من الحُسن محضَه

    And jasmine is stars

    That have gained beauty's pure essence.

  7. رَوضٌ بديع متى ما

    تُجِل بِهِ الطَرفَ تَرضَه

    A wondrous garden: whenever

    You let your gaze roam over it, you delight in it.

  8. تُقيّدُ اللَحظَ حُسناً

    فليس يَسطيعُ نَهضَه

    Its beauty holds the gaze captive,

    So it cannot rise.

  9. حكى سجايا ابن عَبَّا

    دٍ الكريم وعرضَه

    It mirrors the virtues of Ibn ʿAbbā-

    d, the generous, and his honor.

  10. قاضٍ على الحق ماضٍ

    راض بِهِ لو أَمَضَّه

    A judge steadfast in truth,

    Content with it, even if it pains him.

  11. اِسمُ ابتداءٍ تعالى

    ان يُحسِن الدَهرُ خَفضَه

    A name in the nominative, too exalted

    For Time to know how to bring it low.