غلام كان يعشق وهو علق

ويكسى بالرقائق والتريف

A youth was loved while he was a prized treasure,

and clothed in fine fabrics and finery.

فلما صار في خدّيه ليف

وتحت ثيابه شبكات ليف

But when palm fiber grew upon his cheeks,

and nets of palm fiber beneath his clothes,

جفاه العاشقون فصار وقفا

على المنقاش يعرف بالنتيف

his lovers shunned him, and he became wholly given over

to the tweezers, known as 'the plucked one.'

وعف الناس عنه فصار يحفى

على كره يلقب بالعفيف

People abstained from him, so he came to be honored,

unwillingly nicknamed 'the chaste one.'

كذا الريحانُ يحسن وهو غضّ

ويجعل في الوجوه وفي الأنوف

Thus basil is lovely while it is fresh,

and is held to faces and noses;

ويهجى بعدما يذوي ذبولا

ويلقى في المزابل والكنيف

then reviled after it withers and fades,

and thrown onto rubbish heaps and into the privy.