1. أيا من تقصر أوصافنا

    وأمداحنا فيه عما جرى

    O you, our descriptions fall short,

    and our praises of you cannot match what has come to pass.

  2. كأنك الغزت لي في الذي

    غدا وله النشر فيما انطوى

    It is as though you posed me a riddle about that which

    has come to spread through what lies enfolded.

  3. إذا مر في الروض خرت له

    غصون الأراك وبان اللوى

    When it passes through the garden, there bow before it

    the boughs of arāk and al-Liwā’s bān trees.

  4. يمد ويقصر في لفظه

    فللجو هذا وذا للجوى

    Its name is pronounced with a long ending or a short one:

    the former is for the air, the latter for love’s anguish.