1. زار من أحيا بزورته

    والدجى في لون طرتهِ

    He visited—the one whose visit gives me life,

    while night-darkness was the color of his forelock.

  2. قمر يثني معانقه

    بانة في ثني بردَتهِ

    A moon—whoever embraces him bends

    a ban-tree within the fold of his mantle.

  3. بت أستجلي المدام على

    غرة الواشي وغرتهِ

    I spent the night gazing at the wine,

    with the tale-bearer unaware, beside his radiant brow.

  4. يا لها من زورة قصرت

    فأماتت طول جفوتهِ

    Oh, what a visit—so brief,

    yet it put his long estrangement to death.

  5. حين حلت عقد مصطبرى

    عقد من سحر مقلتهِ

    When the knots of my endurance were loosened

    by knots from the magic of his eye.

  6. وخدود الورد قد دميت

    خجلاً من ورد وجنتهِ

    And the cheeks of roses had bled,

    in shame at the rose of his cheek.

  7. يا له في الحسن من صنم

    كلّنا من جاهليتهِ

    Oh, what an idol he is in beauty!

    We all belong to his pagan age.

  8. ليس آسي الصب منه سوى

    آس خديه وخضرتهِ

    The lover finds no healer in him except

    the myrtle of his cheeks and its greenness.

  9. وبعيد أن يبل فهل

    حبلة في بل غلتهِ

    And relief is far away; is there

    a grapevine to slake his burning thirst?

  10. أخذت منه السكون صباً

    حركت أفنان صبوتهِ

    An east wind robbed him of repose,

    stirring the boughs of his yearning.

  11. كلما رمت السلوك له

    ردني وجد برمته

    Whenever I sought a way to him,

    the full force of longing turned me back.

  12. آه من خصر له وعلى

    خصِر من خمر ريقته

    Ah, for that waist of his—and for

    a chilled draught of the wine of his saliva!

  13. واعتدال فيه حملني

    كل جور من قضيتهِ

    And the balance of his form made me bear

    every injustice of his judgment.

  14. خان عهدي فاعتمدت على

    ماجد يوفي بذمتهِ

    He betrayed my pact, so I relied upon

    a noble man who keeps faith with his pledge.

  15. وأمين الدين من ضعفت

    منتي عن حمل منتهِ

    And Amin al-Din—too weak was

    my strength to bear his bounty.

  16. لاح ماء البشر مطردا

    لي في أثناء صفحتهِ

    The water of good cheer gleamed, flowing

    before me through the folds of his face.

  17. أي خطَب ما جلاه لنا

    رأيه من بعد غمَّتهِ

    What calamity has not been dispelled for us

    by his judgment, after its gloom?

  18. ووفاء ليس ينشره

    بعد طيّ من طويته

    And a fidelity he does not unfold

    from his heart after folding it away.

  19. جاوز الجوزاء مشترفا

    بمساعيه وهمتهِ

    He surpassed al-Jawza, towering high,

    through his endeavors and ambition.

  20. الندى من طبعه أبداً

    والعطايا من سجيته

    Generosity is forever in his nature,

    and gifts belong to his disposition.

  21. ويمين إنما عمر

    عمر في حسن سيرتهِ

    And I swear: Umar is none other than

    Umar in the excellence of his conduct.

  22. ملحق في شرع كل ندى

    فرض ما يأتي بسنتهِ

    He makes, in the law of every act of bounty,

    obligatory what he practices as custom.

  23. وإذا بحر الحِمام طما

    قبو ولاح للجنهِ

    And when the sea of death swells,

    [Unclear opening]—and appeared for Paradise [reading uncertain],

  24. بجنان مثل صارمه

    وسنان مثل عزمتهِ

    with a heart like his sharp sword,

    and a spearhead like his resolve.

  25. وتخال النثرة انتثرت

    بعد وهن فوق نثرتهِ

    And you would think al-Nathra had been scattered

    late at night above his coat of mail.

  26. راح عافيه على ثقة

    بالغنى من أريحيتهِ

    His petitioner departed in confidence

    of wealth from his open-handedness.

  27. يجزل الجدوى له أبدا

    موسعا في سد خلتهِ

    He always lavishes bounty on him,

    giving amply to meet his need.

  28. يا كمال الملك خذ كلما

    لم يرق إلا لرقتهِ

    O Kamal al-Mulk, accept words

    that charm only through their delicacy.

  29. مدت النعماء جانبها

    لك فينا طول مدتهِ

    May good fortune spread its sheltering side

    for you among us throughout his days.