1. نبهني والنجم قد غارا

    والصبح ما أسفر أسفارا

    He woke me when the star had set,

    and dawn had not yet shone forth:

  2. مهفهف شعشع من خده

    نورا ومن خمرته نارا

    a slender youth, who shed from his cheek

    light, and from his wine, fire.

  3. قد حل زرّ النوم عن جفنه

    وشد فوق الخصر زنارا

    He had unfastened sleep’s button from his eyelid

    and bound a girdle above his waist.

  4. وقام من رقدته سحرة

    بطرفه الفاتر سحارا

    He rose from his slumber before dawn,

    a sorcerer with his languid gaze.

  5. يبدي على غصن لجين ند

    وجهاله يحسب دينارا

    He displays, upon a dewy silver bough,

    his face, which seems a gold dinar.

  6. له عذارؤ مذ بدا نبته

    أقام لي في الحب أعذارا

    His cheek-down, ever since it first sprouted,

    has furnished me excuses for love.

  7. يصبحني عانية أنفدت

    دنانها في العمر أعمارا

    He serves me ʿĀna wine at morning—wine that has spent

    lifetimes aging in its jars.

  8. في روضة أضحك منها الحيا

    بدمعه الهاطل أزهارا

    In a garden where the rain brought laughter,

    with its pouring tears, to flowers.

  9. قد عانق المخضّر من نبتها

    جدا ولا زرقاً وأنهارا

    The green of its plants has embraced

    blue streams and rivers.

  10. وانحلّ خيط الطلّ فيها ضحى

    يبل للزهرة نوارا

    And dew’s thread came undone there at midmorning,

    wetting the flower’s bloom.

  11. فالورد غض خجل ولندى

    في مقل النرجس قد حارا

    The rose is fresh and bashful, and dew

    stands bewildered in the narcissus’s eyes.

  12. والريح قد نبت بنمامها

    وهنا وابدت منه اسرارا

    And the wind has tattled through its telltale herb,

    after nightfall, divulging its secrets.

  13. ينسي بها الطير على عوده

    إذا شدا عودا ومزمارا

    There, the bird upon its branch makes one forget,

    when it sings, both lute and flute.

  14. انظر إلى السحب التي حسنت

    لأرضها زهرا وأشجارا

    Look at the clouds that have adorned

    the earth beneath them with flowers and trees.

  15. تجديد الصاحب في فعلها

    بمعدم أحسن آثارا

    You will find the Sahib’s hand, in its dealings

    with the destitute, fairer in its effects.

  16. المؤثر الندب الذي لم يزل

    يدرك من أعدائه الثارا

    The selfless, gallant man who has never ceased

    to exact vengeance from his enemies.

  17. والمورد المصدر يا رب لا

    تعدمه إيرادا واصدارا

    And who brings in and sends forth—O Lord, do not

    deprive him of bringing in and sending forth.

  18. وواحد الملك الذي ما رأى

    مثلا له كسرى ولا دارا

    And the realm’s peerless man, whose like

    neither Kisrā nor Dārā ever saw.

  19. لا تسع الدنيا له همّةً

    ولاترى الأرض له دارا

    The world cannot encompass his ambition,

    nor is the earth deemed a home for him.

  20. عار من العار ولبس الخنا

    قار إذا الليل حكى القارا

    Free of disgrace and the garb of baseness,

    a host when night is black as pitch.

  21. كم مد بالجبر كسيرا وكمم

    دوخ بالسطوة جبارا

    How many broken men he has helped and mended, and how many

    tyrants he has subdued with his might!

  22. أغار في الطيب على عرضه

    ان يشبه المندل والغارا

    He guards his honor’s fragrance too jealously

    to let it be likened to aloeswood and laurel.

  23. أشجع من يخطر بالرمح في

    يوم وغى أسمر خطارا

    The bravest to stride with a spear on

    a day of battle, its brown shaft swaying.

  24. وخير من تحمل أسيافه

    عنا حمالات وأخطارا

    And the best of those whose swords bear

    our burdens and perils for us.

  25. مؤيد الإسلام يا من غدا

    كالدهر نفاعا وضرارا

    Upholder of Islam, O you who have become

    like Time, mighty in beneficence and in harm.

  26. ويا أبا الفضل الذي فضله

    قد طبق الأرض وقد سارا

    And O Abū al-Faḍl, whose bounty

    has covered the earth and traveled far.

  27. يا ليث حرب لم يزل جوده

    يخجل صوب الغيث مدرارا

    O lion of war, whose generosity has never ceased

    to shame the rain’s torrential downpour.

  28. عمرك للناس ربيع إذا

    عصور قوم كنّ أعصارا

    Your lifetime is spring for the people, when

    the ages of others have been whirlwinds.

  29. أقسمت لا جار زمان على

    مضطهد بت له جارا

    I swear: Time has never oppressed

    a victim whose protector you have become.

  30. البستني النعمى وخولتني

    مكارما عونا واَبكارا

    You clothed me in blessings and granted me

    bounties, both mature and maiden.

  31. فسوف آتيك بها شردا

    حواضرا عندك سفارا

    So, for these, I shall bring you far-roaming verses,

    present with you, yet traveling afar.

  32. تحسبها الأقمار في سيرها

    وذكرها الخالد أقمارا

    The moons, in their courses, regard them

    and their everlasting renown as moons.

  33. بقيت تفدٍ الدهر في نعمة

    باقية صوما وإفطارا

    May you live on, ever ransomed, in blessing,

    lasting through fasting and breaking the fast.