1. يسومنيَ السلوَّ ولن أُطيعَهْ

    ولا نَفسي له بالمسْتَطيعَهْ

    He urges me to forget my love, but I will not obey him;

    nor can my soul comply with him.

  2. ويخدعُ عن رسيس الحبِّ قلبي

    وقلبي ليس يُملَكُ بالخديعة

    And he tries to beguile my heart away from love's deep roots,

    but my heart cannot be won by deception.

  3. عذولي لستُ مستمعاً لِعَذلٍ

    فدونكَ عذلُ ذي الأذنِ السميعه

    My reprover, I will listen to no reproach;

    so reproach someone with a listening ear instead.

  4. وَحِبِّي من أَذعتُ الحبَّ عُجْباً

    به وأمرتُ دمعي أن يُذيعه

    And my beloved is he for whom I proclaimed my love, in admiration

    of him, and commanded my tears to reveal it.

  5. لقد خلع العذارَ عليه دمعي

    وما كانت دموعي بالخليعه

    Indeed, my tears have cast off their bridle for him,

    though my tears had never been unbridled.

  6. ألا يا دُرَّةً في وجه تاجٍ

    تلوحُ ودميةً في صَدر بِيعه

    Ah, pearl on the face of a crown,

    gleaming, and an image in the heart of a church!

  7. ويا مَن بعتُه النومَ الذي لم

    يكلِّفني سواهُ أن أبيعَه

    And you to whom I sold the sleep that no one

    but you ever required me to sell!

  8. بحسن محاسنٍ لك حالياتٍ

    حُلِيّاً حَشوُها البِدَعُ البديعه

    By the beauty of your charms, adorned

    with ornaments filled with wondrous marvels,

  9. أَعِذني من قطيعةِ مستهينٍ

    بما يلقى المحبُّ منَ القطيعه

    protect me from the estrangement of one who makes light

    of what a lover suffers through estrangement.

  10. فقد أودعت مني الشوقَ قلباً

    يُسارُ إليه في حفظِ الوديعه

    For you have entrusted longing to a heart of mine

    to which one journeys for a trust's safekeeping.

  11. وسارعَ ناظِراكَ من أناسٍ

    تلذُّ لهم مُسارعةُ الصَّنيعَه

    And your two eyes hastened, sprung from a people

    who delight in hastening acts of kindness.

  12. سألتُ مدحرجاً ما الجودُ فيكم

    فقالوا الجودٌ إِرثٌ لن نُضِيعَه

    I asked Mudahrij, 'What is generosity among you?'

    They answered, 'Generosity is an inheritance we shall not squander.'

  13. توارثَهُ صغارٌ عن كبارٍ

    كما تتوارثُ الأمَمُ الشَّريعه

    The young inherit it from the old,

    as peoples inherit religious law.

  14. ولابن سويدٍ المطبوعِ فيه

    فضيلةُ مَنْ فضيلتُهُ طَبِيعَه

    And Ibn Suwayd, naturally disposed to it, has

    the virtue of one whose virtue is innate.

  15. كنيُّ المصطفى وكفى ارتفاعاً

    بمن يُكْنى بِكُنْيَتِهِ الرفيعه

    He shares the Chosen One's honorific name—distinction enough

    for one bearing his exalted honorific name.

  16. فتىً إن يدْعُ أبكارَ المعالي

    تُجِبْهُ وهيَ سامعةٌ مُطيعَه

    A youth: if he summons the virgins of glory,

    they answer him, attentive and obedient.

  17. ذريعةُ مجتديه الودَّ ودٌّ

    يمتُّ به وحَسْبُكَ من ذريعه

    Affection is the means of one who seeks his affection,

    a bond he invokes—and that is means enough.

  18. له جودٌ بفَجْعِ الوَفْرِ مُغرىً

    وذاك هُوَ الغنيمةُ لا الفجيعه

    He has a generosity bent on ruining his wealth,

    yet that is gain, not calamity.

  19. ضجيجُ الجودِ لم يألفْ ضجيعاً

    سواهُ منذُ سمَّاهُ ضجيعَه

    The clamor of generosity has known no bedfellow

    but him, since it named him its bedfellow.

  20. إذا صَغُرَتْ من البخلِ العطايا

    حظينا منه بالضَّخْمِ الدَّسيعَه

    When gifts dwindle through miserliness,

    we receive enormous bounty from him.

  21. تلافى قَلْبَ دهري إِذْ رآني

    قد استشنعتُ جَفْوَتَهُ الشَّنيعه

    He redressed my fortune's reversal when he saw that I

    had found its hideous harshness abhorrent.

  22. فحزتُ به الضياعَ بلا خراجٍ

    أفوزُ بربحهنَّ بلا وضيعه

    So through him I acquired estates without land tax,

    enjoying their profit without loss.

  23. منعنَ الفقرَ من بيتي فبيتي

    بذاك المنعِ في قُلَلٍ منيعه

    They barred poverty from my house; so my house,

    through that protection, stands on impregnable peaks.

  24. فما آسى لجفوةِ مَنْ جفاني

    مذ استمرأتُ روضَتَهُ المَريعَه

    So I no longer grieve at the coldness of those who shunned me,

    since I relished his luxuriant garden.

  25. ولكني أقولُ وإن أضاعَ ال

    مقالَ القائلون فلنْ أُضيعَه

    But I say—even if speakers squander the

    spoken word, I will not squander it:

  26. إذا مُهدي المديحةِ لم يكافأ

    عليها فالمديحةُ كالوقيعه

    if the giver of praise is not rewarded

    for it, then praise is like slander.

  27. بنفسي ذاك شيعياً صريحاً

    وشيعةُ أحمدٍ من خير شيعه

    My life for that man, a genuine Shiite!

    And Ahmad's followers are among the best of followers.

  28. طلائعُ بِرِّهِ عندي تلاقى

    لهنّ طليعةٌ تلقى طليعَه

    The vanguards of his kindness meet before me:

    one vanguard of theirs encounters another.

  29. فإن أُنسَبْ إلى مضرٍ فجاهي

    ومالي يُنسبانِ إلى ربيعَه

    For if my lineage is traced to Mudar, my standing

    and my wealth are both attributed to Rabi'ah,

  30. إلى ابن سويدٍ المنتاش عرضي

    وقد لعبتْ به النُّوَبُ الفظيعَه

    to Ibn Suwayd, the rescuer of my honor,

    when dreadful calamities had toyed with it.

  31. جمعتُ له جميعَ الشكر مني

    وفخري أن جمعتُ له جميعه

    I gathered for him all the gratitude within me,

    and my pride is that I gathered it all for him.

  32. وَمَن يجهلْ إِخاءَ أخٍ فذاك ال

    رقيعُ ابنُ الرقيعِ ابنُ الرَّقيعَه

    And whoever fails to recognize a brother's brotherhood is that

    fool, son of a fool, son of a foolish woman.