أَيَا مَلِكاً تُزَفُّ لهُ القَوافي

أَيَا مَلِكاً تُزَفُّ لهُ القَوافي

عَرائِسَ مِن خَصَائِصِها الزَّفَافُ

عَرائِسَ مِن خَصَائِصِها الزَّفَافُ

O king, to whom rhymes are led in bridal procession,

O king for whom rhymes are led like brides

As brides, whose special custom is the wedding procession.

With their distinctive traits of union

أَتَيتُكَ والجَمالَ بِمِدحَتَيْنا

أَتَيتُكَ والجَمالَ بِمِدحَتَيْنا

وَكانَ لنا اختِلافٌ وأَتِلافُ

وَكانَ لنا اختِلافٌ وأَتِلافُ

I came to you with al-Jamal, bearing our two poems of praise.

I came to you with two praises of beauty

Between us there was both disagreement and concord.

Though we differed and came apart

وَكانَ علَى الرَّوّي لنا اتِّفاقٌ

وَكانَ علَى الرَّوّي لنا اتِّفاقٌ

وَعِندَ الوزنِ كانَ لنا اختِلافُ

وَعِندَ الوزنِ كانَ لنا اختِلافُ

And we agreed on the rhyme consonant,

On the rhyme we shared agreement

But in meter we differed.

Yet in meter we came to differ