1. وساعةٍ جاد بها العُمرُ

    ونام عن خُلْستِها الدهرُ

    And an hour that life generously bestowed,

    while Time slept, unaware of its theft.

  2. والطيرُ والدُّولاب يَشْدو لنا

    كمُطرِبٍ يَتْبَعه زَمْر

    And the birds and the waterwheel sing for us,

    like a singer accompanied by piping.

  3. والوردُ فوق الماء ما بيننا

    قد نُثِرتْ أوراقُه الحُمْر

    And the roses upon the water between us—

    their red petals have been scattered.

  4. لم تَر عيني منظرا مثله

    ماء تَلظَّى فوقه جَمْر

    My eye has seen no sight like it:

    water, with embers blazing upon it.

  5. تِهْنا به زَهْوا كما تَزْدهِي

    بالآمرِ الأحكامُ والأمر

    We reveled proudly in it, as do

    laws and rule in al-Āmir—

  6. مَنْ وجهُه بدرٌ ومن لفظُه

    دُرٌّ ومن راحُته بحر

    he whose face is a full moon, and whose speech

    is pearls, and whose palm is a sea.

  7. سارتْ عَطايا جودِه مثلما

    قد سار فيه الحمد والشكر

    The gifts of his bounty have traveled, just as

    praise and thanks for him have traveled.

  8. وعَطَّر الدنيا بأوصافه

    في الفضل حتى خَجِل القَطْر

    And he perfumed the world with his qualities

    of generosity, until even the rain was ashamed.