1. جاء الرسولُ لعَبْدِه بكِتابِه

    فيه لطائفُ لَوْمِه وعِتابِهِ

    The messenger came to his servant with his letter;

    It held the subtleties of his blame and reproach.

  2. فقرأتُ مُودَعه ففَتَّح لفظُه

    معنىً كزَهْرِ الروضِ غِبَّ سَحابه

    So I read its contents, and its wording unfolded

    A meaning like the garden's blossoms in the wake of its raincloud.

  3. أقسمتُ لو أخفَى الرسولُ مكانَه

    لَسَرىَ النسيمُ بعَرْفِه فوَشَى به

    I swore: had the messenger concealed its whereabouts,

    The breeze would have borne its fragrance and betrayed it.

  4. الروض في قِرْطاسه والمِسْك في

    أنفاسه والسِّحْر في آدابه

    The garden is in its paper, and musk in

    Its breath, and magic in its literary graces.

  5. كالأمنِ للملهوف من أعدائه

    والوَصْلِ للمهجور من أحبابه

    Like safety for one distressed by his enemies,

    And reunion for one forsaken by his loved ones;

  6. كالنوم بين جفون من فقد الكرى

    سَهَرا لما يلقاه من أَوْصابه

    Like sleep between the eyelids of one bereft of slumber,

    Kept awake by the afflictions he endures.

  7. لَفْظٌ لو اجتمع الخَليقةُ كلُّها

    في واحدٍ أَعْياه ردُّ جَوابه

    An utterance that, were all creation gathered

    Into one being, replying to it would defeat him.

  8. لو مَرَّ بالكِنْدِىِّ أَيْسَرُ لفظةٍ

    من شِعْره لَثم التراب ببابه

    Were al-Kindi to encounter the slightest word

    Of his verse, he would kiss the dust at the poet's door.

  9. مَنْ ذا يُجارِى البحرَ في تياره

    مَن ذا يزور اللَّيْثَ داخلَ غابه

    Who is there to rival the sea in its current?

    Who is there to visit the lion inside its thicket?

  10. جُرمْى أقلُّ وإنْ تَعاظَمَ كَثْرةً

    من أن يُغيِّر سيدي عن دابِه

    My wrongdoing is too slight, however much it grows,

    To turn my lord from his accustomed ways.