1. كُفَّ العتابَ وكن عليَّ شهيدا

    إذ بتُّ فيك الهائم المعمودا

    Cease reproach, and be a witness against me.

    For I spent the night lovesick for you, tormented.

  2. سَقياً لقلبٍ بات فيك مقلَّباً

    شوقاً وبات فؤاده مفؤودا

    May rain refresh a heart that spent the night tossed about for you,

    With longing, and its heart lay wounded through the night.

  3. ظبيٌ غرامي فيه غير مذمَّمٍ

    مذ بات فيه ممدَّحاً محمودا

    A gazelle—my passion for him is beyond reproach,

    Since, for him, it has become much extolled and praised.

  4. أضحى بموقف حسنه في عصره

    ما بين أرباب الجمال عميدا

    Through the stature of his beauty, he has become, in his age,

    Chief among the masters of beauty.

  5. تمت محاسنُ خَلقِهِ في خُلقِهِ

    يتباريان سعادةً وسعودا

    The beauties of his form are perfected in his character;

    The two vie in happiness and good fortune.

  6. باللَه عبد اللَه كن متأيداً

    فاللَه يؤتي عبده التأييدا

    Abdallah, be strengthened by God;

    For God grants his servant strength.

  7. إذ كنتَ يا دُرّاً بأصداف المُنى

    تُلقِي إلينا اللؤلؤ المنضودا

    Since you, O pearl in the shells of hope, have been

    Casting to us pearls strung in order,

  8. من بحر علمٍ زاخرٍ بفضائلٍ

    كن يا ابن زاخر في الأنام فريدا

    From a sea of knowledge brimming with virtues,

    Be peerless among humankind, O son of Zakhir.

  9. جاءتك من إنعام ربك نعمةٌ

    عَقدت عليك كتائباً وبنودا

    A blessing has come to you from your Lord's bounty,

    That has arrayed battalions and banners around you.

  10. صاغت لكم آلاؤها من ربِّكم

    دون الأنام قلائداً وعقودا

    Its favors from your Lord have fashioned for you,

    Collars and necklaces, for you alone among humankind.

  11. طبعٌ كماء المزن يصفو رقّةً

    عن عزم ضرغامٍ يصيد الصيدا

    A nature like raincloud water, pure in tenderness,

    Born of the resolve of a lion that hunts its prey.

  12. سام السمُوَّ بجده وجدوده

    أكرم به جدّاً سما وجدودا

    He sought eminence through his effort and his forebears;

    How noble he is through his exalted grandfather and forebears!

  13. وأتى ببرهان النظام مُقلَّداً

    فيه ترى البرهان والتقليدا

    And he came invested with the proof of order,

    In it you see both proof and investiture,

  14. وأمانةٍ بَيعيَّةٍ روميةٍ

    تذر القريبَ من الضلال بعيدا

    And with a Roman ecclesiastical creed,

    That leaves the one nearby far from error.

  15. يا ابن الأكارم كابراً عن كابر

    أنت المفدَّى طارفاً وتليدا

    O son of the noblest, great one descended from great one,

    You are ransomed with wealth newly acquired and inherited.

  16. خذها إليك فدتك لُبنانيةً

    جاءت وكان مديحك المقصودا

    Take this Lebanese poem to yourself—may she be your ransom—

    She has come, and praise of you was her aim.