1. نسيم الجحا أوحى إلى مسمع النهى

    بدائع لم تلهج بأمثالها اللها

    The breeze of al-Jaha whispered to the ear of reason

    Marvels whose like no throats had ever voiced.

  2. تنازع معناها الجميل ولفظه

    قلائد در ما تحلت بها المها

    Their lovely meaning and its wording vied

    For necklaces of pearls no oryx had ever worn.

  3. شدوت ولي من مبلغ العلم ومضة

    سواي يراها غاية ما أجلها

    I sang, possessing but a glimmer of knowledge's reach;

    Another sees it as the ultimate goal—how exalted it is!

  4. وما أنا ممن همه من حياته

    رضا باطل مهما عتا وتألها

    Nor am I one whose concern in life

    Is pleasing falsehood, however insolent and self-deifying it becomes.

  5. طبيعة نفس يا رعى الله طبعه

    يراها محب الصدق للصدق منتهى

    A soul's nature—oh, may God preserve his character!—

    A lover of truth sees it as truth's utmost limit.

  6. لها في جبين الدهر أنصع غرة

    يحف بها نور تألق وازدهى

    It bears the brightest white blaze upon the brow of time;

    A light surrounds it, sparkling and resplendent.

  7. شواردها مفتونة بأليفه

    وما ألفت إلا الأديب المفوها

    Its wandering verses are captivated by his companion,

    And have befriended none but the eloquent man of letters.

  8. بها يرتوي غصن القريض نضارة

    ويرقى بها قلب هوى فتدلها

    Through it the bough of poetry drinks in freshness,

    And through it rises a heart that loved and lost itself in love.

  9. سلام على قلب الخليل ونسمة

    تعطر من أنفاسه ما تأوها

    Peace upon al-Khalil's heart, and a breeze

    That perfumes the sighs issuing from his breath.

  10. وإن مسها من كاشح ما يضيره

    سما لفظها عن ثلبه وتنزها

    And if, from a spiteful foe, what hurts him touches it,

    Its wording rises above his slander and remains unsullied.

  11. سمت في رحاب النيرين وكونت

    لها من شعاع العلم ما حير النهى

    It soared in the spacious realms of the two luminaries and fashioned

    For itself, from knowledge's radiance, what bewildered reason.

  12. فلله در العلم كيف ارتقت به

    عقول أناس كن بالأمس بلّها

    God bless knowledge! How through it have risen

    The minds of people, witless only yesterday.

  13. غذاها نمير العلم من فيض نوره

    جلت عن محياها المتوج بالبها

    Knowledge's pure water nourished them from its outpouring of light,

    Unveiling their countenance, crowned with splendor.

  14. تخيرت من ليلاي أسمى عقوده

    فرائد در ما تشظى ولا وهي

    I chose from my Layla the loftiest of its necklaces:

    Peerless pearls that have neither splintered nor weakened,

  15. هدية قلب للذي طالما شد

    وغنى بشعري حادياً ومنوها

    A gift from the heart to him who so often lent support,

    And sang my verse, chanting like a camel-driver and extolling it.