طلع النرجس في أكفانه

قائلاً للورد قد برحت بي

The narcissus emerged in its shrouds,

Saying to the rose, “You have indeed tormented me;

لم تزل تورث جسمي سقما

مبكيا عيني بدمع الحبب

You have never ceased bequeathing sickness to my body,

Making my eye weep with beaded tears.

كيف خلطت وغلبت على

سيد الانوار ياللعجب

How were you mingled in and favored over

The lord of blossoms—how astonishing!

انما اسمي تحت شكواي فلا

توقعوني تحت ريب الريب

My name lies only beneath my complaint, so do not

Cast me beneath the doubt of doubts.

أنا لولا طمعي أن نلتقي

ما أقلتني حينا قضبي

I—were it not for my hope that we might meet—

Would not have been borne by my stalks even for a moment.”

فضله فضل ابن عباد أبي ال

قاسم القاضي قريع العرب

Its excellence is the excellence of Ibn ʿAbbād, Abū al-

Qāsim, the judge, the foremost of the Arabs:

ملك لو لم يمجد بالثنا

قال للعالم خشبي حسبي

A king who, were he not glorified with praise,

Would say to the world, “My wood is enough for me.”