1. نفيس أماني القلب والعين والنفس

    منال ليالي الأنس من ظبية الأنس

    The dearest wish of heart, eye, and soul

    Is to gain nights of intimacy with a human gazelle.

  2. ظفرت على حكم المنى بمنائها

    وحاولت منها صحتي وبها نكسي

    I won her, as desire decreed,

    And sought my cure from her, though she brought my relapse.

  3. اسيلة خد اوجست اذ لمسته

    به خيفةً من ان يذوب من اللمس

    Smooth of cheek—when I touched it, I felt

    Fear for it, lest it melt beneath the touch.

  4. عرست به ورد الحياء بنظرة

    وقبلته كيما أنال جنا غرسي

    With a glance I planted upon it the rose of modesty,

    And kissed it to reap the fruit of my planting.

  5. وان لذيذ الحسن يؤكل بالمنى

    ولميك مثل الاكل يمضغ بالضرس

    For beauty's sweetness is eaten through wishes,

    Not like food chewed with the molars.

  6. وما ضمنه إلا التفرق غصة

    وليست بحلقومي ولكن في حسي

    Only parting has lodged a choking lump within it—

    Not in my throat, but in my senses.

  7. ومن لي بدهر لا يخون ولم ابت

    ارجى بها عيشي وازجي له عني

    Who can grant me a time that never betrays? I have not spent the night

    Hoping through her for my livelihood, and urging onward for it, away from me [text unclear],

  8. بجد ويسعى في القطيعة جهده

    لجهدي فيومي فيه اخسر من امسي

    In earnest, while it strives with all its might for estrangement,

    To wear me down; my today in it is poorer than my yesterday.

  9. به أظلمت أيامنا وتظلمت

    بنونا وأهلونا من الطالع النحس

    Through it our days grew dark, and they complained—

    Our sons and our kin—of the ill-omened ascendant.

  10. عسى شمس دين اللَه يسعدنا فقد

    كتبنا بهذا الوفق في شرف الشمس

    May the Sun of God's Faith bring us good fortune, for

    We have inscribed this talisman at the sun's exaltation.

  11. ولو لم أخف منه هلاكي رقمته

    بأسود طرف العين فضلا عن النفس

    Had I not feared it would destroy me, I would have inscribed it

    With the black of my eye, to say nothing of my soul.

  12. فقد جل قدراً عن مدادي مديحه

    وعن قلمي والكف والسطر والطرس

    For praise of him is far too exalted for my ink,

    And beyond my pen, my hand, the written line, and parchment.

  13. إمام إذا استنجدته في ملمة

    أتاك إمام السيف يقدم والترس

    An imam: when you seek his aid in calamity,

    He comes to you, advancing at the head of sword and shield,

  14. بأوضح من صبح وانجح من حيا

    وارجح من هضب وافصح من قس

    Brighter than dawn and more fruitful than rain,

    Weightier than mountains and more eloquent than Quss.

  15. ليبعد من ضرو يسعد من شقا

    وينجد من بؤس وينقذ من حبس

    To keep harm away and bring happiness out of misery,

    To rescue from wretchedness and deliver from imprisonment,

  16. ويصرف من هم ويسعف من اذى

    وينصف من ظلم ويكشف من لبس

    To turn away worry and bring relief from injury,

    To give justice to the wronged and clear away confusion.

  17. أمولاي يا شمس الهداية والعلا

    ليهنك ما اولاك ذو العرشي والكرسي

    O my lord, O sun of guidance and glory,

    May you rejoice in what the Lord of the Throne and Seat has granted you:

  18. مواهب فضل در ضرع نعيمها

    على حلب والشام والغور والقدس

    Gifts of bounty whose udder of bliss has flowed

    Upon Aleppo, Damascus, the Ghawr, and Jerusalem.

  19. تفقهت في علم القراءة يافعا

    وفقهت أرباب المدارس والدرس

    You mastered the science of Qur'anic recitation as a youth,

    And instructed the masters of schools and study.

  20. فصرنا نرى في دهر نامنك عاصما

    لنا وابن عمرو وان كان في الرمس

    So in our time we see in you an ʿAsim,

    For us, and an Ibn ʿAmr, though he lies in the grave.

  21. ولم نر علماً لم تكن منه وافقاً

    على اصله والفرع والنوع والجنس

    We have seen no science in which you were not versed

    In its root and branch, its species and genus.