1. بَدا في خدّهِ مِسكُ العِذارِ

    فخِلْتُ الليلَ يَسري في النّهارِ

    The musk of cheek-down appeared upon his cheek,

    so I imagined night passing through day.

  2. ولاحَ بوجهِهِ أقْمارُ حُسْنٍ

    تَحِلُّ عَنِ التكتُّم والسِّرارِ

    And moons of beauty shone upon his face,

    released from concealment and secrecy.

  3. إِذا ما لاحَ يَسطو في جُفونٍ

    فما للأُسْدِ منهُ سوى الفِرارِ

    Whenever he appears, he strikes with his eyelids,

    so lions have no course but to flee from him.

  4. عَجِبْتُ لِلَحْظِهِ إِذْ نالَ نَصْراً

    بِضَعْفٍ في الجُفونِ معَ اِنْكِسارِ

    I marveled at his glance when it won a victory

    through weakness in the eyelids and their languor.

  5. يَميلُ بِقامَةٍ هَيفاءَ تيهاً

    فَيَطْعَنُني بِقَلبي المُستَطارِ

    He sways proudly with a slender figure,

    and pierces me in my distraught heart.

  6. مَليحٌ باتَ يأنَفُ وَصْلَ حِبٍّ

    وظَبيٌ باتَ يألَفُ للنِّفارِ

    A beauty who has come to scorn union with a lover,

    and a gazelle who has grown fond of shying away.

  7. أغَضُّ غَضيضُ ألْحاظٍ وطَرْفٍ

    كَساني جفْنُهُ ثَوْبَ اِصْفِرارِ

    Tender, with downcast glances and gaze,

    his eyelid clothed me in a robe of yellow pallor.

  8. فَوَجنَتُهُ قرارُ الوَرْدِ أضْحَتْ

    فَبي أَفْدي لِذيّاكَ القَرارِ

    His cheek has thus become the abode of roses,

    so I would ransom that very abode with myself.

  9. وَشامَتُهُ تَفوحُ نِجارَ عِطْرٍ

    بِها نَرْوي العَبيرَ عَنِ البُخاري

    And his beauty mark exhales the essence of perfume;

    through it we recount fragrance on al-Bukhari's authority.

  10. حَوى خَصراً يَرِقُّ بِلا اِعتِلالٍ

    بِمَنطقَةٍ غَدَتْ مِثلَ السِّوارِ

    He has a waist slender without illness,

    with a girdle that became like a bracelet;

  11. وَجِسماً لاحَ في مُخْضَرِّ ثَوْبٍ

    بَدا مِنْ تَحتِهِ مِثلُ النُّضارِ

    and a body that shone in a green garment,

    appearing beneath it like pure gold;

  12. وَثَغْراً إِن تَبَسَّمَ عَن لآلٍ

    بَدا مِنهُ النّظامُ مَعَ النِّثارِ

    and a mouth that, when it smiled to reveal pearls,

    showed strung pearls along with scattered ones.

  13. نَشَقت خِمارَهُ فغَدَوْتُ سَكراً

    بِهِ نَشْوانَ مِنْ نَشقِ الخِمارِ

    I inhaled his veil's scent and became drunk,

    intoxicated by it, from breathing in the veil.

  14. بِروحي لَيلةً قَد زارَ فيها

    فَأَحْيا مَيْتَ قَلبي بِالمزارِ

    My soul be ransom for a night in which he visited,

    and revived my dead heart by his visit.

  15. وَسامَرَني بِعَذبٍ مِن كَلامٍ

    فَطالَ قَصيرُ عُمري بِالسّمارِ

    And he spoke with me by night in sweet words,

    so my brief life grew long through nighttime companionship.

  16. وَبِتْنا وَالعِناقُ يضُمُّنا في

    ظَلامِ اللّيلِ مِنْ غَيرِ اِسْتِتارِ

    And we spent the night, our embrace enfolding us in

    the darkness of night, without concealment.

  17. وَباتَ مَوَسّداً يُمْنايَ ضَمّاً

    وَلَمْ أَبخُلْ عَلَيهِ بِاليَسارِ

    And he spent the night pillowed on my right arm, held close,

    and I did not begrudge him my left arm,

  18. إِلى أَن فاحَ فَجرُ الشّرقِ عِطراً

    يَفوقُ عَبيرُهُ نَشْرَ العَرارِ

    until the eastern dawn breathed out perfume,

    its fragrance surpassing the scent of arar blossoms.

  19. وَلاحَ كَأَنَّهُ وَاللّيلُ داجٍ

    مَنازِلُ سَيّدٍ عالي المَنارِ

    And it shone, as though, while night was dark,

    it were the dwellings of a lord whose beacon stood high:

  20. إِمامٌ قَد عَلا عِزّاً وفَخراً

    وَحازَ بِمَجدِهِ كلَّ اِفْتِخارِ

    an imam who has risen in honor and glory,

    and through his greatness has attained every distinction.

  21. مَلاذٌ في الوَرى وَالدّهرِ حِصْنٌ

    وَمِحْسانٌ مُقيلٌ لِلعِثارِ

    A refuge among humankind, a fortress through time,

    and a great benefactor who pardons missteps;

  22. وَشَمسٌ في سَماءِ العزِّ بادٍ

    وَبَدْرٌ في سَماءِ الفَضْلِ جارِ

    and a sun appearing in the sky of honor,

    and a full moon coursing in the sky of excellence.

  23. لَهُ الرَّحمنُ مِنْ مَولىً شَريفٍ

    تَوشّحَ جسمهُ ثَوب الوَقارِ

    May the All-Merciful be with him—what a noble lord,

    whose body has donned the robe of dignity!

  24. بِهِ العَلياءُ قد رُفِعَتْ فَجَرّتْ

    بُعَيْدَ الخَفْضِ أَذيالَ الفَخارِ

    Through him eminence was raised, and trailed,

    soon after abasement, the skirts of glory.

  25. إِذا ما أَطْنَبَ المُدّاحُ فيهِ

    فَقَدْ جاؤوا بِغايَةِ الاِختِصارِ

    Whenever panegyrists praise him at length,

    they have offered only the utmost brevity.

  26. فَيا أَمنَ الحشا مِنْ كُلِّ خَوفٍ

    وَفَكّاكَ الأَسيرِ مِنَ الإسارِ

    So, O safeguard of the heart from every fear,

    and liberator of the captive from bondage,

  27. وَيا مَنْ في بُحورِ أكُفِّهِ قَدْ

    غَدَوْنا والمُنى مثْل الجَواري

    and O you, in the seas of whose palms we have

    become, with our hopes, like ships,

  28. فَهاكَ رَعاكَ ربّي بِنتَ فِكْرٍ

    بِها في مَدْحِكم طالَ اِفْتكاري

    so take—may my Lord protect you—a daughter of thought,

    for which I pondered long in praise of you.

  29. فَلَو عَلِمَ النّجومُ مُصاغَ نَظمي

    بِتَمْداحي لِذاتِكَ مع نِثاري

    For if the stars knew how my verse is wrought,

    in my praise of your person, together with my prose,

  30. لحالاً والمُنى سَقَطَتْ عَلينا

    لتنظمَ في مديحكُم الدّراري

    they and our hopes would at once fall upon us,

    so the brilliant stars might be strung into your praise.

  31. فَقابِلْ بِالقَبولِ لِبنتِ فِكري

    وَلا تَسمَعْ لمَنْ فيها يُماري

    So meet the daughter of my thought with acceptance,

    and do not listen to anyone who quibbles over it.

  32. وَأَقْبِلْ بِالرِّضى فَضْلاً عَلَيها

    وَأَلْبِسْ عَيْبَها ثَوْبَ اِسْتِتارِ

    And turn toward it with approval, as a gracious favor,

    and clothe its flaw in a robe of concealment.

  33. وَدُمْ وَاِسلَمْ بِعزٍّ لا يُضاهى

    وفخْرٍ ما بَدَتْ شمسُ النّهارِ

    And endure, and remain safe in unrivaled honor,

    and glory, as long as the sun of day appears,

  34. وَما هَزَّتْ غُصونُ البانِ ريحٌ

    فَأَغْنَتْ عَن تَغارِيدِ الهَزارِ

    and as long as a wind shakes the boughs of ban trees,

    thus taking the place of the nightingale's songs.