1. نهودٌ مثل رمان الجنانِ

    تغازلني وتعرض عن مكاني

    Breasts like the pomegranates of gardens

    flirt with me and turn away from where I am.

  2. أميل لضمها وتميل عني

    كأنا في اللقا متباعدان

    I lean to clasp them, and they lean away from me,

    as though we were far apart when we meet.

  3. بروحي منك يا ليلى عيوناً

    لها فضل الشجاع على الجبان

    With my soul I would ransom your eyes, O Layla,

    which have the brave one's advantage over the coward,

  4. وصدراً خلته مرآة عاج

    إذا قابلته ليلاً أراني

    and a bosom I thought an ivory mirror:

    when I face it at night, I see myself.

  5. لمن أشكو هواك ومن مجيري

    وطرفي والفؤاد القاتلان

    To whom shall I complain of my love for you, and who will protect me,

    while my gaze and heart are the two killers?

  6. دعي الحَجَل الذي ندعوه حِجْلاً

    يرتّل بيننا سير التداني

    Let the partridge that we call an anklet

    chant between us the course of drawing near.

  7. فما شيب العذار علي عارٌ

    ولي عزمٌ أحد من اليماني

    There is no shame for me in graying sideburns,

    and I have resolve sharper than a Yemeni blade.

  8. أما يرضيك أني عبد رقٍّ

    لخير الخلق من قاصٍ ودان

    Does it not please you that I am a slave in bondage

    to the best of creation, far and near—

  9. لعبد القادر الحسنيِّ أولى

    عباد اللَه بالمِدَحِ الحسان

    to Abd al-Qadir al-Hasani, most deserving

    of fine praise among God's servants?

  10. أميرٌ في يديه حياة عانٍ

    وفي صمصامه إهلاك جان

    An emir: in his hands lies a captive's life,

    and in his keen sword, a wrongdoer's destruction.

  11. إذا ضن السحاب وجاد خلنا

    عباد اللَه تمطَرُ بالجمان

    When the clouds withhold and he gives generously, we imagine

    God's servants being showered with pearls.

  12. رأيت قصائدي بيديه تقرا

    فصرت إخالني الشهم ابن هاني

    I saw my poems being read in his hands,

    and began to fancy myself the noble Ibn Hani.

  13. وطاولت السماء به افتخاراً

    وعدت وحاسداي الفرقدان

    And through him, in pride, I vied in height with the sky,

    and returned, the two Farqad stars my enviers.

  14. أجرر من نسيج العز ثوباً

    وآخر من نداه الأرجواني

    I trail a robe woven of glory,

    and another from his crimson bounty.

  15. فلم أر مثله برّاً كريماً

    له في كل مكرمةٍ يدان

    I have seen none like him, so benevolent and generous;

    he has two hands in every noble deed.

  16. إذا سل السيوف رأيت بدراً

    يقاتل بالأهلة كل جان

    When he draws swords, I see a full moon

    fighting every wrongdoer with crescents.

  17. وإن هز القناة رأيت ليثاً

    يصول على الكماة بأفعوان

    And if he brandishes the spear, I see a lion

    charging armored warriors with a great serpent.

  18. رآه الدهر أثبت منه جاشاً

    فأقسم لا يعززه بثان

    Time saw him steadier of heart than itself,

    so it swore never to set a second beside him.

  19. به تاهت دمشق على سواها

    وبالسكان تفتخر المغاني

    Through him Damascus boasts above all others,

    and dwellings take pride in their inhabitants.

  20. وقد عمت مكارمه البرايا

    ولكن ما لقاصٍ حظ دان

    His generous deeds have embraced all creation,

    yet the distant have not the share of those nearby.

  21. إذا فاح الجنان على بعيدٍ

    فما ظن القريب من الجنان

    If the gardens waft their fragrance to one far away,

    what then must one near the gardens expect?

  22. نعوِّذه فقد حسدت علاه ال

    جهاتُ الستُ بالسبعِ المثاني

    We invoke protection for him—for his eminence is envied by the

    six directions—with the Seven Oft-Repeated Verses.

  23. ونحمد من براه لبسط كفٍّ

    وهز يراعةٍ أو هندواني

    And we praise the One who made him to open his hand

    and wield a reed pen or an Indian blade.

  24. كأنهما إذا افتخرا بسلمٍ

    ويوم كريهةٍ فرسا رهان

    As though the two, when vying for glory in peace

    and on a day of battle, were two racing steeds.

  25. ملاذ العالمين بقيت عيداً

    يشيِّع كل أعياد الزمان

    O refuge of the worlds, may you remain a festival

    bidding farewell to all the festivals of time.

  26. ودمت لجنة الدنيا هماماً

    يداه لمن عليها ديمتان

    And may you remain a magnanimous hero for this world's garden,

    whose hands are two steady rains for those who dwell upon it.

  27. حللت ببرزخ التقوى فآلت

    على الثقلين أن لا يبغيان

    You settled at piety's barrier, and piety swore

    that neither humankind nor jinn should transgress.

  28. فنحن لديك في أمنٍ ويمنٍ

    ومن ريا جوارك في جنان

    So with you we enjoy safety and good fortune,

    and through the fragrance of your nearness, we dwell in gardens.

  29. تقبل من فتاك فتاةَ فكر

    كأن بوجهها راووق حان

    Accept from your young servant a maiden of thought,

    as though a tavern's clarified wine were on her face,

  30. حياءً من فصاحة حيدري ال

    بلاغة واليراعة والبيان

    out of shyness before the eloquence of a Haydar-like master of

    rhetoric, the reed pen, and clear expression.

  31. فلا برحت تحييك المعالي

    بأنواع المعارف والمعاني

    May lofty honors never cease to salute you

    with varied kinds of knowledge and meaning.