1. مولاي ما خلت الهوى ال

    عذري يفتك بالعبَكْ

    My lord, I never thought that love—

    the chaste kind—could ravage the ʿabak [unclear term],

  2. حتى عثرت بحلة

    دب الفساد بها دبكْ

    until I came upon a robe:

    decay had crept through it with a trampling tread.

  3. كانت لقاض لقَّبو

    ه لسبكه بأبي السبك

    It belonged to a judge whom they nicknamed

    ‘Abu al-Sabk,’ for his casting.

  4. أوصى بها لفتى إذا

    شام الفتى استمنى وبك

    He bequeathed it to a youth who, whenever

    he beheld a young man, masturbated and copulated.

  5. وسواك يا مولاي في

    هذي المزية ما اشتبك

    And no one but you, my lord, in

    this distinction has ever been entangled.

  6. فاقبل بها مهتوكة

    شوقاً لتلثم منكبك

    So accept it, torn open

    with longing to kiss your shoulder.

  7. وافخر بها بين القضا

    ة وته إذا الجمع احتبك

    And boast of it among the judges,

    and swagger when the gathering presses close.

  8. واطرح ملامة جاهلٍ

    بقبولها إن ونَّبك

    And discard an ignoramus’s reproach

    for accepting it, if he rebukes you.

  9. فلقد سألت وريثها

    عنها فقال وما ارتبك

    For I asked its heir

    about it; he replied, unflustered:

  10. نبل العيون أصابها

    فأصارها مثل الشبك

    ‘The arrows of the eyes struck it,

    and made it like netting.’