1. هل للمتَيَّمِ من نصيرِ

    ومُضامِ وَجْدٍ من مُجيرِ

    Is there any helper for the love-stricken one,

    and any protector for one oppressed by passion?

  2. أو مُسْعِفٍ لطَليقِ دَمْـ

    ـعٍ وهْوَ ذُو لُبٍّ أسيرِ

    Or a helper for one with freely flowing

    tears, though his mind is captive?

  3. دَنِفٌ يبِيتُ وبين أحْـ

    ـشاهُ لهُ نارُ السَّعيرِ

    Love-sick, he passes the night, and within

    his innermost being burns hellfire.

  4. لم يلْقَ إلا الشَّوْقَ والْـ

    ـوَجْدَ المُبرِّح من سَميرِ

    He has found only yearning and

    agonizing passion for nightly company.

  5. ويرومُ إخْفاءَ الهوَى

    والحبِّ من بعدِ الظَّهورِ

    He seeks to conceal his passion

    and love, after they have become plain.

  6. أنَّى وأدمعه جرَتْ

    في وَجْنتَيْه كالنُّهورِ

    How could he, when his tears have flowed

    down his two cheeks like rivers?

  7. يَرْعَى نُجومَ الليلٍ شَوْ

    قاً منه للظَّبيِ الغَرِيرِ

    He watches the stars of night in his

    yearning for the guileless gazelle.

  8. رَشَأٌ كخَوْطٍ في كَثيـ

    ـبٍ تحْت بدْرٍ مُسَتنيرِ

    A young gazelle, like a supple shoot in a

    sand dune, beneath a radiant full moon.

  9. يرْنُو فتفْعَلُ بالعُقو

    لِ لِحاظُه فِعْلَ الخُمورِ

    He gazes, and upon minds

    his glances have the effect of wine.

  10. فتَنتْ مَلاحةُ وجْهِهِ الْـ

    ـوضَّاحِ رَبَّاتِ الخُدورِ

    The loveliness of his face—

    so radiant—has bewitched the ladies of secluded chambers.

  11. يسْتوقِفُ الأحْداقَ إذْ

    يبْدُو بمنْظرِه النَّضيرِ

    He arrests all eyes when

    he appears in his fresh beauty.

  12. مهما نسِيتُ فلستُ أنْـ

    ـسَى ما مَضَى لي بالغويرِ

    Whatever I forget, I shall not

    forget what befell me at al-Ghuwayr,

  13. إذْ زار بعدَ إطالةِ الـ

    ـهِجْرانِ في ليلٍ قصيرِ

    when he visited, after prolonged

    estrangement, on a short night.

  14. ووَفَى بلا وَعْدٍ وكمْ

    وَعْدٌ يُشابُ له بزُورِ

    He kept faith without a promise; how many

    a promise to him is tainted with falsehood!

  15. أحْيَى بزَوْرتِهِ وقد

    تلِفتْ به رُوحْ المَزُورِ

    He restored life with his visit, though

    his host's soul had perished because of him.

  16. وأدار أكْؤُسَه على السَّـ

    ـكْرانِ من لَحْظِ المُديرِ

    And he passed his cups to one

    drunk on the cupbearer's glance.

  17. راحٌ يُذكِّرنا بها

    عَهْدَ الخوَرْنَقِ والسَّديرِ

    Wine with which he reminds us

    of the days of al-Khawarnaq and al-Sadir.

  18. شمسٌ لها إشْراقُها

    وَقْتَ الهَجِيرِ بلا هَجِيرِ

    A sun, with all its radiance

    at high noon, yet without its scorching heat.

  19. ضَمِنَتْ وأوْفت أنها

    تَنْفِي الهُمومَ من الصُّدورِ

    It pledged, and kept its pledge, that it

    would banish cares from breasts,

  20. وتُعيدُ أوْقاتَ السُّرو

    رِ بَغيْرِ أوْقاتِ السُّرورِ

    and bring back hours of joy

    outside the hours of joy.

  21. فَوَحَقِّ ساحرِ مُقْلتَيْـ

    ـهِ وما تُكِنُّ من الفُتُورِ

    So, by the bewitching charm of his two eyes

    and the languor they conceal,

  22. لم أشْتغِلْ مُذْ غاب عنـ

    ـه في العَشايا والبُكُورِ

    since he vanished, nothing has distracted me from

    him, at evening and at dawn,

  23. إلا بِمَدْحِ المُصْطفَى الْـ

    ـمَنْعُوتِ بالحسَبِ الخَطِيرِ

    except praising al-Mustafa,

    renowned for his exalted nobility.

  24. مَوْلىً خَزائنُ عِلْمِهِ

    في صَدْرِه لا في الصُّدورِ

    A master whose treasuries of knowledge

    lie in his own breast, not in others' breasts.

  25. فاقَ الأَوائِلَ بالعُلاَ

    والفَضْلِ في الزمنِ الأخِيرِ

    He surpassed the ancients in eminence

    and excellence, in this latter age.

  26. إن نمَّقتْ كَفَّاهُ طِرْ

    ساً خِيلَ كالرَّوْضِ المَطيرِ

    If his hands embellish a

    page, it seems a rain-watered garden.

  27. تَعْساً لِمَن جاراهُ فَهْـ

    ـوَ بغيْرِ شَكٍ في غُرورِ

    Ruin to whoever vies with him, for

    he is, without doubt, deluded.

  28. لم يَدْرِ أنَّ صِفاتِه

    في النَّاسِ عزَّتْ عن نَظِيرِ

    He does not know that his qualities

    among men are beyond compare.

  29. لو كانَ ذا عقلٍ لَمَا

    قاسَ الجَداوِل بالبُحورِ

    Had he any sense, he would not

    have compared streams with seas.