1. Your nights, O Baghdad, are like the dawn in beauty
Scents wafting, blossoms spreading

2. Though the darkness aids the light and magic to shine
As the darkness of eyes aids light and magic

3. Neither the glory of daybreak, nor the charm of morn
Match the radiance of her starry gems

4. In every strand of her clear skies
A face greets you, graceful and cheerful

5. Without its stars, the azure dome would be naught
Without the crescent and full moon in bloom

6. When the wind passes over the Tigris, fluttering
With wings amid boats gliding by

7. And daylight's glow remains on the water, a flame
That warms the river's heart and spreads

8. Many a lad has spent the eve on the bank, reciting
Eyes of gazelles between Rusafa and the Bridge

9. Bringing me to what I've longed for but avoided
When passion and song stirred wildly in my chest

10. "What a night without peer among a thousand nights"
I will recall it well, for as long as I live

11. I witnessed in it what fills the soul with delight
And captivates the eyes and heart entirely

12. As if the celestial houries were strolling among us
Angels of the Merciful, on Laylat Al-Qadr

13. How many a languorous beauty enchants the wise
Her light dispelling the darkness of night like a shining star

14. Her dress falls open, revealing tender limbs
As the bud bursts open, exposing the flowering bloom

15. The blackness recedes from her chest and back
As night splits open before a pillar of dawn

16. As it slides down, she clasps her swelling breasts
And sways at the waist in a gentle twist

17. Below her dimples, her train ripples and flows
Like one floating atop the greenest surges

18. Her necklace shines atop her neck ever brighter
Light upon light, gracing her throat

19. Speaking Arabic, she is the match of Chosroes and Caesar
Speaking frankly, she is the purest eloquence

20. My vigil with her is sweeter than drink
Through bleary eyes, pillows and wine

21. Of nothing I forget, I'll not forget a night
When the horizon smiled with a creeping glow

22. From the clouds' hems emerged what seemed
Banners over an army on the march

23. Shimmering in the Levantine horizon, wavering
Lighting and dimming like a gesturing hand

24. It roused domes in Iraq, so elegant
And woke the Sphinx from slumber in Egypt

25. For Baghdad, I hoped with a lover's hope
Her nights and days would return to glory