1. The river has a strong current
I have a hand that cannot be denied

2. In the evening I caught in it
A spray of pearls that poured forth abundantly

3. Then it began to flow with a cup
Whose wine cannot be restrained

4. Surrounded by bubbles
Arranged in ascending order

5. As if it were stringing pearls
Generated from its mouth

6. And the ground was covered in flowers
White and jet black

7. As if the eyes of a loved one
Were smiling flirtatiously with eyes just as dark

8. And redness from carnelian
And greenness from emerald

9. And red and white intertwined
As pearls scattered and dispersed

10. And the soft narcissus bends
Toward the well-arranged garden

11. As a lover gestures
To a lover at an appointed time

12. And the river in its alternating calm or affection
Is like snakes twisting

13. Then straightening and extending
As if it contained unsheathed swords

14. That are at times drawn
And other times sheathed

15. As if the river’s flowers
Were a torch that blazed

16. Illuminating at times and at others
Extinguished by the force of the wind

17. As if its green leaves between paired and solitary
Were the footsteps of camels

18. In sand of pale red
When the breeze disturbs it

19. It looks like disheveled hair
And when it shimmers in the sun

20. A soft light radiates in it
You would think it a basin

21. In which a horse frolics
And the gentle rhythm reveals

22. A hidden splendor
As if the soul of an Arab

23. Wandered through its body
As if the son of Siraj

24. Conversed with it
Whenever I proposed to it

25. With a rosy cheek
It answered me with an eloquence

26. Of matchless rhetoric
I made my palm its collar

27. And my lap its seat
And remained distracted while the one I observed

28. Stayed far from me
Until the night distracted

29. The times and darkness enveloped
And the lion embraced the deer

30. On a carpeted plain covered in plants
I set out from the slopes of youth

31. To the best destination
And made my life freer

32. Than the life of a carefree caliph
For pleasures are only

33. For one who rebels and breaks free