وقالوا يا قبيح الوجه تهوى

وقالوا يا قبيح الوجه تهوى

رشا كملت محاسنه الرقاق

رشا كملت محاسنه الرقاق

They said, “O ugly-faced man, you love

And they said: O ugly-faced one, you love

They said, "O ugly-faced one, do you love

a gazelle whose delicate charms are perfection.

a gazelle whose delicate charms are perfect.

A graceful one whose beauty is complete?"

وكيف عشقت في وجه ذميم

وكيف عشقت في وجه ذميم

مليحا دونه السمر الرقاق

مليحا دونه السمر الرقاق

How, with so ugly a face, did you fall in love

And how, with an ugly face, did you fall in love

And how could you love an unsightly face

with a beauty guarded by slender brown spears?”

with a beauty guarded by slender brown spears?

More beautiful than the slender and dark?

فقلت وهل أنا الا اديب

فقلت وهل أنا الا اديب

بانواع البديع له اشتياق

بانواع البديع له اشتياق

I replied, “Am I anything but a man of letters,

So I said: Am I anything but a man of letters

So I said, "Am I not a man of letters

yearning for every form of rhetorical art?

who longs for the various figures of rhetoric?

With a yearning for rhetorical flair?

وفي عشق المليح ارى طباقاً

وفي عشق المليح ارى طباقاً

فكيف يفوتني هذا الطباق

فكيف يفوتني هذا الطباق

And in loving the beautiful I see antithesis—

And in loving the beautiful, I see antithesis—

And in loving the beautiful I see a foil

so how could I let this antithesis escape me?”

so how could I miss this antithesis?

So how could I miss such a contrast fair?"