أزَهْرُ جنانٍ من جنانٍ تنمّقا

أزَهْرُ جنانٍ من جنانٍ تنمّقا

وخمرُ بيانٍ من بَنانٍ تعتّقا

وخمرُ بيانٍ من بَنانٍ تعتّقا

Is it garden blossom, finely wrought from a heart,

Gardens of paradise flourished, blooming,

and wine of eloquence, aged by fingertips?

And wine of eloquence from Lebanon maturing.

وإلا فما هزّ المعاطفُ أغصُناً

وإلا فما هزّ المعاطفُ أغصُناً

كأنّ به من مسّ ذكراهُ أولقا

كأنّ به من مسّ ذكراهُ أولقا

Otherwise, what swayed the bodies like boughs,

Else, the robes would not have swayed the branches,

as though recalling it had touched him with madness?

As if touched by one whose memory awakens desire.

ألا إنه طُرْسٌ تبسّم عن نُهىً

ألا إنه طُرْسٌ تبسّم عن نُهىً

جَرى في حواشيه فشقّ وشوّقا

جَرى في حواشيه فشقّ وشوّقا

Behold, it is a parchment that smiled, revealing wisdom

Indeed, it is a manuscript that smiles despite prohibition -

that flowed through its margins, stirring longing and cleaving

It flowed in its margins, split them and ignited passion.

دجىً عارضَ الأقلامَ فيه وأومضت

دجىً عارضَ الأقلامَ فيه وأومضت

بروقُ المَعاني بينَهُ فتألّقا

بروقُ المَعاني بينَهُ فتألّقا

darkness that opposed the pens within it; and there flashed

The ink stained it at dusk, and the flashes

lightning-flashes of meaning amid it, so it shone.

Of meanings shone through it, radiant and dazzling.