1. حَبَّبَتْ دُرَّةُ القِيانَ إلينا

    مثل ما بَغَّضَتْ إلينا القيانا

    Durra made the singing-girls dear to us,

    just as she made the singing-girls hateful to us.

  2. حَبَّبتْهنَّ أن غدتْ وهي منهنْ

    نَ وإنْ كُنَّ دونَها أوزانا

    She endeared them by being one of them,

    though they were far beneath her in worth.

  3. ولقدُ فزن إذْ يُناغِينَ فاها

    ويديْها وعُودها الألحانا

    Indeed, they prospered by answering her lips,

    her hands and her lute with melodies.

  4. وتحرَّمْنَ إذْ غدوْنَ إماءً

    مذعناتٍ بحقها إذعانا

    And they gained protection when they became handmaids,

    wholly submitting to her rightful claim.

  5. تلبَسُ التَّاجَ فالقِيانُ لديْها

    واضعات لتاجها الأذقانا

    She wears the crown; the singing-girls before her

    lower their chins before her crown.

  6. تاجُ حُسْنٍ يَثْنيهِ تاجٌ من الإح

    سان تاجانِ طالما مَلكانا

    A crown of beauty, doubled by a crown of

    excellence—two crowns that have long ruled us.

  7. غير أني رأيتُها بغَّضَتْهُنْ

    نَ بأن لم تدعْ لهنَّ مكانا

    Yet I saw her make them hateful

    by leaving no place for them.

  8. نزلت في الصدور منزل من بر

    رَزَ حُسْناً ومن علا إحسانا

    She took her place in hearts as one who excels

    in beauty and surpasses others in artistry.

  9. فنفتْهنَّ عن قلوبٍ وقدْ كن

    نَ تبوَّأْنَ حبها أوطانا

    Thus she banished them from hearts where they had

    made the love of those hearts their homelands.

  10. فغدا البائساتُ منهنَّ يَطْلبْ

    ن على دفعِ ظُلمها أعوانا

    So the wretched ones among them began seeking

    allies to repel her injustice.

  11. ظلمتْ من صَبا وغَنّى وكلٌّ

    يشتكِي من دريرةَ العدوانا

    She wronged those who loved and those who sang; each

    complains of Durayra's aggression.

  12. أنصفَ اللَّهُ صاحبَ العذْلِ منها

    عاشقاً والمحسّنات الحسانا

    May God grant justice against her to the reproached man,

    a lover, and to the accomplished beauties.

  13. ما نبالي إذا دُرَيْرة أبدتْ

    نُزْهَتَيْها ألا نرى بستانا

    We care not, when Durayra displays

    her two delights, if we see no garden.

  14. نزهة الطرفِ شْفعها نزهة السم

    ع إذا ناغمتْ لك العيدانا

    The eye's delight is doubled by the ear's

    when she sings in harmony with the lutes for you.

  15. ذات وجهٍ كأنَّما قيلَ كُنْ فر

    داً بديعاً بلا نظيرٍ فكانا

    She has a face as though commanded: 'Be

    unique, wondrous, without equal!'—and so it was.

  16. فيهِ عينان ترميانِ بلحْظٍ

    نافذِ النَّبْلِ يصرع الأقرانا

    Within it are two eyes that loose a glance

    whose piercing arrows fell rivals.

  17. فوق غُصن مُهَفْهفٍ تلثم التفْ

    فاح فيه وتلمس الرمَّانا

    Above a slender bough, you kiss the apples

    upon it and touch the pomegranates.

  18. تجتلي خلقها فتلقَى قواماً

    خيزراناً وصِبْغةً أرجوانا

    You behold her form and find a figure

    bamboo-like, and a crimson hue.

  19. لونُها الدهر واحدٌ كجَني الور

    د وإن كان وُدُّها ألوانا

    Her color is ever the same, like freshly gathered

    roses, though her affection takes many colors.

  20. بينما وصلُها لذي الوُدّ وصلٌ

    إذ أحالته بالقِلى هجرانا

    While her union with one who loves her is still union,

    she suddenly turns it, through aversion, into estrangement.

  21. كَمُلَتْ كلها فلستَ ترى في

    ها سوى سوء عهدها نُقصانا

    She is perfect in every part: you see in her

    no flaw but her failure to keep faith.

  22. فمتى ما أجلتَ طرفكَ فيها

    فهْي كالشمسِ صُوِّرتْ إنسانا

    Whenever you let your gaze roam over her,

    she is like the sun fashioned into human form.

  23. ومتى ما سمعتَ منها فَشَدْوٌ

    يطرد الهمَّ عنك والأحزانا

    And whenever you listen to her, there is song

    that drives worry and sorrows away from you.

  24. قادرٌ أن يُميتَ أشجانَ قوم

    قادرٌ أن يُهيِّجَ الأشجانا

    Able to put a people's sorrows to death,

    able to awaken sorrows.

  25. ومتى ما لثمتَ فاها فشيْءٌ

    تجد الراحَ فيه والريحانا

    And whenever you kiss her mouth, there is something

    in which you find wine and sweet basil.

  26. ريقةٌ كالشَّمولِ طِيباً ونشرٌ

    كنسيم الشمال خاضَ الجنانا

    A drop of saliva, sweet as wine, and a fragrance

    like the north wind that has passed through gardens.

  27. صَغَّروها مخافةَ العيْنِ عَمْداً

    وهي أَعلى القيانِ قَدْراً وشانا

    They deliberately made her name diminutive, fearing the evil eye,

    though she is highest among singing-girls in worth and rank.

  28. فَدَعَوْها دُرَيرةً وهي الدُّرْ

    رَةُ تَغْلُو فتأخذ الأثمانا

    They called her Durayra, though she is the pearl

    whose value rises and which fetches high prices.

  29. لو رآها في الجاهلِّية قومٌ

    عَبُدوها وجانَبُوا الأوثانا

    Had a people seen her in the Age of Ignorance,

    they would have worshipped her and forsaken idols.

  30. هِيَ حُلْمِي إذا رَقَدْتُ وهَميِّ

    وسُرورِي ومُنْيتي يقظانا

    She is my dream when I sleep, and my concern

    and my joy and my desire when awake.

  31. مع أنَّ الرُّقادَ قد خانَ عَهْدي

    مذ تكلَّفتُ حبلها الخَوَّانا

    Though sleep has already broken faith with me

    since I undertook her treacherous bond.

  32. لا تزالُ القلوبُ تَصْبُو إليها

    أو تراها تُقلِّب الأجفانا

    Hearts never cease yearning for her,

    until you see her flutter her eyelids.

  33. فإذا تابعتْ سهامَ الهوى المح

    ض طلبنا هناك منها الأمانا

    Then, when she sends arrows of pure love in succession,

    there we beg her for quarter.

  34. غيرُ حنَّانةٍ على عاشقيها

    حين تحتَثُّ عودها الحنَّانا

    Showing no tenderness toward her lovers

    when she urges on her plaintive lute.

  35. غيرَ أَنَّا نُحبُّها كيفَ كانتْ

    ما أحبَّتْ أرواحُنا الأبدانا

    Yet we love her however she may be,

    as long as our souls love our bodies.

  36. إن تُسلَّطْ على القلوبِ بلا جُر

    م فأحلى مُسَلَّطٍ سلطانا

    If she is given rule over hearts for no

    offense, hers is the sweetest sovereign power.

  37. قل لمن عابها أحَلْتَ وأبطلْ

    تَ وناقضتَ بل بهتَّ العِيانا

    Tell whoever faults her: 'You have spoken absurdly and falsely,

    contradicted yourself—indeed, belied plain sight.'

  38. ليت شِعري أوجهها عِبْتَ كلا

    أم تنقَّصْتَ جيدَها الحُسَّانا

    I wish I knew: did you fault her face? Certainly not!

    Or did you belittle her lovely neck?

  39. أم شواها إذا أغصَّ بُراها

    أم حَشاها أم فرعَها الفينانا

    Or her limbs, when they choke her anklets?

    Or her waist, or her luxuriant hair?

  40. أم ندى صَوْتِها إذا رجَّعَتْهُ

    في المثاني أم دلَّها الفتّانا

    Or the sweetness of her voice when she trills it

    amid the lute strings, or her bewitching coquetry?

  41. ليس فيها شيءٌ يعابُ لدينا

    غيرَ بُخْلٍ بنَيلها قد شجانا

    We find nothing in her to fault

    save a withholding of her favors that has grieved us.

  42. عندها البخل بالنوال ولو بال

    طَيْفِ منها يزورنا أحيانا

    She is miserly with favors—even with

    her dream-image visiting us from time to time.

  43. نعمةً كالغرام أوسعَنا اللَّ

    ه امتنانا بوصلها وامتحانا

    A blessing like love's torment—God has lavished on us

    favor through her union, and a trial.

  44. طال ما طوَّلتْ على حُبّها اليو

    مَ وما قصَّرَتْ عليه الزمانا

    Often she has lengthened the day for her lover,

    and often shortened all time for him.

  45. تتغنَّى فالدهرُ يومٌ قصيرٌ

    وإذا ما جفتْ عَدِمْنا كَرانا

    She sings, and all time becomes a short day;

    but when she grows cold, we lose our sleep.

  46. أيُّها السائِلي بها كيفَ حَمْدِي

    لجَداها لقيت عندي بيانا

    You who ask me about her, how I praise

    her bounty—you have found a clear account with me.

  47. قد أَرَتنا وأسمعتْنا ولكنْ

    تركتْ كلَّ عاشقٍ ظمآنا

    She has shown herself to us and let us hear her, but

    left every lover thirsty.

  48. أفلا قائلٌ لها ذو احتسابٍ

    حين تحمي رُضابها العطشانا

    Will no one, seeking a righteous reward, tell her,

    when she denies her sweet saliva to the thirsty:

  49. مَتِّعي هذه المراشف من ري

    قِك يا من يُمَتِّع الآذانا

    'Give these lips delight from your

    saliva, you who give delight to ears!

  50. واقسِمي العدْلَ في جوارِحِ قوم

    ترك الظلمُ بعضَها هَيمانا

    And deal justly among a people's senses,

    some of which injustice has left thirst-crazed.

  51. لا تُنيلي جوارحاً ما تَمَنَّتْ

    وتُنيلي جوارحاً حِرْمانا

    Do not give some senses what they wished for

    while giving other senses deprivation.

  52. أَرْشِفينا كما أريْتِ وأسمعْ

    تِ ولا تتركي الهوى صديانا

    Let us sip, as you have let us see and hear,

    and do not leave love parched.'

  53. أنا واللَّهِ يا دريرةُ أهوا

    كِ وإن ذقتُ في هواك الهوانا

    I, by God, Durayra, love

    you, though I have tasted humiliation in loving you.

  54. يا كثيباً عليهِ غصنٌ من البا

    نِ وفرعٌ يمجُّ مِسْكاً وبانا

    O sand-dune bearing a bough of the ban-tree,

    and hair that pours forth musk and ban perfume!

  55. أشْتَهِي أن أعَضَّ منكِ بناناً

    طال عَضِّي عليه مني البنانا

    I long to bite some fingers of yours,

    over which I have long bitten my own fingers,

  56. حين تستمطرين أوتارك الدُّرْ

    رَ على السامعين والمَرْجانا

    when you draw from your strings a rain of

    pearls and coral upon the listeners.

  57. لم أنلْ منكِ مذ هَوَيتُك حظّاً

    من نوالٍ سراً ولا إعلانا

    Since I fell in love with you, I have gained no share

    of favors, secretly or openly.

  58. غيرَ أني أبيتُ ليليَ حَيْرا

    نَ أُراعي من نَجْمِهِ حيرانا

    Except that I spend my night bewildered,

    watching a bewildered star among its stars.

  59. قد وصفْنا فمن غدا يتمارى

    فليزُرْنا نُقِمْ له البرهانا

    We have described her; whoever still doubts,

    let him visit us—we shall establish the proof for him.

  60. عندنا مَنْظَرٌ لها وسماعٌ

    كَفيانا لطالبٍ تبيانا

    With us are the sight of her and the sound of her,

    both enough for us to give a seeker clarity.