أُراعي نُجومَ اللَيلِ وَهيَ كَأَنَّها

أُراعي نُجومَ اللَيلِ وَهيَ كَأَنَّها

كَواعِبُ تَرنو مِن بَراقِعِ سُندُسِ

كَواعِبُ تَرنو مِن بَراقِعِ سُندُسِ

I watch the stars of night, and they seem to be

I watch the stars of night, and they seem like

young maidens peering from face-veils of fine silk.

maidens with budding breasts, gazing from behind veils of fine silk.

كَأَنَّ الثُرَيّا فيهِ باقَةُ سَوسَنٍ

كَأَنَّ الثُرَيّا فيهِ باقَةُ سَوسَنٍ

وَما حَولَها مِنهُنَّ طاقَةُ نَرجِسِ

وَما حَولَها مِنهُنَّ طاقَةُ نَرجِسِ

As though the Pleiades therein were a bouquet of lilies,

The Pleiades there seem like a bouquet of irises,

and those of them around it were a spray of narcissus.

and the stars around them a bunch of narcissi.