وَجهُ بَنانٍ كَأَنَّهُ قَمَرٌ

يَلوحُ في لَيلَةِ الثَلاثينِ

A face like the full moon

The face of Banan is like a moon,

Shining on the thirtieth night

That appears on the dark night of the thirtieth.

وَالزَدُّ مِن حُسنِهِ وَبَهجَتِهِ

كَطاقَةِ الشَوكِ في الرَياحينِ

More beautiful and radiant

And her cheek, in its beauty and splendor,

Than a bouquet among the branches

Is like a clump of thorns amidst sweet basil.

مُبادِرٌ مِن جَبينِها نَسَمٌ

في الطيبِ يَحكي مَباوِلَ العينِ

A breeze issues from her brow

A breeze emanates from her forehead,

Speaking in perfume of eyes’ messages

Resembling, in scent, the urinals of a spring.

وَالفَمُ مِن ضيقِهِ إِذا اِبتَسَمَت

كَأَنَّهُ قَصعَةُ المَساكينِ

Her mouth when she smiles

And her mouth, for its narrowness when she smiles,

Is like a bowl for the poor

Is like the feeding-bowl of the destitute.

لَها ثَنايا تَحكي بِبَهجَتِها

وَحُسنِها أَلسُنَ المَوازينِ

Her dimples tell, in their charm

She has front teeth that mimic, in their delight,

And beauty, the tongues of the scales

And beauty, the needles of weighing scales.

وَحَسبُكَ الحُسنُ في ضَفائِرِها

مِثلُ الشَماريخِ في العَراجينِ

And the beauty of her braids is enough

And consider the beauty within her braids,

Like partridges among the tree branches

Like dry stalks upon withered date-palm branches.

وَالجيدُ زَينٌ لِمَن تَأَمَّلَهُ

أَشبَهُ شَيءٍ بِجيدِ تِنّينِ

Her neck’s a charm for him who gazes on it

Her neck is an ornament to whoever beholds it,

Most like a dragon’s neck, allurements in it

Resembling nothing so much as the neck of a dragon.

وَمِنكَباها في حُسنِ خَلقِهِما

في مِثلِ رُمّانَتَينِ مِن طينِ

Her shoulders in their handsome build

And her shoulders, in the beauty of their form,

Are like two pomegranates made of clay

Are like two pomegranates molded from mud.

وَالبَطنُ طاوٍ تَحكي لَطافَتُهُ

ما ضَمَّنوهُ كُتبَ الدَواوينِ

Her belly’s a meadow, its delicacy

And a belly so folded, its delicacy recalls

Telling what’s hid in the books of state

What is bound within the pages of old ledgers.

وَالساقُ بَرّاقَةٌ خَلاخِلُها

كَأَنَّها مِحرَكُ الأَتاتينِ

Her leg, smooth-calved, its anklets

And the leg—how its anklets glitter!—

Are stirrers of passions crazed

Looks just like the iron poker of a kiln.

تَفتِنُ مَن رامَها بِلَحظَتِها

كَأَنَّها لَحظَةُ المَجانينِ

Her glance ensnares whom she desires

She captivates her suitor with her glance,

Like the glance of those possessed

As if it were the stare of the insane.

وَأَحسَنُ الناسِ مَحجِراً أَنِقاً

أَشبَهُ شَيءٍ بِمَحجِرِ النونِ

Her cheek’s the loveliest emplacement

She has the most elegant eye-sockets of all people,

Most like the letter Nun’s enclosure

Most resembling the eye-socket of a fish.

وَأَقرَبُ الناسِ في الخُطى خَفَراً

خَطوَتُها مِن نَسا إِلى الصينِ

Her step compared to women’s steps

And she is the closest of people to modesty in her walk,

Is from women to China closer

With a stride stretching from Nasa to China.

وُلِدتِ مِن أُسرَةٍ مُبارَكَةٍ

لا عَيبَ فيهِم مِنَ الشَياطينِ

She was born of a blessed folk

You were born of a blessed family,

No devil in them, no advisers

Among whom the devils find no fault.