شَجَّتْ جَبِينَ مُدامِها بالماءِ

فَبَنانُها مِنها خَضِيبُ دِماءِ

Her forehead furrowed by the water’s flow,

Her cheeks blood-red where ruddy droplets go.

وَجَلَتْ مُخدَّرَةَ الدِّنانِ فَدَنُّها

مِن كَفّّها عَذْراءُ مِن عَذْراءِ

Half-dazed she sways, teeth gently clenched—but then

Her palm, untouched, is virgin among men.

هَزَمَتْ أُشعّتُها الدُّجَى فَمضَى وَقَدْ

غَنِمَ الحَبابُ قِلادةَ الجَوْزاءِ

Her torch-flame cuts the gloom and travels on;

The beetle wins a necklace made of dawn.

وَجَنَتْ على وَجَناتِ مَنْ طافَتْ بِها

فَرَأَيْتُ ناراً أُضرِمَتْ في ماءِ

She circles those who watch her, and they find

A fire lit by water in their mind.

حَمْراءُ تُسْكِرُ مِن جُفُونِ مُدِيرها

ما أشْبهَ الحَمْراءَ بالحَوْراءِ

The red that makes the eyewitness head spin—so

The red is very like the houri!