لمّا تنمَّقَ وجهُهُ المبيضُّ مِن

لمّا تنمَّقَ وجهُهُ المبيضُّ مِن

خَطِّ السّوادِ المستقيمِ بأسطُرِ

خَطِّ السّوادِ المستقيمِ بأسطُرِ

When his fair face became adorned with

When his bright face was stripped of

straight black script set out in lines,

The straight lines of blackness in rows

عاينتُ مرأىً لم اُشاهد مِثلهُ

عاينتُ مرأىً لم اُشاهد مِثلهُ

كلّا ولم أسمع بهِ مِن مُخبرِ

كلّا ولم أسمع بهِ مِن مُخبرِ

I beheld a sight whose like I had never seen—

I saw a sight I'd never witnessed before

no indeed, nor heard of from any teller:

Nor heard the like from a bearer of news

وجهاً تنقّلَ في فنونِ ملاحةٍ

وجهاً تنقّلَ في فنونِ ملاحةٍ

حتّى تمسّكَ بالعِذارِ الأعطرِ

حتّى تمسّكَ بالعِذارِ الأعطرِ

a face that passed through many forms of beauty,

A face that progressed through aspects of beauty

until it was musk-scented with the most fragrant cheek-down.

Until it settled on the sweetest and best

فكأنّه لمّا استدارَ عذارُهُ

فكأنّه لمّا استدارَ عذارُهُ

بدرٌ بدا في هالةٍ مِن عَنبرٍ

بدرٌ بدا في هالةٍ مِن عَنبرٍ

So, when his cheek-down formed a ring, he seemed

So that when its beauty turned into fullness

a full moon appearing in a halo of ambergris.

A moon appeared in a vapor of ambergris