1. انظُرْ إلى ما ضُمِّن ال

    كانونُ من فحمٍ وجَمْرْ

    Look at what is held in the

    brazier: charcoal and embers.

  2. هذا يزيد وذا يَبي

    د كما انْطَوَى ليلٌ بفَجرْ

    This grows, while that fades

    away, as night is folded up by dawn.

  3. فكأنها رُسُلُ الوصا

    ل تَواترتْ بزَوال هجر

    So they seem like messengers of reunion,

    arriving in succession as estrangement ends;

  4. أو كالعُقودِ تَضمَّنتْ

    نوعين من سَبَجٍ وشَذْر

    or like necklaces containing

    two kinds of beads: jet and gold;

  5. أو جمرةِ الوَجَنات لا

    ح شَقيقُها في آسِ شَعر

    or like the ember of cheeks: there gleams

    its anemone amid the myrtle of hair.

  6. يَلْجا إلى الكانونِ في

    كانونَ مُفْتقِرٌ ومُثْر

    The brazier is sought as refuge in

    Kānūn by poor and rich alike.

  7. فمُقامُه في البيتِ أن

    فعُ فيه من نَمَطٍ وسِتر

    So its presence in the house is more

    useful there than a patterned rug and a curtain.