1. To her promise I yearn, but will the promise be fulfilled?
Yet Asma has not wearied of breaking them afterwards.

2. Her way, when near, is to hide her intention,
And her habit, when joined, is for indifference to arise.

3. She spurns the offender but distances herself from the garden,
So neither the thorns nor the flowers are to be obtained.

4. She was surrounded by lions, destroying lions,
Since when are gazelles surrounded by lions?

5. The neighing of white meadows beneath their domes
Vying in their whinnying with the racing steeds.

6. She hit her lover on purpose with arrows from her quiver
So excellent - for love is always her intent.

7. With coquetry she provokes my passion
Hinting at what gives joy, while joy is ignited.

8. And invites a sleepless eyelid to slumber
While the heart cannot restrain what it contains.

9. Whenever I form the intention to be chaste,
It is dissolved by her charms and knots.

10. And if the valley lies before me and I turn aside,
My feet lead me insistently towards it, pulled to it.

11. May God guard a heart tending flocks
If the pact is broken or the covenant ruptured.

12. And a band whose night companionship
Has always shown me loyalty in the heights, and in their roads affection.

13. Through their virtue or their words
The frustrated finds relief and the constrained gains release.

14. They responded to the Caliph's wish for good
Those who hope for his promise find his favour sufficient.

15. So I said to them when the sign of dew appeared:
"Rest your mounts, for this is barren ground."

16. Do not trouble yourselves with gifts and musk thereafter,
The dust of my father Fihr is musk and ambergris.

17. A noble, honoured companion, glory and eminence marked his path,
He threw down his staff, auspiciousness and happiness surrounded him.

18. A flourishing meadow whose generosity and freshness overflowed,
So he does not care what the covenant has brought about afterwards.

19. Its pavilions grew lofty in Juddah,
On pillars of which its builders were proud.

20. They seem like statues, though they are only chambers,
Other than that they cannot speak nor answer.

21. Brides covered in the finery of beauty,
Perfectly adorned by engraving and threading.

22. They remind one of the gardens of eternity,
Whose blossoms are peerless, neither cancelable nor perishable.

23. So their predawn air provides perfume from Nejed for them,
And their late evenings send the northern wind towards them.

24. They sigh longingly for the palaces from their peaks,
Moaning passion for the palaces, sighing.

25. The expanse of their meaning does not narrow, however many visit,
Even if all the people of the world were a delegation to them.

26. In their courtyards, light meets light, so darkness is unveiled
And chill shadows are expelled from their grounds.

27. Surrounded by vines and soft palm trees,
Their branches almost reaching the stars.

28. Bearing fruits that when trees struggle to carry them,
These palms undertake the burden.

29. Upon them are necklaces and chokers,
Though they have no neck or breast for them.

30. There are the bowers of jasmine and its blossoms,
Like the blooms of stars amid their orbit.

31. And there the date clusters and palm fronds gleam,
Their beauty apparent to the eyes - freshness and ripeness.

32. A peach was unveiled for us, shy as a cheek,
And a ripe pomegranate, curved as a breast.

33. There is a walnut with whitened kernel which, though
Its shell is blackened, has tender meat within.

34. The grapes of the vine display immature green, as though
From among its clusters, an eye peers out at us, bleary.

35. Else they have shown buds, beribboned
In patterned silk, gathered in places.

36. If the orange trees were tapped, you would see branches
With their water displaying flames for them, kindled.

37. How much dew does the jujube let fall for its curls,
Secured by the ground beneath from the dryness above.

38. Around domes, water was made to flow amid them,
Bringing coolness against the summer’s heat.

39. It passed like a torrent in marble channels,
Rushing noisy, as thunder rumbles.

40. And traversed a lake, overflowing,
driven, as the hillside flows with tumbling hail.

41. From it, many a beautiful maiden peered out,
Her figure delicate, but refreshed with cool water.

42. She reached the utmost in beauty or glory, so she became
Defiant of descriptions, having no equal.

43. Through it we attained happiness from the orchard of desires,
Enveloped throughout by comfort and plenty.

44. In it luxury melted for us, so you see only
those dissolved in playfulness, their resolve softened.

45. Various fruits and delicacies supplemented
Foods that surfeit praise and thanks.

46. Its birds that draw water are like maidservants
Engaged in service - or shuttles plying to and fro.

47. One weaker averts its glance from us
While another stronger shuts out our number.

48. They came with roast meat, turning it
As cooks whose habit is haste and diligence.

49. Whatever flesh of bird we desire, as though we
Have gained what the righteous will be granted in ink.

50. On set tables, abundant,
Borne along with every luxury, appearing at dawn.

51. And they carried upon it everything desired,
The young oryx seen bounding when it runs.

52. And a fattened lamb, a year old, fat haunched,
We were promised it, and the promise was not delayed.

53. It appeared, pleasing the beholders, as though
The amber's beads were polished smooth for it.

54. And camphor was shredded finely,
To remove any opposite in it by an opposite.

55. By my father! We did not enjoy his hospitality,
Rather the guest preceded the comfort.