1. My poetry is above the sky and above the sun
And beneath the shells of this sea are my thoughts

2. And between those and these my pen has flowed
With the miracle of description, of jewels and lights

3. I see a beauty supreme, if only I were aware of it
And the Creator is exalted above any noble Maker

4. As if the universe is a maiden veiled
Beaming radiantly from behind curtains

5. The sea is her veil and the land is her brow
Above it a forehead adorned with moons

6. Or as if this sea is the brocade of the sky and the
Cloak has slipped off, so the sky’s chest is bare

7. Or she has dressed herself in her night’s garments
And adorned herself with its stars as buttons

8. Or as if the sun has snatched away
With beauty the sights of some people over others

9. And the earth has become a home for the sky, so for that
It made the sea a mirror for the home’s dweller

10. O dwelling of rosy comets, what wonder
In the essence of scattered pearls and mysteries

11. If you carry a sphere that has spun in its orbit
Then beneath you the sea spins with the spinner

12. Each of you is beauty, and beauty between you
Is like a garden fragrant with scattered flowers

13. I see the sun extinguished beneath the sea
And the water still retains power over fire

14. As if it is the palm of the earth outstretched
To the sky, so it gifted it with gold dinars

15. Or the sun dived beneath the waves, fleeing,
So people have no worries or sorrows

16. Do you not see it yellow, apprehensive,
Its blazing flame gone out and extinguished?

17. People resemble angels in purity
If not for the evil of conscience, for they are not virtuous

18. And the sea is wiser than their fickleness, and so too
The earth bears only every noisy murmurer

19. If they were fair, they would see it in its surging
On the plain like a fierce attacking lion

20. But he who is used to melodies thinks
Every roar is the blowing of flutes

21. Why do I see the arrogant one agitated with alarm
Scratching the earth with his claws out of a wave?

22. Baring his armor in his gathering,
Incited between hailstones and currents

23. The horizon is gloomy at times and smiling
Between a dark night and the break of dawn

24. O people, the sea is an admonishment
And the sea’s rumbling is nothing but a warning

25. For through it Allah has many arguments against you
Does a sin become forgiven except after excuses?

26. The sea is the gentlest thing to touch, but if
You arouse it you will know what a compeller it is!

27. And if all creation joined forces, they would not
Be able to hold back a wave among the sea’s waves

28. So how can the Lord of the sea’s power be denied?
And that is but a sign of some of His signs

29. I believe in Allah—nothing I see is in vain
But it is a decree flowing according to destinies