حيتك ذات خصائص لا تنكر

حيتك ذات خصائص لا تنكر

عصماء تعبث بالعقول وتسحر

عصماء تعبث بالعقول وتسحر

She has greeted you, endowed with undeniable qualities,

Your beauty has undeniable traits

Peerless, she toys with minds and enchants.

Chaste, bewitching minds and enchanting

ما أسلست للخاطبين قياده

ما أسلست للخاطبين قياده

إلا لفارسها الذي تتخير

إلا لفارسها الذي تتخير

She has never yielded her reins to suitors

How smooth was the lead for her suitors

Except to her knight, whom she chooses.

Except for her knight whom she chose

أزجيتها لك درة مكنونة

أزجيتها لك درة مكنونة

من حسن منظرها يغار الجوهر

من حسن منظرها يغار الجوهر

I sent her to you, a hidden pearl;

I have presented you a hidden gem

Jewels envy the beauty of her appearance.

Of her beautiful sight, even jewels are jealous

في لفظها جرس يعيد إليك

في لفظها جرس يعيد إليك

رائعة ابن معتوق بلحن يسكر

رائعة ابن معتوق بلحن يسكر

Her words have a ring that brings back to you

In her voice a chime that brings you back

Ibn Ma‘tuq’s masterpiece in an intoxicating melody.

The masterpiece of Ibn Mu'taq in inebriating melody

تنساب مثل الجدول الرقراق في

تنساب مثل الجدول الرقراق في

نسق فيستهويك منها المنظر

نسق فيستهويك منها المنظر

She flows like a shimmering brook in

It flows like the murmuring brook in

Harmony, and the sight of her captivates you.

A composition that captivates you with its scene

تبت يداها إن أخل بحسنه

تبت يداها إن أخل بحسنه

وزن يضيق به الأديب النير

وزن يضيق به الأديب النير

May her hands perish if her beauty is marred by

May her hands perish if the weight of her beauty

A meter that constrains the enlightened man of letters,

Is burdened by a poem too narrow for the literate

أوشان معناها الجميل تكلف

أوشان معناها الجميل تكلف

في النطق أو شاب البيان تقعر

في النطق أو شاب البيان تقعر

Or if affectation mars her lovely meaning

Or if the articulation of her beautiful meaning

In utterance, or strained diction taints her eloquence.

Is strained in speech or blemished with rhetoric

أوحى الضمير بها فجاءت عكس م

أوحى الضمير بها فجاءت عكس م

يهوى السود وفوق ما يتصور

يهوى السود وفوق ما يتصور

Conscience inspired her, and she came contrary to what

The conscience whispered it, so it came opposite

The envious one [uncertain reading] desires, and beyond what he imagines.

To what the passionate desire, and beyond what is imagined

لا تخدعنك كثرة الزراع في

لا تخدعنك كثرة الزراع في

تلك الحقول فجلها لا يثمر

تلك الحقول فجلها لا يثمر

Let not the multitude of sowers deceive you in

Do not be fooled by the many flowers in

Those fields, for most of them bear no fruit.

Those fields, most of them do not bear fruit

ليت المدار على النهى في حكمه

ليت المدار على النهى في حكمه

فيما يذاع وما يخط وينشر

فيما يذاع وما يخط وينشر

If only reason were the basis of his judgment

I wish the orbit of authority in its rule

Of what is broadcast, and what is written and published,

On what is broadcast and written and published

لعلمت أية قيمة يسمو به

لعلمت أية قيمة يسمو به

الأدب الأصيل وأي لغو يقبر

الأدب الأصيل وأي لغو يقبر

You would know the worth through which

You would know the real value that raises

Authentic literature rises, and what idle talk is buried.

The genuine literature and which nonsense buries

أما وقد فرض الغثاء وجوده

أما وقد فرض الغثاء وجوده

وغد الدعي من المثقف يسخر

وغد الدعي من المثقف يسخر

But now that scum has asserted its presence,

Now that trash has imposed its existence

And the pretender has come to mock the cultivated man,

And tomorrow's preacher ridicules the intellectual

أما وقد برز الغثاء وسخرت

أما وقد برز الغثاء وسخرت

لرواجه صحف تشيد ومنبر

لرواجه صحف تشيد ومنبر

But now that scum has come to the fore, and enlisted

Now that trash has emerged and newspapers that promote

To promote it are newspapers that extol it, and a pulpit,

And pulpits that glorify it circulate

فقل السلام على الثقافة والحج

فقل السلام على الثقافة والحج

فالجهل في زمن كهذا أجدر

فالجهل في زمن كهذا أجدر

Then bid farewell to culture and reason [apparently truncated];

Say farewell to culture and reason

For ignorance is more fitting in an age like this.

For ignorance in such a time is more appropriate

ما للقلوب إلى الصبا ميالة

ما للقلوب إلى الصبا ميالة

ولربما فقد الحياء موقر

ولربما فقد الحياء موقر

Why are hearts so inclined to youthful passion?

What makes hearts inclined to youth

And perhaps a dignified man has lost his modesty,

And perhaps lose the dignity of elders?

فصبا ولم يأبه لقالة ناصح

فصبا ولم يأبه لقالة ناصح

ما باله ؟ أفلا يحس ويشعر

ما باله ؟ أفلا يحس ويشعر

Then yielded to passion and ignored an adviser’s words.

A youth who did not heed the advice of a preacher

What ails him? Does he not sense and feel?

What is wrong with him? Does he not feel and perceive?

ماذا دهاه ؟ دهته عينا جؤذر

ماذا دهاه ؟ دهته عينا جؤذر

أكبادنا من ضربها تتفطر

أكبادنا من ضربها تتفطر

What befell him? A young oryx’s two eyes struck him;

What made him crazy? The eyes of a seducer made him crazy

Our livers split apart beneath her blows.

Our livers are shattered from their blows

أفبعد ذلك يليق بشاعر

أفبعد ذلك يليق بشاعر

يشدو ومن يشدو به لا يذكر

يشدو ومن يشدو به لا يذكر

Is it fitting, then, after all that, for a poet

After that, does it befit a poet

To sing, while the one who sings of him goes unremembered?

Who composes while whom he composes for does not remember?

تلكم خواطر شاعر يا صاحبي

تلكم خواطر شاعر يا صاحبي

فتقبلوا وحي الخواطر واعذروا

فتقبلوا وحي الخواطر واعذروا

Those are a poet’s thoughts, my friend;

These are the thoughts of a poet my friend

So accept the inspiration of these thoughts, and forgive me.

So accept the revelation of thoughts and excuse