شبهتُ ريقَ حبيبي

شبهتُ ريقَ حبيبي

بخمرةٍ في التذاذِ

بخمرةٍ في التذاذِ

I likened my beloved’s saliva

I likened my beloved’s saliva

to wine in sheer deliciousness;

to wine in the delight it gives;

وذاكَ رجمٌ بغيبٍ

وذاكَ رجمٌ بغيبٍ

إذْ لم أذقْ ذا ولا ذي

إذْ لم أذقْ ذا ولا ذي

yet that is but a guess at the unseen,

and that is conjecture about the unseen,

for I have tasted neither the former nor the latter.

since I have tasted neither one nor the other.