صَدّتْ وبدرُ التِّمّ مَكسوفٌ بِهِ

صَدّتْ وبدرُ التِّمّ مَكسوفٌ بِهِ

فَحَسِبتُ أَنَّ كُسوفَهُ مَنْ صَدِّها

فَحَسِبتُ أَنَّ كُسوفَهُ مَنْ صَدِّها

She turned away, and the full moon was eclipsed by it;

She turned away, and the full moon was eclipsed by her

so I thought its eclipse came from her turning away.

So I thought that its eclipse was from her turning away

والبدرُ قد ذهبَ الخسوفُ بنورِهِ

والبدرُ قد ذهبَ الخسوفُ بنورِهِ

في ليلةٍ حَسَرَتْ أواخِرَ مَدِّها

في ليلةٍ حَسَرَتْ أواخِرَ مَدِّها

And the full moon—the eclipse had taken away its light—

And the moon, its light has gone from the eclipse

in a night that had drawn back the last reaches of its span.

In a night whose latter part was woeful

فَكَأنَّهُ مرآةُ قَيْنٍ أُحْمِيَتْ

فَكَأنَّهُ مرآةُ قَيْنٍ أُحْمِيَتْ

فَمَشى احمِرارُ النّارِ في مُسْوَدّها

فَمَشى احمِرارُ النّارِ في مُسْوَدّها

So it was like a smith’s mirror that had been heated;

It was as though it was a reddish mirror

then the fire’s redness crept through its blackened surface.

Over which the redness of fire spread in its blackness