للّه لذة أوقات نعمت بها

بالبسط دهرا على بسط من الزهر

God, what delight in the times I enjoyed,

long in merriment upon carpets of flowers.

يروق مغتبقا كأسي ومصطبحا

ولم ازل اصل الآصال بالبكر

My cup delighted me as I drank at dusk and at dawn,

and I never ceased joining evenings to early mornings.

حيث الشهاب واثواب الصبا جدد

والعيش حلو الجنى صاف بلا كدر

where the flame and the garments of youth were fresh,

and life was sweet of fruit, clear and unclouded.

وفتية من بني الاتراك ما سفرت

الا وآذن بدر التم بالسفر

and a young woman of Turkish lineage never unveiled herself

without the full moon announcing its departure.

وما بدت بصباح الثغر باسمة

الا وقد قميص الليل من دبر

and never did she appear smiling with her mouth's dawn

without night's shirt being torn from behind.

لا تستطيع اليها العين تنظرها

كالشمس تحجب رائيها عن النظر

The eye cannot bear to gaze upon her,

like the sun, she bars her beholder from gazing.

ازرت بيان النقا لينا معاطفها

وعفرت في وجوه الكنس العفر

Her curves shamed the bān trees of the dune in softness,

and rubbed dust in the faces of the tawny gazelles in their coverts.

رشيقة القد ترنو من لواحظها

وقدّها يا حياء البيض والسمر

Slender of figure, she gazes with her glancing eyes,

and her figure—oh, what shame for bright swords and tawny spears!

رخيمة الدل يغني حسن منطقها

وثغرها لك عن كأس وعن وتر

Gentle in her coquetry, her lovely speech suffices—

and her mouth—for you, in place of a winecup and a musical string.

تبرقعت برداء الحسن واتشعت

بحندس الشعر واستغنت عن الخمر

She veiled herself in beauty's robe and wrapped herself

in the black night of her hair, needing no veils.

قوامها باعتدال قد غدا الفا

في غاية الحسن بين الطول والقصر

Her figure, in its balance, had become an alif,

at beauty's height, between tallness and shortness.

صغيرة السن بالالباب عابثة

اتى بها الحسن من آياتها الكبر

Young in years, she toys with minds;

Beauty brought her forth as one of her mighty wonders.

لو لم تكن من ذوات الخدر اذ نفرت

لقلت ما هذه يوما من البشر

Had she not been one of the women behind curtains when she shied away,

I would have said, 'This one is not human at all.'

يا قاتل الله عذالي بها فلقد

لاموا فباؤوا بذنب غير مغتفر

Oh, may God strike down my reproachers over her! For indeed,

they reproached me and came away with an unforgivable sin.

قالوا سواها لو استبدلت قلت لهم

نعم تبدلت بالاسقام والغير

They said, 'If only you took another in her place!' I told them,

'Yes, I have exchanged her for ailments and reversals of fortune.'