تجلى في الدجى يجلو الزجاجا

رشاً قد علَّم القمر ابتهاجا

He shone forth in the darkness, making the glass gleam—

a fawn who had taught the moon delight.

تشب بكفه راح كميت

كأن الكف قد ملت سراجا

Dark-red wine blazes in his palm,

as though his palm had been filled with a lamp.

طلاً في الهام دبَّ لها دبيب

وفي الأعضاء تختلج اختلاجا

A wine that creeps stealthily into heads,

and in the limbs it throbs and quivers.

كطعم الزنجبيل لها مزاج

إذاما الماء مازجها امتزاجا

Its blended flavor is like the taste of ginger

whenever water thoroughly mingles with it.

يحنُّ لظبية العالمين قلبي

إذا ما الركب للعلمين عاجا

My heart yearns for the gazelle of al-ʿAlamayn,

whenever the caravan turns toward al-ʿAlamayn.

فمن لوصال حبل مهاً قطعوع

قطعت بها المافوز والفجاجا

Who, then, can mend the bond with an oryx that breaks it,

for whose sake I crossed deserts and mountain passes?

مهاً عفراء تسفر عن محيا

تنفس عن سنا الصبح انبلاجا

A sand-colored oryx, unveiling a face

that breathes forth the radiance of breaking dawn.

ترابى خشفها حذراً بعين

لها دعجاء قنطرت الحجاجا

She watches over her fawn warily with an eye

of hers, wide and dark, beneath an arching brow.

مكان القرط علقت الثريا

وبدر التم قد عقدته تاجا

In place of an earring she has hung the Pleiades,

and fastened the full moon as a crown.

ويجذب خصرها ردف ثقيل

كدعص الرمل يرتجُّ ارتجاجا

And her heavy haunches tug at her waist,

like a mound of sand that trembles and shakes.

أترجو العدل ويحك من زمانٍ

أبى في مشيه إلا اعوجاجا

Do you expect justice—alas for you—from an age

that refuses to walk in any but a crooked way?