Sol 6.1

  1. حَبيبٌ لَنا واعِدٌ مَخلَفَ

    يَجورُ عَلَينا وَما يُنصِفُ

    A beloved of ours promises, then breaks his word;

    he wrongs us and is never fair.

  2. بِكُلِّ قِباءٍ لَهُ صَعدَةٌ

    وَفي كُلِّ جَفنٍ لَهُ مُرهَفُ

    In every robe of his, a spear;

    and in each eyelid of his, a keen blade.

  3. فَيَذهَلُ مِن بَأسِهِ عَنتَرٌ

    وَيَخجَلُ مِن حُسنِهِ يوسُفُ

    So ʿAntar is stunned by his might,

    and Yusuf is abashed by his beauty.

  4. أَما وَبُروقِ الثَنايا الَّتي

    بِها المِسكُ وَالشُهدُ وَالقَرقَفُ

    Ah, by the flashes of the front teeth which

    hold musk and honey and wine—

  5. لَقَد حِرتُ في قَمَرٍ أَحوَرٍ

    لَنا ما يَغيبُ وَما يُكسَفُ

    I was indeed bewildered by a dark-eyed moon

    of ours, who never sets and is never eclipsed.

  6. شَرِبنا عَلى وَجهِهِ لَيلَةً

    عُيونُ سَحائِبُها تَذرِفُ

    We drank, gazing on his face, one night,

    while the eyes of its clouds shed tears.

  7. وَحَرُّ الكَوانينَ مُستَعذَبٌ

    بِبَردِ الكَوانينَ مُستَطرَفُ

    And the braziers' heat was sweet,

    a welcome delight in the Kanun months' cold,

  8. لَدى شَمعَةٍ مِثلَ لَونِ المُحِبِّ

    وَريحُ الحَبيبِ إِذا تَرشِفُ

    beside a candle, like a lover in hue,

    and like the beloved in scent when you sip.

  9. تَموتُ اِنطِفاءً إِذا سولِمَت

    وَتَحيا وَهامَتُها تُقطَفُ

    It dies, extinguished, if left in peace,

    yet lives while its head is plucked.

  10. فَقُلتُ وَقَد غابَ جَيشُ السَحابِ

    وَطَرفي عَنِ الحِبِّ ما يَطرِفُ

    Then I said, when the army of clouds had vanished,

    and my gaze never strayed from the beloved:

  11. كَأَنَّ الثُرَيّا وَبَدرَ السَماءِ

    وَأَنجُمُها طُلَّعٌ تَرجُفُ

    As though the Pleiades and heaven's full moon,

    and its stars, risen and trembling,

  12. يَدٌ قَد أَشارَت إِلى وَردَةٍ

    وَحَولَهُما نَرجِسٌ مُضعَفُ

    were a hand pointing toward a rose,

    with double-flowered narcissus around them both.