مثلٌ إليهِ يَنتَهي المثلُ

مثلٌ إليهِ يَنتَهي المثلُ

نِصفانِ مرتجٌّ ومعتدلُ

نِصفانِ مرتجٌّ ومعتدلُ

A paragon in whom the ideal culminates.

An example to which the example comes to an end,

Two halves: one quivering, the other upright.

Two halves, swaying and balanced,

غصنٌ كأن الحسنَ يخنقُه

غصنٌ كأن الحسنَ يخنقُه

بالنورِ ملتثمٌ ومشتملُ

بالنورِ ملتثمٌ ومشتملُ

A bough, as though beauty were choking him,

A branch as if beauty strangles it,

Veiled in blossoms and wrapped in them.

Embracing and enveloped in light,

ومحببٌ صنع النعيم له

ومحببٌ صنع النعيم له

خداً يفتتح ورده الخجلُ

خداً يفتتح ورده الخجلُ

And a beloved for whom bliss fashioned

And beloved, paradise made for him,

A cheek whose roses bashfulness brings into bloom.

A cheek whose shyness its rose opens,

قبلتهُ باللحظِ مسترِقاً

قبلتهُ باللحظِ مسترِقاً

يا طيبِها لو أنَّها قبلُ

يا طيبِها لو أنَّها قبلُ

I kissed him with my gaze, furtively—

I kissed it with a stolen glance,

Oh, how sweet they would be, if only they were real kisses!

Oh its sweetness, if only it were a kiss.