طفت والصبح طالباً في الجنان — Khalil Gibran

طُفْتُ وَالصُّبْحُ طَالِباً فِي الجَنَانِ

سَلْوَةً مِنْ نَوَاصِبِ الأَشْجَانِ

I wandered at dawn, seeking in the gardens

solace from the torments of sorrow.

فَنفَى حُسْنُهَا الأَسَى عَنْ ضَمِيرِي

وَجَلاَ نَاظِرِي وَسَرَّ جنَانِي

So their beauty banished grief from my inner self,

and cleared my sight and gladdened my heart.

زَنْبَقٌ نَاصِعُ البَيَاضِ نَقِيٌّ

تَرْتَوِي مِنْ بَيَاضِهِ العَيْنَانِ

A lily, dazzling white and pure,

both eyes drink their fill of its whiteness;

وَجُفُونٌ مِنْ نَرْجِسٍ دَاخَلَتْهَا

صُفْرَةُ الدَّاءِ فِي مَحَاجِرِ عَانِي

and narcissus eyelids, into which had crept

the yellow pallor of sickness, in a sufferer's eye sockets;

وَوُرُودٌ كَأَنَّهَا مَلِكَاتٌ

بَرَزَتْ فِي غَلائِلِ الأُرْجُوَانِ

and roses, as though they were queens

appearing in gauzy robes of purple;

وَأَفَانِين مِنْ شَقِيقِ وَمِنْ فُلِّ

وَمِنْ مُضْعِفٍ وَمِنْ رَيْحَانِ

and varieties of anemones and Arabian jasmine,

and double blossoms and sweet basil.

كُلُّ ضَرْبٍ شَبِيهُ سِرْبٍ جَمِيعٍ

مُفْرَدٍ عَنْ لِدَاتهِ فِي مَكَانِ

Each kind was like a flock gathered together,

set apart from its fellows in one place.

طَالَ فِيهَا تَأَمُّلِي وَكَأَنَّي

كُنْتُ مِنْهَا فِي رَوْضِ عِين حِسَانِ

Long was my contemplation of them, as though

I were among them in a garden of beautiful, wide-eyed women.

فَتَوَخيْتُ مُشْبِهاً لأَلِيسٍ

بَيْنَهَا فِي صِفَاتِهَا وَالمَعَانِي

So I sought a counterpart to Alice

among them, in her traits and inward qualities.

فَإِذَا الْبَاهِرُ النَّقِيُّ مِنَ الزِّ

نْبَقِ مِرْآهُ حُسْنِهَا الْفَتَّانِ

And behold, the dazzling, pure one among

the lilies: a mirror of her bewitching beauty,

رَسْمُهَا فِي سَنَائِهَا وَسَنَاهَا

وَصَدى لاسْمِهَا أَوِ اسْمٌ ثَانِي

her likeness in her grandeur and her radiance,

and an echo of her name, or a second name.

فِيهِ مِنْهَا الْبَهَاءُ وَالْقَامَةْ الْهَيْ

فَاءُ وَاللَّوْنُ صُورَةُ الوِجْدَانِ

In it are her splendor and her stature—

slender—and her color, the image of feeling;

وَالْعَبِيرُ الَّذِي يُحَدِّثُ عَمَّا

فِي الضَّمِيرِ الأَخْفَى بِأَذْكَى بَيَانِ

and the fragrance that tells of what

lies in the most secret heart, with the keenest eloquence;

وَالشُّعَاعٌُ الَّذِي بِهِ يُرِي البَغْيَ زُهْراً

وَيُرِيهَا آزَاهِراً فِي آنِ

and the radiance by which it shows wrongdoing as stars,

and shows them as flowers at the same moment.

فَهْيَ فِي الرَّوْضِ وَالنُّجُومِ قَوَاصٍ

وَهْيَ فِي الأَوْجِ وَالنُّجُومُ دَوَانِي

So she is in the garden, while the stars are distant;

and she is at the zenith, while the stars are near.

تَتَراءى السَّمَاءُ وَالأَرْضُ كُلٌّ

فِي سِوَاهَا وَتَلْتَقِي الْجَنَتَّانِ

Heaven and earth are mirrored, each

in the other, and the two gardens meet.

إِنَّمَا النَّرْجِسُ ابْتِسَامَةُ فَجْرٍ

أَلْطَفَتْ نَسْجَهَا يَدُ الرَّحْمَنِ

The narcissus is but a smile of dawn,

its weave made delicate by the All-Merciful's hand.

قَامَ فِي حُلَّةِ الْبَيَاضِ فَكَانَتْ

ثَوْبَ رُوحٍ لا ثَوْبَ جِسْمٍ فَانِي

It stood in a robe of white, and that robe was

a soul's garment, not the garment of a mortal body.

وَاسْتَزَادَ الْحِلَى سِوَاهَا فَجَاءَتْ

حَيْثُ زَادَتْ عَلائِمُ النُّقْصَانِ

Others sought more adornments, and these came

where the signs of imperfection increased.

هَكَذَا سِرُّ كُلِّ حَيٍّ نَرَاهُ

خَلَلَ الشَّكْلِ بَادِياً لِلْعَيَانِ

Thus we see the secret of every living being

through its form, plainly revealed to sight.

فَنَرَى أَنْفُسَ الْحِسَانِ حِسَاناً

حَيْثُمَا هُنَّ عَنْ حُلِيٍّ غَوَانِي

So we see the souls of beautiful women as beautiful,

wherever they have no need of adornment;

وَنَرَى أَنْفُسَ الأَزَاهِرِ غُرّاً

إِذْ نَرَاهَا عفيفة الأَلْوَانِ

and we see the souls of flowers as radiant,

when we see them chaste in their colors.