1. أما ينفكُ قلبك مستطارا

    إذا ما البرقُ أوْمَضَ واستطارا

    Does your heart never stop fluttering

    whenever lightning flashes and spreads?

  2. أنارَ حواشي الظلماءِ وَهْناً

    وأَذكى في الجوانِح منك نارا

    It lit the fringes of darkness late at night,

    and kindled a fire within your breast.

  3. سرى في ليلةٍ كرمتْ وَطابتْ

    فحال سوادها الداجي نهارا

    It coursed through a night both gracious and delightful,

    and its pitch-black darkness turned to day.

  4. أقمْتُ بها وَصحبي دارَ (سعد)

    فأحمدناهما سعداً وَدارا

    That night my companions and I stayed at Sa'd's house,

    and found both praiseworthy—Sa'd and his house.

  5. لقد رفعوا سرادقَها سماءً

    به الأَضواءُ تزدهرُ ازدهارا

    Indeed, they raised its canopy into a sky,

    in which the lights blossomed in splendor.

  6. وكانتْ مَأْلَفَ الآرام حتى

    لقد أَنستْ فما تُبدي نفارا

    It was a haunt of gazelles, so much so

    that they grew at ease and showed no alarm.

  7. وَأحسن مشهدٍ شَهِدَتْهُ عيني

    فما ينفكُّ يحدثُ لي ادكارا

    And the loveliest sight my eye beheld—

    one that never ceases to stir my memory—

  8. مهاداة العروسِ عَلَى حياءٍ

    يخطُّ بصفحةِ الخدِّ احمرارا

    was the bride's graceful progress, with a shyness

    that traced a blush upon her cheek.

  9. وَزند خطيبِها علقتْ بزندٍ

    لها فتمثلا غصنيْنِ سارا

    Her bridegroom's forearm was linked with one

    of hers; they seemed two branches walking.

  10. تحفُّهما شموعٌ موقدات

    فأحسب ما أرى فلْكاً مدرار

    Lighted candles surrounded them,

    so what I saw seemed a sky pouring forth light.

  11. دنتْ وَدنا إلى قسٍ مهيبٍ

    لقد تخذ الصليبَ له شعارا

    She drew near, and he too, to an imposing priest,

    who had taken the cross as his emblem.

  12. وَقفنا منصتين لما تلاه

    من الإنجيل سراً أو جهارا

    We stood listening attentively to what he read

    from the Gospel, quietly or aloud.

  13. وَأَحكمَ عقدةَ التزويج وفقاً

    لما كان المسيحُ به أشارا

    And he secured the marriage knot, in accordance

    with what Christ had prescribed for it.

  14. وَأمّنا عَلَى ما قال لمّا

    سمعنا بالدعاءِ له جؤار

    And we said Amen to his words when

    we heard loud cries of prayer for him.

  15. وَمذْ تَمَّ الزواجُ مضى حميداً

    فودعنا المهابةَ والوقارا

    And once the marriage was complete and had gone well,

    we bade farewell to solemnity and decorum.

  16. وأرسلنا النفوسَ علَى هواها

    بما تقضي مروءَتها تبارى

    And we gave our souls free rein,

    vying in what their sense of honor prescribed.

  17. وَظلنا نحتسي الأكوابَ ملأَى

    نبيذاً أو عصيراً أو عقارا

    And we kept sipping brimming cups

    of wine, or juice, or strong wine.

  18. وَمن شجوِ الغناءِ بكلِّ فنٍ

    كثيرٌ مَنْ به خَلَعَ العذارا

    And at the plaintive strains of every kind of song,

    many a person threw off the bridle.

  19. تَدَثَّرَتِ الوجوهُ وَبان ميل

    بأعطافِ الحضورِ فهمْ حيارى

    Faces grew veiled, and a swaying appeared

    in the guests' bodies; they were bewildered.

  20. وَممشوق القوام دنا لخوْدٍ

    تفوقُ بحسنِ طلعتِها العذارى

    And a tall, slender man approached a maiden

    who outshone the maidens with her lovely face.

  21. تأَوّدَ قدَّها وَحنا عليها

    كدميةِ مرمرٍ حملت إطارا

    He bent her form and leaned over her,

    like a marble statuette bearing a frame.

  22. فخاصرها بيمناه وَألقتْ

    عَلى مخفوضِ عاتقه اليسارا

    So he clasped her waist with his right hand, and she laid

    her left hand upon his lowered shoulder.

  23. وَقد علقتْ بيمناها شمالٌ

    فلست ترى بربطهما انفطارا

    And his left hand had linked itself with her right,

    so you could see no separation in their clasp.

  24. فظلاّ يرقصان عَلَى المثاني

    ضروباً لا وَربّك لا تجارى

    So they kept dancing to the strings,

    in styles—no, by your Lord—that none could match.

  25. كأنَّ مواطئَ الأَقدامِ نارٌ

    بقلبي فهي لا تُلفي قرارا

    As though the places their feet touched were fire

    in my heart, so their feet could find no rest.

  26. فطوراً ينبهانِ الأرضَ نهباً

    كرِئْمٍ نافرٍ يطوي القفارا

    At times they rouse the earth, plundering it,

    like a startled gazelle sweeping across the deserts.

  27. وَطوراً يقصرانِ الخطوَ عَمْداً

    كفَرْخٍ ساقط يطأ الخَبارا

    And sometimes they deliberately shorten their steps,

    like a fallen fledgling treading yielding soil.

  28. إذا يعطو لها بالجيد دلّتْ

    فتعطف تارةً وَتصدُّ تارا

    When he cranes his neck toward her, she acts coyly,

    now leaning toward him, now turning away.

  29. وَلا تسأَلْ عن الشعراءِ حولي

    فقد جاش القريضُ بهم وَثارا

    And do not ask about the poets around me,

    for verse surged within them and burst forth.

  30. نفوسٌ هزّها طربٌ فجادَتْ

    بما يدع الصحاة وَهم سكارى

    Souls, stirred by rapture, poured forth

    what leaves the sober drunk.

  31. فيالكِ ليلةً فيها تجلّى

    إخاءُ المسلمين إلى النصارى

    Oh, what a night, in which shone forth

    the Muslims' brotherly love for the Christians!