وجاريةٍ بيضاءَ حمراءَ ربما

وجاريةٍ بيضاءَ حمراءَ ربما

تكون غداً سوداءَ إن شئتَ أو صَفْرا

تكون غداً سوداءَ إن شئتَ أو صَفْرا

And a slave girl, white and red, who may

A fair and rosy concubine

Be black tomorrow, if you wish, or yellow.

May turn tomorrow black, if you wish, or yellow

تعيش بخفضٍ ما تمنّت ونعمةٍ

تعيش بخفضٍ ما تمنّت ونعمةٍ

بحيث سواها لو يُرَى فارَقَ العمْرا

بحيث سواها لو يُرَى فارَقَ العمْرا

She lives in ease, as long as she wishes, and in bliss,

She lives in luxury she never desired

Where any other, if seen there, would part with life.

While others, if seen, would abandon life

سرت تقطع الخَرقَ الوسيعَ وما مشت

سرت تقطع الخَرقَ الوسيعَ وما مشت

ولا ركبت فيهِ سفيناً ولا ظَهْرا

ولا ركبت فيهِ سفيناً ولا ظَهْرا

She traveled by night across the vast wilderness, yet did not walk,

She crossed the vast desert, yet walked not

Nor traveled through it aboard ships or on a mount.

Nor sailed on it a boat or climbed its ridge

مسربلةً لم تدفع النَّبل دِرعُها

مسربلةً لم تدفع النَّبل دِرعُها

وعُريانةً لم تشكُ قيظاً ولا قُرَّا

وعُريانةً لم تشكُ قيظاً ولا قُرَّا

Clothed, though her armor did not ward off arrows,

Clothed, her garment deflects not arrows

And naked, she complained of neither scorching heat nor bitter cold.

Bare, she feels neither heat nor cold

تطفَّلَ حتى زفها لك جاهراً

تطفَّلَ حتى زفها لك جاهراً

إذا صاعبته عدّ إعسارَها يُسرا

إذا صاعبته عدّ إعسارَها يُسرا

He intruded until he openly brought her to you as a bride;

She begs until you loudly grant her hand

If you resisted him, he counted her poverty as prosperity.

Though if you refuse, she counts poverty riches

وأعجبه مما يميِّز أنها

وأعجبه مما يميِّز أنها

إذا هي زادت كبرةً زدته مَهْرا

إذا هي زادت كبرةً زدته مَهْرا

And among what he discerns, it pleased him that

And it pleases him that she

Whenever she grew older, you paid him a greater bridal gift.

If she grows haughty, increases her dowry

يحلُّ له منها الحرامُ لمعشر

يحلُّ له منها الحرامُ لمعشر

يكونون في جِنسٍ سوى جِنسها بحرا

يكونون في جِنسٍ سوى جِنسها بحرا

What is forbidden to certain people concerning her is lawful to him—

It's permitted for him from her the unlawful

Those who are an ocean in a field other than hers.

For a people unlike her kind, the sea