1. للحسانِ الدلالُ والخيلاءُ

    ولكِ الأمرُ بعدُ يا حسناءُ

    To beauties belong coyness and pride.

    And then the choice is yours, O beautiful one.

  2. فاطلعي كيفَ شئتِ بدراً وشمساً

    وصباحاً ما دامَ فينا الضياءُ

    So rise as you wish, a full moon and a sun,

    and a morning, so long as light remains among us.

  3. كلُّ بدرٍ لهُ سماءٌ ولا يع

    رفُ للحسنِ كالبيوتِ سماءُ

    Every full moon has a sky, and no

    sky for beauty is known like the home.

  4. لا تغرنْكِ من ترينَ من العج

    مِ فما الشرقُ والشمالُ سواءُ

    Do not be beguiled by those you see among

    non-Arabs, for East and North are not alike.

  5. كلُّ بيتٍ لهُ قطينٌ وإن كا

    نَ تساوى في كلِّهنَّ البناءُ

    Every house has its inhabitants, even if

    the construction is alike in them all.

  6. هي في قومها وأنتِ في قو

    مكِ والنفسُ بعدها أهواءُ

    She is among her people, and you among

    your people; beyond that, the soul is all desires.

  7. إن ظِرفَ اللسانِ في لغةِ الأه

    لِ وعنوانُ قومهنَّ النساءُ

    Indeed, the tongue's grace lies in the language of one's own

    people, and women are the emblem of their people.

  8. وإذا ما الأمهاتُ أحببنَ شيئاً

    ورثتْ حبَّها لهُ الأبناءُ

    And whenever mothers love something,

    the children inherit their love for it.

  9. وإذا الفتاةُ شبّتْ على الله

    وِ فباللهوِ بعدَ ذاكَ تُساءُ

    And if a girl grows up on idle

    play, then through play she is harmed thereafter.

  10. إنما البنتُ زوجةٌ ثمَّ أمٌّ

    ثمَّ يبقى الحديثُ كيفَ تشاءُ

    A girl is but a wife, then a mother;

    then the talk goes on however you wish.

  11. وهي كالماءِ كلما قطَّروهُ

    زادَ حسناً ورقَّ بعدُ الماءُ

    And she is like water: whenever they distill it,

    the water grows lovelier and finer afterward.

  12. لستُ أدري وليتني كنتُ أدري

    نحنُ بينَ الأمواتِ أم أحياءُ

    I do not know—and would that I knew—

    are we among the dead, or are we alive?

  13. أي هذين في الرجالِ أهنَّ الأ

    مهاتُ النسا أمِ الآباءُ

    Which of these two is found among men—are they the

    mothers—the women—or the fathers?

  14. صورةُ الغربِ والنفوسُ من الشر

    قِ فهمْ في ديارهم غرباءُ

    The image of the West, yet souls from the

    East—so they are strangers in their own homes.

  15. أينَ حقُّ البلادِ أينَ ذكاءُ القل

    بِ أينَ النفوسُ أينَ الدماءُ

    Where is the country's due? Where is the intelligence of the

    heart? Where are the souls? Where is the blood?

  16. إنما ضيَّعَ البلادَ وأهلي

    ها قديماً نساؤها الضعفاءُ

    The country and its people were ruined

    long ago by its weak women alone.