وَفارَةِ مِسكٍ من عذارٍ شَممتَها
يَفوحُ عَلَينا مِسكها وَعَبيرُها
And a musk-pod from the down of a cheek—you smelled it;
Many a pod of musk from a beloved's cheek I have smelled,
its musk and fragrant breath waft over us.
Its musk and its ambergris exhaling upon us.
سَموتُ إِلَيها بَعدَ أن نامَ أَهلُها
غُدوّاً وَلَمّا تُلقَ عَنها سُتورُها
I stole toward her after her household had fallen asleep,
I crept toward her after her family had fallen asleep,
at dawn, before her curtains had yet been drawn aside.
In the early dawn, while her veils were not yet cast aside.
سَيُغني أَبا الهِنديِّ عَن وَطبِ سالِمٍ
أَباريقَ كالغُزلانِ بيضٌ نُحورُها
Abu al-Hindi will have no need of Salim’s wineskin—
It will suffice Abu al-Hindi, replacing Salim's skin of milk,
ewers like gazelles, their throats gleaming white,
With wine-jugs like gazelles, their necks gleaming white,
مفدَّمةً قَزّاً كأنَّ رِقابَها
رِقابُ الكَراكي افزَعتها صُقورها
their mouths stoppered with silk, their necks as though
Muffled with raw silk strainers, as though their necks
the necks of cranes startled by falcons,
Were the necks of cranes startled by falcons.
مصبَّغةَ الأَعلى كأَنَّ سَراتَها
ذَبائحُ أَنصابٍ توافت شُهورُها
dyed at the top, as though their crowns were
Dyed red at the top, as if their peaks
beasts sacrificed at stone altars when their appointed months arrived.
Were sacrifices on stone altars whose appointed months had arrived.
تَلالأُ في أَيدي السُّقاة كَأَنَّها
نُجومُ الثرَّيا زَّيَنَتها عبُورُها
They glitter in the cupbearers’ hands as though they were
They gleam in the hands of the cupbearers, as though they
the stars of the Pleiades, adorned by those that cross them.
Were the stars of the Pleiades, adorned by their journey across the sky.
تَمُجُّ سُلافاً مِن زِقاقٍ كَأَنَّها
شُيوخ بَني حام تَحَنَّت ظهورُها
They gush pure wine from wineskins that resemble
They spit forth choice wine from skins that seem like
elders of the sons of Ham, their backs bowed.
The elders of the sons of Ham, their backs bent low.
أُقَبِّلُها فَوقَ الفِراشِ كَأَنَّها
صَلايةُ عَطّارٍ يَفوحُ زَريرُها
I kiss her upon the couch, as though she were
I kiss the cup upon the bed, as though it were
a perfumer’s grinding-stone, its aromatic powder breathing scent.
A perfumer's grinding stone from which the scent of yellow dye wafts.
إِذا ذاقها مَن ذاقَ جادَ بِمالِهِ
وَقَد قامَ ساقي القَومِ وَهناً يُديرُها
Whoever tastes her becomes open-handed with his wealth,
Whoever tastes of it freely gives away his wealth,
while the company’s cupbearer rises at night to pass her round—
As the cupbearer of the company rises in the dead of night to pass it around.
خَفيفا مَليحاً في قَميصٍ مُقَلِّصٍ
وُجبَّةُ خَزٍّ لَم تُشَدُّ زُرورُها
slender and handsome, in a shortened shirt
Nimble and handsome, wearing a tucked-up shirt,
and a robe of silk brocade, its buttons left unfastened.
And a silken robe whose buttons are left unfastened.
وَجاريَةٍ في كَفِّها عودُ بربَطٍ
يجاوِبُها عِندَ الترَنُّمِ زِيرُها
And a singing slave-girl, a barbat lute in her palm;
And a singing-girl holding a Persian lute in her hand,
its treble string answers her whenever she sings.
Its highest string answering her as she begins to hum.
إِذا حَرَّكَتهُ الكَفُّ قُلتُ حَمامة
تُجيبُ عَلى أَغصانِ أَيكٍ تَصورها
Whenever her hand set it vibrating, I would say: a dove
When her hand strikes the strings, you would say it is a dove,
answering among the branches of a grove that shelters her,
Replying from the swaying branches of a thicket,
تُجاوِب قُمْريّاً أَغَنَّ مطوَّقاً
شَقائِقُهُ مَنشورَةٌ وَشَكيرُها
answering a deep-voiced, ring-necked turtledove,
Answering a nasal-voiced, collared turtle-dove,
with the grove’s anemones spread wide and its young shoots.
Whose primary feathers are fully spread, along with its down.
إِذا غَرَّدَت عند الضَحاء حَسِبتَها
نَوائحُ ثَكلى أَوجَعتها قُبورُها
When she warbled in the bright forenoon, you would take her for
When she warbles in the mid-morning, you would think her
bereaved women wailing, wounded by the graves of their dead.
A chorus of mourning mothers, deeply pained by their graves.
وَكأسٍ كعينِ الديكِ قَبلَ صِياحِهِ
شَرِبتُ بِزهر لَم يَضرني ضَريرُها
And many a cup, like a cock’s eye before its crowing,
And many a cup, red as a rooster's eye before its crowing,
I drank among radiant companions; its harm did me no harm.
I drank among radiant companions, unharmed by its potency.
فَما ذَرَّ قرنُ الشَمسِ حَتّى كَأَنَّها
أَرى قَريةً حَولي تَزَلزَلُ دُورُها
No sooner had the rim of the sun risen than it seemed
Yet no sooner did the horn of the sun rise, than it seemed
I saw a village around me, its houses rocking.
I saw the village around me, its houses quaking.
Sol 5.6