علِقتُهُ سَبَجِيَّ اللَونِ فاحِمَةُ

ما ابيضَّ مِنهُ سِوى ثَغرٍ حَكى الدُرَرا

I fell for him—jet-black in hue, coal-dark.

Nothing in him was white but a mouth that mirrored pearls.

قَد صاغَهُ مِن سَوادِ العَينِ خالِقُهُ

فَكُلُّ عَينٍ إِلَيهِ تُدمِنُ النَظَرا

His Creator fashioned him from the blackness of the eye,

so every eye becomes addicted to gazing at him.

كَأَنَّما هُوَ مرآةٌ تُقابلُهُ

مِنَ الوَرى أَنفُسٌ قَد أُودِعَت صُوَرا

It is as though he were a mirror, faced

by souls among mankind, each entrusted with a form.

تِلكَ اللَواتي غَدَت في الحُسنِ مُشرِقَةً

لَفاقَتِ النَيِّرَينِ الشَمسَ وَالقَمَرا

Those are the forms that grew radiant in beauty

and surpassed the two luminaries—the sun and the moon.

تَقَسَّمت لَونَهُ الأَبصارُ وَالِهَةً

في حُسنِهِ فَإِذا إِنسانُها بَصَرا

Lovestruck eyes divided his color among themselves

through his beauty—and behold, their pupils became sight.

لَولا سَوادٌ بِها مِنهُ لَما نَظَرَت

وَلَم يَكُن عاشِقٌ بِالعَينِ قَد سُحِرا

Had they not held some of his blackness, they would never have seen,

nor would any lover ever have been bewitched through the eye.

نُوبِيُّ جِنسٍ فُؤادي مِنهُ في نُوَبٍ

مُستَعجِمٌ أَفصَحَت في وَصفِهِ الشُعَرا

A Nubian by race—through him my heart is seized by spell after spell.

Foreign-tongued himself, yet poets grew eloquent in describing him.

مِن آلِ حامٍ أَخي سامٍ وَيافثِهِ

بِحُسنِهِ استعبَدَ السامِينَ وَالخَزَرا

Descended from Ham, brother of Shem and Japheth;

with his beauty he enslaved the Semites and the Khazars.

مُكَمَّلُ الخَلقِ مِن فَرقٍ إِلى قَدَمٍ

مُذَلَّلُ الخُلقِ مِطواعٌ إِذا أُمِرا

Perfect in form, from crown to foot,

submissive in nature, readily obedient when commanded.