لَنا مَجْلِسٌ لو لم تَغِبْ عنه كاملٌ

وجامعَةٌ شَمْلَ السُّرورِ شَمولُ

We have a gathering—if only you, Kamil, were not absent—

and an all-embracing company that gathers joy’s scattered fellowship:

ربَيبَةُ عُمْرِ الزَّعْفرانِ ذَكِيَّةٌ

شَمائِلُها للزَّعفرانِ شُكُولُ

a fragrant fosterling of saffron’s lifetime,

whose qualities are counterparts to saffron’s own.

تَضَمَّنَها في بيتِ عُزْرَةَ قائمٌ

على فَردِ رِجْلٍ فيه ليسَ يَميلُ

A standing vessel encloses her within a virgin house,

upon a single leg, yet never leaning there.

يُحدُّرُ في الأكنانِ حيّاً مُسنَّداً

ويُصْلَبُ في الجُدْرانِ وهوَ قَتيلُ

It is lodged alive in alcoves, upright and supported,

and crucified upon walls when dead.

بأخضر تبدو منه للعين لجةٌ

تَلاقَتْ دَبورٌ فوقَها وقَبولُ

Within its green, a surging sea appears to the eye,

above which west wind and east wind meet.

تَبَيَّض بالكافورِ لا أنَّ نَشْرَه

يَقِلُّ ولكنَّ السَّماحَ جَميلُ

She is whitened with camphor—not because her fragrance

falls short, but because generosity is beautiful.

وأبيضَ صافٍ خلصته من القذى

شمالٌ جلَتْ مَتْنَيْهِ فهو صَقيلُ

And clear white water, purified of every mote,

polished on both flanks by a north wind until it gleams.

يَرُدُّ على الصَهَّباءِ بَرْدَ فُؤادِها

إذا زارَها منه أخٌ وخَليلُ

It restores to tawny wine the coolness of her heart

whenever some of it visits her as brother and friend.

كأنَّ حَصى الياقوتِ نَهْبُ أكُفِّنا

يَذوبُ عليها تارةً ويَسيلُ

As though ruby pebbles, plunder for our palms,

were melting upon them now and flowing.

ومحبوسَةُ الأنفاسِ مَجروحَةُ الحَشا

يُخَفِّفُ عنها الصَّبُّ وهو ثَقيلُ

And one whose breath is imprisoned, whose belly is wounded—

the impassioned pourer relieves her, though he is heavy.

كأنَّ شَمالاً صافَحَتْ صَفْوَ مائِها

وليسَ إليه للشَّمالِ سَبيلُ

As though a north wind had clasped her limpid water,

although no north wind has any path to it.

ترى أسمحَ الفِتيانِ يَطلُبُ نَيْلَها

على أنَّه طَلْقُ اليدَيْنِ مُنِيلُ

You see the most generous of youths seeking to win her,

though bright-browed and himself a munificent giver.

إذا لم يَكُنْ للماءِ ظِلٌّ يَكُنُّه

فَسِربالُها ظِلٌّ عليه ظَليلُ

If the water has no shade to shelter it,

her mantle casts over it shade upon shade.

وقد حَجَبَ الجُدرانَ عن كلِّ ناظِرٍ

منَ الرَّيْطِ مبَلولٌ صَباه بَليلُ

The walls are veiled from every observer

by fine, wetted linen, its east breeze moist.

حِجابٌ من الكَتَّانِ رَقَّ هَواؤُه

كأنَّ هجيرَ اليَومِ فيه أصيلُ

A curtain of linen whose air has grown gentle,

as though the day’s blazing noon within it were late afternoon.

يُرَشُّ بماءِ الوَرْدِ حتى ترى له

دُموعاً على ما اخضلَّ منه تجولُ

It is sprinkled with rosewater until you see upon it

tears roaming over all that has grown drenched.

فإنْ أنتَ لم تُدْرِكْ ثِقاتَكَ عاجلاً

طلعْتَ عليهم والعُقولُ أفولُ

If you do not reach your trusted companions quickly,

you will rise upon them while their minds are setting.