رقّ النسيمُ وغنّتِ الأطبارُ

وصفا المُدامُ وضجّتِ الأوتار

The breeze grew gentle, and the birds sang;

the wine grew limpid, and the strings rang loud.

وصفا السمِّاك إلى المغيب وقد بدا

نجمُ الصباحِ كأنّهُ دينارُ

Al-Simāk shone clear as it neared its setting, while there appeared

the morning star, as though it were a dinar.

وكأنّما الجوزاء مِعصمُ قَينةٍ

والأفقُ كفٌّ والهلالُ سِوارُ

Al-Jawzāʾ seemed the wrist of a songstress,

the horizon her hand, and the crescent a bracelet.

فكأنّما زهرُ النجومِ فوارس

تبغي السباقَ لها الدُّجى مضمارُ

It was as though the radiant stars were horsemen

seeking to race, with darkness as their course.

يا حبّذا ليلات رامةَ إنّها

كانت لياليَ كلُّها أسحارُ

How delightful were the nights of Rāmah! Truly, they

were nights made wholly of pre-dawn hours.

إن لم تكن وطني فلي بربوعها

وَطَرٌ وأوطانُ الفتى الأوطارُ

Though it was not my homeland, within its quarters

lay a heart’s desire—and a young man’s homelands are his desires.

لا ذنبَ إلا للقلوبِ فإنها

تهوى وإن لم تعلمِ الأبصارُ

No blame falls except upon hearts, for they

love even when the eyes do not know.

أهدى لنا نَفَسُ الصبَّا أنفاسكُم

سَحَراً فقلت عسى الصبَّا عَطّارُ

The breath of the east wind brought us your breaths

at dawn; I said, “Perhaps the east wind is a perfumer.”

وتمايلت للسكرِ باناتُ الحمِى

حتى كأنّ نسيمَهُ خَمّارُ

The bān trees of the protected grounds swayed with intoxication,

until it seemed their very breeze was a wine-seller.