ما رَحَّلوا بانوا البُزَّلَ العيسا
إِلّا وَقَد حَمَلوا فيها الطَواويسا
Whenever they packed their bags and left Buzaala,
They would surely take with them doves.
مِن كُلِّ فاتِكَةِ الأَلحاظِ مالِكَةٍ
تَخالُها فَوقَ عَرشِ الدُرِّ بِلقيسا
With glances that enchant, each a queen,
You'd think them throned above a galaxy of pearls.
إِذا تَمَشَّت عَلى صَرحِ الزُجاجِ تَرى
شَمساً عَلى فَلَكٍ في حِجرِ إِدريسا
When she walks on glass palaces you see
A sun orbiting, in the hand of Idris, a sphere.
تُحيي إِذا قُتِلَت بِاللَحظِ مَنطِقَها
كَأَنَّها عِندَما تُحيي بِهِ عيسى
Her gaze, if it killed, its eloquence
Would revive, as Jesus did, the dead with a mere breath.
تَوراتُها لَوحُ ساقَيها سَناً وَأَنا
أَتلو وَأَدرُسُها كَأَنَّني موسى
Her Torah is the tablets of her legs, and I
Recite and study them as if I were Moses.
أُسقُفَّةٌ مِن بَناتِ الرومِ عاطِلَةٌ
تَرى عَلَيها مِنَ الأَنوارِ ناموسا
Bishops of Rome's girls are unemployed;
You'd see halos of light around them.
وَحشِيَّةٌ ما بِها أُنسٌ قَد اِتَّخَذَت
في بَيتِ خَلوتِها لِلذِّكرِ ناووسا
And a lonely woman who has no company has made
Her private room a monastery for chanting God's name.
قَد أَعجَزَت كُلَّ عَلّامٍ بِمِلَّتِنا
وَداوُدِيّاً وَحِبراً ثُمَّ قِسّيسا
She has confounded every scholar of our faith,
Davidic singers, rabbis, priests and bishops too.
إِن أَومَأَت تَطلُبُ الإِنجيلَ تَحسَبُها
أَقِسَّةً أَو بَطاريقاً شَماميسا
If she gestures, seeking the Bible, you'd suppose her
A Coptic pope or patriarch, a deacon.
نادَيتُ إِذ رَحَّلَت لِلبَنينَ ناقَتَها
يا حادِيَ العيسِ لا تَحدو بِها العيسا
As she packed her camel's bags for Baniin,
"O guide," I cried, "do not take her to Buzaala!"
عَبَّيتُ أَجيادَ صَبري يَومَ بَينِهِمُ
عَلى الطَريقِ كَراديساً كَراديسا
I reined my steeds of patience the day they left,
Along the road, many times over.
سَأَلتُ إِذ بَلَغَت نَفسي تَراقِيَها
ذاكَ الجَمالَ وَذاكَ اللُطفَ تَنفيسا
When she reached the peak of my soul's desire,
I asked for that beauty, that charm, as solace.
فَأَسلَمَت وَوَقانا اللَهُ شِرَّتَها
وَزَحزَحَ المَلِكُ المَنصورُ إِبليسا
She submitted, and God protected us from her evil,
As the King, the Helper, banished Iblis.
