أنا قِناعٌ لي
بحُسْنيَ السّبْقُ
I am a veil, and mine is
I am a veil, and mine—
preeminence through beauty.
by my beauty—is the first place.
فالكَتْبُ عنْ وصْفي
يعْجِزُ والنُّطْقُ
For writing, in describing me,
So writing, when it turns to describe me,
falls short—and speech as well.
falls short, and speech falls short as well.
رامَ اشتِباهاً بي
في شُهْبِه الأفْقُ
The one that sought to resemble me
It sought to be mistaken for me,
was the horizon with its shooting stars;
the horizon, with all its blazing stars,
ففاقَهُ ثوْبي
إنْ حُقّقَ الحَقُّ
yet my robe surpassed it,
but my robe surpassed it,
if truth be given its due.
if the truth be rightly told.
غَمامةً أبْدو
طِرازيَ البرْقُ
As a cloud I appear;
As a cloud I appear,
lightning is my embroidery.
my embroidered border the lightning,
والوجْهُ لي شمْسٌ
أطْلَعَها الشّرقُ
And the face beneath me is a sun
and the face that is mine, a sun
that the East has caused to rise.
that the East has raised on high.
Sol 5.6