وأَتاكَ بالنَّيْرُوزِ شَوْقٌ حافِزٌ

وتَطَلُّعٌ للزَّوْر غِبَّ تَطلعِ

With Nowruz there came to you a driving longing,

and eager watch for visitors after long expectancy.

وافاكَ في زَمَن عَجِيبٍ مُونِقٍ

وأَتاكَ في زَهْرٍ كَرِيمٍ مُمْتِعِ

It reached you in a wondrous, radiant time,

and came to you amid noble, delightful bloom.

فانظُر إِلى حُسْن الرَّبِيعِ وقَدْ جَلَتْ

عن ثَوْبِ نَوْرٍ للربِيعِ مُجَزَّعِ

Behold the beauty of spring, now shining forth

from spring’s flowered robe, striped with color.

فكأَنَّ نَرْجِسَهَا وقَد حَشَدَتْ به

زهْرُ النُّجُومِ تقارَبَتْ في مَطْلَعِ

Its narcissi seem, as there gather about them

starry blossoms clustered close at their rising,

أَوْ أَعْيُنُ الأَحْبَابِ حين تَرَاسَلَتْ

باللَّحْظِ تَحْتَ تَخَوُّفٍ وتوقُّعِ

or like the eyes of lovers as they exchange

glances with one another, fearful and expectant.

وَبِها البَنَفْسَجُ قد حكى بخُضُوعِهِ

وقُنُوِّ لَوْنٍ في سَوَادٍ مُشْبَعِ

And there the violet, by its bowed humility, mimics,

and by a hue deepening into saturated black,

خَدَّ الحَبِيبِ وقَد عَضَضْتَ بِجَنَّةٍ

فشَكا إلَيْكَ بأَنَّةٍ وتوجُّعِ

the beloved’s cheek, which you bit in a garden;

then it complained to you with a moan of pain.

وكأَنَّمَا خيريُّهَا تَحْتَ الدُّجَى

بَيْنَ الأَزَاهِرِ قَامَ كالمُتَطَلِّعِ

Its gillyflower beneath the darkness seems

to stand among the blossoms like one peering out,

يَرْجُو زِيَارَةَ مَن يُحِبُّ لِوَعْدِهِ

كَلَفاً فباتَ مُرَاقِباً لم يَهْجَعِ

hoping for the promised visit of the one he loves—

love-struck, he kept watch all night and never slept.