هَل في الصَّبا من عُرِيبِ الُمنحنى نَفسُ

أَم خَامَرَ البانَ مِن أَعطافِهِم مَيَسُ

Is there a gazelle at Saba bending down her neck in the thicket of tangled trees,

While the morning dew dampens their twigs with the moisture of pearls?

أَكوكَبٌ في دُجى اللَّيلِ البَهيمِ بدا

أم لاحَ للعينِ في نيرانِهِم قَبَسُ

As if a planet of the night shone out during its gloom,

Or the fireflies gleamed in the darkness of their thickets.

يا بَرقُ هاكَ فُؤادي ثُمَّ لاقِ بهِ

أُهَيل نَجدٍ فهذا منِكَ أَلتمِسُ

O lightning flash, craze my heart, then heal it,

For it is the knights of Najd that I implore.

واحذر عَلَيهِ عُيونَ العِينِ إِذ سَفَرت

عَنها البراقعُ أَو جادَت بِها الكُنُسُ

Beware that the spying eyes do not observe him

Whether the veils are removed or the convents appear.

وَخلِّهِ بَينَ بانِ الجِزعِ في دَعَةٍ

حَيثُ الثُّغورُ الأَقاحِ الغُضُّ واللُّعُسُ

Place him amid the panic of the startled one,

Where the borders abound with weakness, and misery.

وَقُل لِسُكَّانِهِ هذا مَريضُكُمُ

من لاعِجِ الوَجدِ والأَشواقِ مُنتَكسُ

And say to the people of the place that this is your sick one,

Who languishes from the agony of love and desires.

لَو مَرَّ ذكرُ سِواكُم في سَريرتِهِ

وَهَمَّ بالنُّطقِ يَوماً نَالَهُ خَرَسُ

Had he recalled your memory in his inner thoughts

And wished to speak one day, dumbness would seize him.

وَزورَةٍ في فُؤادِ اللَّيلِ جادَ بِها

مُمَنَّعق بالحِمَى طابَت بِهِ الخُلَسُ

With a visitation in the heart of the night it came to him

Riding the fever, approved with its visions.

بِتنَا مِنَ اللَّيلِ في لُحفٍ مُحَبَّرةٍ

والرَّملُ فَرشٌ ومن شهبِ الدُّجَى حَرَسُ

We passed from the night in embroidered wraps,

While the sands were a carpet and meteors stood guard.

وَصلٌ أَلذُّ مِنَ الماءِ الزُّلالِ لَدى ال

ظَّامي فلا رِيبَةٌ فيهِ وَلا دَنَسُ

A more delightful night than cool water for the thirsty one in the dark,

No doubt in it and no impurity.