أَتى زائِري مِن صُدغِهِ مِثلَ صَدِّهِ

وَقَد لاحَ دُرُّ الجَوِّ في لازَوَردِهِ

My visitor came to me, his cheek like his sword's edge,

And the pearl gleamed in his spittle like a sapphire.

فَعاطَيتُهُ صَفراءَ صِرفاً كَأَنَّما

عَلى كاسِها ما ضَمَّهُ عَقدُ عِقدِهِ

So I gave him a blonde, as if

On her cup was what his necklace embraced.

وَعانَقتُهُ مِن فَوقِ وَردِ فِراشِهِ

بِغَيرِ وِسادٍ غَيرَ خَدّي لِخَدِّهِ

And I embraced him above the bed's roses

With no pillow but my cheek to his.

إِلى أَن تَبَدّى الصُبحُ مِن خَلَلِ الرُبى

كَجِسمِ حُسامٍ سُلَّ مِن ثَوبِ غِمدِهِ

Until dawn broke through the dark

Like the body of a drawn sword from its sheath.