رأيتُ في البستان إنسانةً

صفراء للألباب سلاَّبَهْ

I saw in the garden a yellow woman

Whose mind was foolishly dressed

كأنّها لمَّا بدَتْ ظبيةٌ

من الظباء العُفْر مُرْتَابَهْ

As if when she appeared, a gazelle

Of the gazelles, confused in her dress

أَذْهب ماءُ الحسن تَفْضِيضَها

فَجوَّد الخالق إذهابَه

The water of her beauty was flowing away

So the Creator improved her dress

يا حسنَها تُومي بِنيلُوفَرٍ

قد ركّبته فوق عُنَّابه

O her beauty that is clad in cornflowers

Which she put atop her cloak

تَشَمُّه طوراً وأرواحُها

على رياح النَّوْر غلابهْ

She smells it sometimes and her soul

Is victorious over the winds of light

فقلتُ نِيلُوفَرةٌ هذه

أَمْ بفؤادي أنتِ لعَّابَه

So I said, is this a cornflower

Or are you playing with my heart