خَرَجَت إِلَيكَ وَثَوبُها مَقلوبُ

وَلِقَلبِها طَرَباً إِلَيكَ وَجيبُ

She came out to you with her dress inside out

And her heart was beating wildly for you

وَكَأَنَّها في الدارِ حينَ تَعَرَّضَت

ظَبيٌ تَعَلَّلَ بِالفَلا مَرعوبُ

As if she were in the house when she saw you

A frightened gazelle tangled in branches

وَتَبَسَّمَت فَأَتَتكَ حينَ تَبَسَّمَت

بِجُمانِ دُرٍّ لَم يَشِنهُ ثُقوبُ

She smiled and came to you when she smiled

With a string of unpierced pearls

وَدَّعَتكَ داعِيَةُ الصِبا فَتَطَرَّبَت

نَفسٌ إِلى داعي الضَلالِ طَروبُ

The morning caller bid you farewell, so you were delighted

A soul calling to the misguidance of perdition

حَسِبتُكَ في حالِ الغَرامِ كَعَهدِها

في الدارِ إذ غُصنُ الشَبابِ رَطيبُ

I thought you were as in days of love

When the branch of youth was fresh

وعرفت ما في نفسها فضممتها

فتساقطت بهنانةٌ عبوب

And I knew what was in her soul, so I squeezed it

And there fell from it scented buds

وقبضت ذاك الشيء قبضة شاهن

فنزا إليّ عضنّكٌ حلبوب

I grasped that thing with the grasp of warriors

And there flowed to me your pressed juice

بيدي الشّمال وللشّمال لطافة

ليست لأخرى والأديب أريب

With my left hand, and the left hand has a subtlety

That no other has, and the poet is clever

فأصاب كفّي منه حين لمسته

بللٌ كماء الورد حين يسيب

So from it, when I touched it, my palm was wet

With dew like rosewater when it flows

وتحلّلت نفسي للذّة رشحه

حتى خشيت على الفؤاد يذوب

And my soul melted from the pleasure of its dripping

Until I feared for my heart it would melt

فتقاعس الملعون عنه وربّما

ناديته خيراً فليس يجيب

But the damned thing recoiled from it, and maybe

I called it good, but it would not respond

وأبى فحقّق في الإباء كأنّه

جانٍ يقاد إلى الرّدى مكروب

And it refused, truly refusing as if

It were a jinn led to perdition, troubled

وتغضّنت جنباته فكأنّه

كيرٌ تقادم عهده مثقوب

And its sides shook as if

It were an old wineskin worn through with holes

حتى إذا ما الصبح لاح عموده

قبساً وحان من الظلام ذهوب

Until when the light of dawn shone, a torch

And the vanishing of darkness drew near

ساءلتها خجلاً أما لك حاجة

عندي فقالت ساخر وحروب

I asked her shyly, "Don't you need anything

From me?" She said mockingly, "Get lost!"

قالت حر أمّك إذا أردت وداعها

قرنٌ وفيه عوارضٌ وشعوب

She said, "Damn your mother! When you want to bid her farewell

There's a horn, with cracks and holes in it!"