مُخفَّفةٌ مُثَقَّلةٌ تراها

كأنْ لم يَغْذُ نِصْفَيها غِذاءُ

Delicate, yet heavy-laden, you see her,

As if half her being was deprived of nourishment.

إذا الإغبابُ جَدَّد حسنَ شيءٍ

من الأشياءِ جَدَّدها اللقاءُ

When absence renews the beauty of something,

Of things, it is presence that renews her.

لها ريقٌ تَشِفُّ له الثنايا

وتَروِي عنه لا مِنه الظِّماءُ

She has saliva that pleases the lips

And quenches thirst but does not slake it.

وأنفاسٌ كأنفاسِ الخُزامَى

قبيلَ الصبحِ بَلَّتها السماءُ

And breaths like the breaths of young gazelles

Before dawn when the sky rains upon them.

تنفّسَ نشرُها سحَراً فجاءت

به سَحَريّةُ المَسْرَى رُخاءُ

Her breathing spreads magic at dawn, so it came

With it the ease of enchantment smiled.