إنَّ شيراز بَلْدَةٌ لا يَكادُ ال

وَصْفُ يَأتِي وإنْ تَنَاهَى عَلَيهَا

Shiraz is a town that defies

Description, though you try your best.

لَيسَ تَدْري سُكَّانُها أسرُورُ

النَّفسِ يَأتِي من خَلْفِها أم لَدَيْهَا

Its people can’t tell whether the joy

They feel comes from without or within.

لَو رآهَا امرُؤٌ وأُدْخِلَ عَدْناً

سَأَلَ اللَّهَ أن يُرَدَّ إِليْهَا

If a man saw it who’d been in Paradise,

He’d ask God to send him back there again.