يا نَظرَةً ساقَت إِلى ناظِرٍ

أَسبابَ ما تَدعو إِلى حَتفِهِ

O glance that led a beholder

O glance that drove the beholder

To the causes of his demise

To the very causes of his own destruction,

مِن حُبِّ ظَبيٍ حَسَنٍ دَلُّهُ

يُقَصِّرُ الواصِفُ عَن وَصفِهِ

From love of a fair gazelle whose charm

For the love of a gazelle, beautiful in his coquetry,

Eludes the describer’s enterprise

Whose description exceeds the power of the describer,

في البَدرِ مِن صَفحَتِهِ لَمحَةٌ

وَلَمحَةٌ في الظَبيِ مِن طَرفِهِ

The moon’s orb glimpsed in his cheek

In the full moon, there is but a glimpse of his cheek,

A glimpse in the gazelle’s eye

And in the wild gazelle, but a trace of his eye,

إِذا مَشى جاذَبَهُ رِدفُهُ

كَأَنَّما يَمشي إِلى خَلفِهِ

When he walks, pulled by his rump

When he walks, the weight of his hips tugs at him,

As if walking backwards awry

As though he were walking backwards,

مَواقِعُ الأَنفاسِ في ثَغرِهِ

وَفي ثَناياهُ وَفي كَفِّهِ

Where breaths alight on his mouth

The resting places of sweet breaths lie in his mouth,

And in his curves and palm—descry!

And within his front teeth, and in his palm,

اِبنُ ثَمانٍ بَعدَها أَربَعٌ

طِفلٌ وَكَهلُ السِنِّ في ظُرفِهِ

A son of eight, and four more years:

A son of eight years, followed by four,

A boy yet ripe in his prime

A child, yet possessing a mature man's wit in his charm.