أَحَبُّ إِلَيَّ مِن وَخدِ المَطايا

بِموماةٍ يَتيهُ بِها الظَليمُ

More dear than camel litters' swaying

Dearer to me than the camels' brisk pace,

Through arid wastes at set of day

Through a wasteland wherein the male ostrich gets lost;

وَمِن نَعتِ الدِيارِ وَوَصفِ رَبعٍ

تَلوحُ بِهِ عَلى القِدَمِ الرُسومُ

Than praising friends and lands displaying

And dearer than praising old ruins and camps,

Where caravans have lost their way

Where traces faint shimmer, worn down by the past,

رِياضٌ بِالشَقائِقِ مونَقاتٌ

تَكَنَّفَ نَبتَها نَورٌ عَميمُ

Are meadows with anemones lighted

Are gardens adorned with the red anemone,

Whose flowers surround in glory bright

Whose verdure is clasped by an ocean of blooms;

كَأَنَّ بِها الأَقاحي حينَ تَضحى

عَلَيها الشَمسُ طالِعَةً نُجومُ

As sun at dawn shines newly sighted

As though the white daisies, when lit by the forenoon,

On bubbles in a fountain's height

Reflected the sun like a scattering of stars.

وَمَجلِسِ فِتيَةٍ طابوا وَطابَت

مَجالِسُهُم وَطابَ بِها النَعيمُ

And youths in circle seated gaily

And a gathering of youths—noble souls, noble seats—

Whose circles and their talk delight

Where pleasure is pure and the company sweet;

تُدارُ عَلَيهُمُ فيها عُقارٌ

مُعَتَّقَةٌ بِها يَصبو الحَليمُ

And wine in goblets passing daily

Where wine, rich and vintage, is passed round the circle,

The gentle pourer serves aright

An aged draft making the prudent yearn young;

كُؤوسٌ كَالكَواكِبِ دائِراتٌ

مَطالِعُها عَلى الفَلَكِ الأَديمُ

Like stars on orbit never resting

With cups like the planets that circle in orbit,

Their risings on heaven's expanse pendent

Ascending the sky of the palm of the hand.

يُحِثُّ بِها كَخوطِ البانِ ساقٍ

لَهُ مِن قَلبِيَ الحَظُّ الجَسيمُ

A thigh like milk with jewels cresting

It is poured out by one like a lithe willow branch,

Stirs longing in my breast resplendent

Who claims from my heart a miraculous share;

لِطَرفي مِنهُ ميعادٌ بِطَرفٍ

وَفي قَلبي بِلَحظَتِهِ كُلومُ

My eyes expect his eyes to meet them

My glance has a tryst with the glance of his eye,

His glance into my heart is sent

Though his gaze leaves my heart with a scattering of wounds.