أَلا دارِها بِالماءِ حَتّى تُلينَها

فَلَن تُكرِمَ الصَهباءَ حَتّى تَهينَها

Soften her with water lest her dryness resists you,

Mix her with water, temper her spirit until she softens,

And honor not the blonde till you humiliate her.

For you do not honor the vintage until you demean her.

أُغالي بِها حَتّى إِذا ما مَلَكتُها

أَهَنتُ لِإِكرامِ الخَليلِ مَصونَها

I insist on her till I possess and master her,

I pay a fortune to win her, yet once I possess her,

Then I humble myself to please my intimate friend.

I squander her guarded treasure to honor a friend.

وَصَفراءَ قَبلَ المَزجِ بَيضاءَ بَعدَهُ

كَأَنَّ شُعاعَ الشَمسِ يَلقاكَ دونَها

Yellow before blending, white after it,

Golden before the mingling, turning pale light thereafter,

As if the sun's rays meet you because of her.

As though the sun's own rays confront you from within.

تَرى العَينَ تَستَعفيكَ مِن لَمَعانِها

وَتَحسِرُ حَتّى ما تُقِلَّ جُفونَها

The eye begs you to spare it from her radiance,

The eye pleads for mercy from her piercing brilliance,

And blinks repeatedly till the eyelids can scarcely open.

And shrinks away, too weary to lift its lids.

تَروغُ بِنَفسِ المَرءِ عَمّا يَسوءُهُ

وَتَجدُلُهُ أَلّا يَزالَ قَرينَها

She captivates a man's soul from what harms him,

She beguiles a man's soul away from his sorrows,

And makes him her constant companion.

And binds him fast to remain her eternal mate.

كَأَنَّ يَواقيتاً عَواكِفَ حَولَها

وَزُرقَ سَنانيرٍ تُديرُ عُيونَها

As if rubies surround her watchfully,

As if encrusted rubies were clinging around her,

And sapphires revolve their eyes around her.

And blue-eyed cats were rolling their gleaming gaze.

وَشَمطاءَ حَلَّ الدَهرُ عَنها بِنَجوَةٍ

دَلَفتُ إِلَيها فَاستَلَلتُ جَنينَها

And a brunette whom fate has stripped of her veil,

And a gray-haired matron whom Time has left in solitude—

I drew near and probed her embryo.

I crept unto her and drew forth her unborn child.

كَأَنّا حُلولٌ بَينَ أَكنافِ رَوضَةٍ

إِذا ما سَلَبناها مَعَ اللَيلِ طينَها

As if we are secluded in the bosom of a garden,

It seemed we dwelt amidst the folds of a garden,

When we steal her at night along with her clay.

When, with the night, we stripped away her clay.