لا تَبكِ رَسماً بِجانِبِ السَنَدِ
وَلا تَجُد بِالدُموعِ لِلجَرَدِ
Do not weep for a ruin by the riverbank,
Nor pour out your tears for the barren waste,
وَلا تُعَرِّج عَلى مُعَطَّلَةٍ
وَلا أَثافٍ خَلَت وَلا وَتَدِ
Do not turn aside for a desolate abode,
Nor for abandoned hearth-stones, nor a tent-peg,
وَمِل إِلى مَجلِسٍ عَلى شَرَفٍ
بِالكَرخِ بَينَ الحَديقِ مُعتَمَدِ
But turn instead to a gathering in a noble place,
In Al-Karkh, a sanctuary amidst the gardens,
مُمَهَّدٍ صُفِّفَت نَمارِقُهُ
في ظِلِّ كَرمٍ مُعَرَّشٍ خَضِدِ
A prepared setting where cushions are lined in rows,
In the shade of a trellised, heavy-laden vine,
قَد لَحَفَتكَ الغُصونُ أَردِيَةً
فَيَومُكَ الغَضُّ بِالنَعيمِ نَدي
Where branches have draped you in their leafy cloaks,
So your fresh day is moist with bliss.
ثُمَّ اِصطَبِح مِن أَميرَةٍ حُجِبَت
عَن كُلِّ عَينٍ بِالصَونِ وَالرَصَدِ
Then take a morning draught of a princess, veiled
From every eye by strict custody and watch;
لَم يَرَها خاطِبٌ فَيُمنَعَها
وَلا دَعاهُ لَها أَخو فَنَدِ
No suitor has seen her to be refused,
Nor has any fool summoned one to her.
مَحجوبَةٌ في مَقيلِ حَوبَتِها
تِسعينَ عاماً مَحسوبَةَ العَدَدِ
She is sequestered in the resting place of her cask,
For ninety years, strictly counted;
لَم تَعرِفِ الشَمسُ أَنَّها خُلِقَت
وَلا اِختِلافُ الحَرورِ وَالصَرَدِ
The sun never knew she was created,
Nor the shifting of scorching heat and biting cold;
بَينَ فَسيلٍ يَحُفُّها خَضِلٍ
وَبَينَ آسٍ بِالرَيِّ مُنفَرِدِ
Hidden amidst moist palm shoots that surround her,
And fresh myrtle, solitary in its watering.
في كُلِّ يَومٍ يَظَلُّ قَيِّمُها
مُكَبَّلاً كَالأَسيرِ في صَفَدِ
Every day, her keeper remains
Bound like a captive in shackles,
مُزَمزِماً حَولَها وَمُرتَنِماً
يَرجو بِصَونٍ لَها غِنى الأَبَدِ
Muttering prayers around her and chanting,
Hoping, by guarding her, for eternal wealth,
حَتّى بَذَلنا بِعَقرِها مِئَةً
صَفراءَ تَبدو بِكَفِّ مُنتَقِدِ
Until we offered a hundred [gold coins] for her slaughter,
Yellow gold gleaming in the hand of the assayer.
