زارَت سُليمى وَالخُطا يَقتَفي

آثارَها مِن ذَيلِها ماحِ

Sulayma visited while darkness pursued

Her trail from the end of her dress as it flowed

تُخفي مُحَيّاها ليَخفى السُرى

حذارَ أَن يَنتَبِه اللاحي

She hid her smile so the secret was kept

Beware the watcher not waken from sleep

وَهَل يواري اللَّيلُ مَن لَم يَزَل

مِن نُورِها بالمَنظَرِ الضَّاحي

Can night conceal one who always shone

With light, to the seer a torch ever-glowed?

لو لَم يُجِرها إِذ سَرَتْ فَرعُها

عَلى الدُّجى هَمَّ بإِصْباحِ

Had her branch not pulled her when she set out

Cross the gloom, dawn had neared at her goad

فَبِتُّ وَالحيُّ عَلى رِقبَةٍ

أَكرَعُ حَتَّى الفَجرِ في راحِ

So I and the living on tenterhooks stayed

Till morn in relief from the dark shadowed road

فأَيُّنا أَظهَرُ سُكرا وَما

عاثَتْ يَدٌ فينا بِأَقداحِ

And which of us showed more drunkenness here—

What hand dealt between us the wine that bestowed?

أَقَدُّها أَم طَرفُها أَم أَنا

ثَلاثَةٌ ما فيهِمُ صاحِ

Was it her glance, or her down, or was I—

Three blameless yet reeling while morning crowed

ثُمَّ اِنثَنَتْ تَمشي عَلى خِيفَةٍ

خِلالَ أَسيافٍ وَأَرماحِ

Then she bent to walk cautiously on

Through swords and spears in her delicate mode

بِمَنزِلٍ تَشرَقُ أَرجاؤُهُ

بِكُلِّ وافي اللُبِّ جَحجاحِ

To a place where light shone in every room

With the flames of hearts by desire avowed

مُعتَقِلٍ خَطِّيَّةً لَدْنَةً

تَفجَعُ أَبداناً بِأَرواحِ

A refuge, gentle and delicate, that

Made bodies weep, bereft of their souls

وَبالحِمى مُستَعطِراً مِن ثَرىً

كالمَندَلِيِّ الرَّطْبِ نَفّاحِ

With a meadow, scented from loam like the moist

Mandrake issuing perfume as it showed

أَروَعُ لَم يَشرَعْ صَرى مَنهَلٍ

تَغَمُّرَ العَيرِ بِضَحضاحِ

A wondrous watering-place none had e’er oped

To drench the wayfarer’s limbs, bathe his load

جِفانُهُ تَلمَعُ لِلمُعتَري

في العُسرِ وَاليُسرِ كَأَنضاحِ

Its streams shine to the wanderer in grief

And joy alike, cascade on cascade flowed