وَقَوافٍ سَقَيتُ مِنها وَلِيّاً

حُلوَها وَالعَدُوُّ يُسقى المَريرَا

And rhymes whose meaning and wording I have steeped—

in their sweetness—while what is for my enemy serves the bitter draught.

وَكَأَنَّ السُطورَ كانَت زُنوداً

قَدَحَت أَن قَرَأتَها لَكَ نورا

The written lines seemed to be fire-sticks

that struck out light when I read them to you.

إِنَّ يَوماً أَراكَ فيهِ لَيَومٌ

يَلبِسُ الأُفقَ مُشمِساً وَمَطيرا

Surely a day on which I see you is a day

when the horizon clothes itself in sunshine and rain.

لا وَمَن شَقَّ في يَدَيكَ بُحوراً

فَتَسَمّى الحَيا إِلَيكَ قَطيرا

No—by Him who cleft seas within your hands,

so that rain, beside you, calls itself a mere trickle.

إِنَّ لِلَهِ فيكَ سِرّاً جَلِيّا

يُظهِرُ اللَهُ مِنهُ أَمراً كَبيرا

Indeed, God has in you a manifest secret;

from it God will reveal a momentous thing:

ذاكَ أَن تَنظِمَ الكَواكِبَ تاجاً

ثُمَّ تَعلو عَلى السَماءِ السَريرا

that you shall string the stars into a crown,

then mount the throne above the sky.