بَكَت مِثلَما أَبكي وَفاضَت دُموعُها

وَلَم تُفشِ أَسراراً كَفَيضِ دُموعي

She wept just as I weep, and her tears overflowed;

Yet she did not divulge secrets as the flood of my tears divulges mine:

إِشارَةُ مَظلومٍ وَعَبرَةُ عاشِقٍ

وَغَصَّةُ مَأسورٍ وَلَونُ مَروعِ

The gesture of one wronged, the tear of a lover,

The choking grief of a captive, and the pallor of one terrified.

أَقامَت إِلى بَحرِ الظَلامِ أَسِنَّةً

فَلَم يَلقَها إِلّا بِخَلعِ دُروعِ

She arrayed lance-points against the sea of darkness,

And it could meet her only by casting off its armor.

عَجِبتُ لَها وَاللَيلُ مَقتولُ نورِها

وَما مِنهُ بَل مِنها مَسيلُ نَجيعُ

I marveled at her: the night lay slain by her light,

Yet the stream of lifeblood came not from the slain night, but from her.