عَجِبتُ لِمَلبوسِ الحَريرِ وَإِنَّما

بَدَت كَبُنَيّاتِ النَقيعِ غَوازِلُه

I am amazed at the silk garment, yet

Its fringes seem like the flirtations of young gazelles

وَلَلشَّهدِ يَجني أَريَهُ مُتَرَنَّمٌ

كَذِبانِ غَيثٍ لَم تُضَيَّع جَوازِلُه

And the honey its collector gathers while humming

Like the lies of rain whose trails were not lost

كَأَنّي بِهَذا البَدرِ قَد زالَ نورُهُ

وَقَد دَرَسَت آثارُهُ وَمَنازِلُه

As if this full moon, its light has faded

And its vestiges and abodes have been erased

أَكانَ بِحُكمٍ مِن إِلهِكَ ناشِئاً

يُعاطي الثُرَيّا سِرَّهُ فَتُغازِلُه

Was it by decree of your God, arising

To whisper its secret, so it flirts with it

يَسيرُ بِتَقديرِ المَليكِ لِغايَةٍ

فَلا هُوَ آتيها وَلا السَيرُ هازِلُه

It travels by the destiny of the King to an end

But neither does it reach it, nor does its journey cease

أَلا هَل رَأَت هَذي الفَراقِدُ رُمِيَنا

فَراقِدَ في وَحشٍ رَعى الوَحشَ آزِلُه

Do not these sleeping in solitude see us

Sleeping in desolation, the desert their comrade?

فَإِن كانَ حَسّاساً مِنَ الشُهُبِ كَوكَبٌ

فَما ريعَ مِن قَبرٍ تَبَوَّأَ نازِلُه

If it senses old age like a planet,

No burial ground does its lodging frequent

مَتّى يَتَوَلّى الأَرضَ نِجمٌ فَإِنَّهُ

يَدومُ زَماناً ثُمَّ رَبُّكَ عازِلُه

When will a star take charge of the earth? For it

Endures a time, then your Lord deposes it

هُما فَتَيا دَهرٍ يَمُرّانِ بِالفَتى

فَلَو عُدَّ هَضبٌ غَيَّرَتهُ زَلازِلُه

They are two young men of fate passing the youth

Had he been firm mountains, its quakes would shake him

كَحِلفَي مُغارٍ كُلَّ يَومٍ وَلَيلَةٍ

عَلى الآلِ أَو في المالِ تَرغو بَوازِلُه

Like the oaths of a cave, each day and night

To family or wealth its calamities aspire