ما أنت إلا شادنٌ أو جؤذَرُ
بك منظرٌ يدعو إليكَ ومخبرُ
You are but a gazelle or an alluring doe
With a vision that beckons me and informs me
عينٌ يجولُ السحرُ في أجفانها
وفمٌ على شفتيه يجري السكَّر
An eye where magic wanders through its lids
And lips where sugar flows over them
ورشاقةٌ موموقةٌ ولباقةُ
وتفتُّلٌ مستملحٌ وتكسُّر
With restrained grace and polished manners
An alluring coquetry and allure
يا لعبةَ الجلساءِ يا رَامُشْنَةَ الن
دماءِ إن سكروا وإن لم يسكروا
O you, the comrade of the sitters, O the companion of those
Whether intoxicated or not intoxicated with red wine
أجَزِعِتَ أَنْ سالتْ بخدِّكَ لحيةٌ
هاتيك مسكٌ سائلٌ أو عنبر
You were disturbed that a beard flowed on your cheek
You are the one whose movements
أنت الذي للطَّرفِ في حركاتِهِ
من كلِّ ناحيةٍ سماتٌ تَزْهَرُ
From every side blossom with features
He earned manliness from his father and mother
حاز الفتوةَ عن أبيه وأُمه
ومضى على سَنتيهما يتبختر
And followed their exemplary ways arrogantly
Why does the gazelle not earn grace followed by him
لم لا يحوزُ الظَّرْفَ ظبيٌ حازه
مَنْ جانباه قينةٌ ومُخَنْكِرُ
Who was graced by an amiable side and good manners
Etiquette strengthened for him among us a way
قَوَّتْ له الآدابُ فينا سُنَّةً
عَرَضُ الفتوةِ في قُواها جوهر
The manifestation of manliness in its strength is essence
Do not listen to the slanderers and turn away
لا تُنْصِتَنْ للكاشحينَ وأَغضِ عَنْ
دعواهمُ فيما يقلُّ ويكثر
From their claims in little and much
And their saying that plants are distorted
ومقالهمْ إنَّ النباتَ مصوِّحٌ
في عارضيه والقليبَ مُعَوَّر
In their features and the hearts crooked
They lied and if they were truthful you would have responded
كذبوا ولو صدقوا لقلتَ معارضاً
هذا يحذَّف آنفاً وينوَّر
This is omitted immediately and illuminated
O gazelle of meadows you went away with known lineage
يا ظبيَ بروانٍ ذهبتَ بنسبةٍ
معروفةٍ ألفاظُها لا تُنْكَر
Whose words cannot be denied
What is the roughness in languages and its ways?
ماذا التوعّرُ في اللغاتِ وَطُرْقِها
إنّ اللغات طريقُها متوعِّر
Indeed the ways of languages are rough
In your stretching of cups and shrinking them
في مدِّ كفِّك للكؤوسِ وقصرِها
مندوحةٌ عمّا يُمَدُّ وَيُقْصَر
A margin from what is stretched and shrunk
Leave raising Zaid in speech and his substitution
دَعْ رفعَ زيدٍ في الكلامِ ونصبَهُ
ما النحوُ عندك أنت مما يُذْكَرُ
Grammar to you is not what is mentioned
So henna your hands for henna is eloquent
فاخضبْ يديكَ فللخضابِ بلاغةٌ
إِذ ليس يَمْلُحُ في يديك الدفتر
As the notebook does not look good in your hands
Is it valid for Al-Farra to be loved in
هل جائزٌ أن يُعشقَ الفرَّاءُ في
حُكْمِ الهوى أو أَنْ يناك الأَحْمر
The ruling of passion or to wink at the red one
