يا لَيتَني لِصٌّ لِأَسرُقَ في الضُحى

سِرَّ اللَطافَةِ في النَسيمِ الساري

Oh, if only I were a thief to steal at dawn

Oh, would that I were a thief, to steal in the morning light,

The secret of gentleness in the passing breeze,

The secret of gentleness in the drifting breeze,

وَأَجُسَّ مُؤتَلَقَ الجَمالِ بِإِصبَعي

في زُرقَةِ الأُفقِ الجَميلِ العاري

And to touch with my fingers the beauty's adornment

And to touch the shimmer of beauty with my finger,

In the blueness of the beautiful bare horizon.

In the azure of the beautiful, naked horizon,

وَيَبينَ لي كَنَهُ المَهابَةِ في الرُبى

وَالسِرُّ في جَذَلِ الغَديرِ الجاري

And to show me the essence of awe in the hillside,

That the essence of majesty in the hills might be revealed to me,

And the secret in the flowing stream's babble.

And the secret in the joy of the flowing stream,

وَالسِحرُ في الأَلوان وَالأَنغام وَال

أَنداء وَالأَشذاء وَالأَذهارِ

And the magic in colors, tunes and calls,

And the magic in the colors, the melodies, and the

Echoes, warblers, and flowers.

Dews, the fragrances, and the flowers,

وَبَشاشَةُ المَرجِ الخَصيب وَوَحشَةُ

الوادي الكَئيب وَصَولَةُ التَيّارِ

And the cheer of the fertile meadow, and the loneliness

And the cheer of the fertile meadow, and the desolation

Of the gloomy valley, and the clamor of the currents.

Of the gloomy valley, and the might of the current,

وَإِذا الدُجى أَرخى عَلَيَّ سُدولُهُ

أَدرَكتُ ما في اللَيلِ مِن أَسرارِ

And when the darkness casts over me its mantles,

And when the darkness lowers its curtains upon me,

I realize what secrets the night possesses.

I would perceive what secrets lie within the night,

فَلَكَم نَظَرتُ إِلى الجَمالِ فَخِلتُهُ

أَدنى إِلى بَصَري مِنَ الأَشفارِ

So how often have I looked upon beauty and felt it

For how often have I gazed at beauty and imagined it

Nearer to my sight than the eyelashes!

Closer to my sight than my very eyelashes,

فَطَلَبتُهُ فَإِذا المَغالِقُ دونَهُ

وَإِذا هُنالِكَ أَلفُ أَلفِ سِتارِ

I sought it but barriers were in my way to it,

Yet when I sought it, I found locks barring the way,

With a thousand veils existing in that place.

And behold, there stood a thousand thousand veils,

وَباد وَيُعجِزُ خاطِري إِدراكَهُ

وَفِتنَتي بِالظاهِرِ المُتَواري

It disappears and frustrates my mind's reach,

It appears manifest, yet my mind fails to grasp it,

And my temptation for that hidden manifest.

And my fascination is with the visible that remains concealed.