أَقامَت لَدى مَرآتِها تَتَأَمَّلُ

عَلى غَفلَةٍ مِمَّن يَلومُ وَيَعذِلُ

She stood before her mirror, gazing

She stationed herself before her mirror, lost in contemplation,

Oblivious of those who blame and rebuke her

Heedless of any who might blame or chide,

وَبَينَ يَدَيها كُلَّما يَنبَغي لِمَن

يُصَوِّرُ أَشباحَ الوَرى وَيُمَثِّلُ

Before her all that one needs

With all that is needed laid out before her hands

To depict the shadows of people and act them out

For one who paints the figures of mankind and mimics them.

مِنَ الغيدِ تَقلي كُلَّ ذاتِ مَلاحَةٍ

كَما باتَ يَقلي صاحِبَ المنالِ مُرمِلُ

Bits of finery to adorn every charming thing

Among young women, she loathes every possessor of beauty,

As her overcooked friend continues to char

Just as the destitute man comes to loathe the man of means.

تَغارُ إِذا ما قيلَ تِلكَ مَليحَةٌ

يَطيبُ بِها لِلعاشِقينَ التَغَزُّلُ

She is jealous when it is said “that one is pretty”

She flares with jealousy if it is said, "That one is fair,"

A pleasure for lovers to whisper sweet nothings about

A woman whom lovers find sweet to court with verse.

فَتَحمَرُّ غَيظاً ثُمَّ تَحمَرِّ غَيرَةً

كَأَنَّ بِها حُمّى تَجيءُ وَتُقفِلُ

She blushes with anger, then flushes with jealousy

She flushes red with rage, then crimson with envy,

As if stricken with a recurring fever

As though struck by a fever that comes and retreats.

وَتُضمِرُ حِقداً لِلمُحَدِّثِ لَو دَرى

بِهِ ذَلِكَ المِسكينُ ما كادَ يَهزُلُ

She harbors resentment towards the speaker, if only he knew

She harbors malice toward the speaker; were he to know,

That poor soul could scarcely jest

That poor wretched soul would surely cease his jesting.

أَثارَ عَلَيهِ حِقدَها غَيرَ عامِدٍ

وَحِقدُ الغَواني صارِمٌ لا يَفلُلُ

She vents her spite unintentionally

He stirred her hatred against him quite unwittingly,

And the spite of coquettes is stubborn and endless

And the malice of fair maidens is a sword that never dulls.

فَلَو وَجَدَت يَوماً عَلى الدَهرِ غادَةً

لَأَوشَكَ مِن غَلَوائِهِ يَتَحَوَّلُ

If she found the days complacent just once

If she were to find Time itself embodied as a maiden,

She would scarcely refrain from her wiles

Time would likely be forced to shift from its steady course.

فَتاةٌ هِيَ الطاوُوُسُ عُجباً وَذَيلُها

وَلَم يَكُ ذَيلاً شَعرُها المُتَهَدِّلُ

A girl, a peacock indeed, her train

A girl who is a peacock in her vanity, and her tail

Was none other than her cascading hair

—Though not a tail—is her hair cascading down.

سَعَت لِاِحتِكارِ الحُسنِ الحُسنِ فيها بِأَسرِهِ

وَكَم حاوَلَت حَسناءُ ما لا يُؤَمَّلُ

She sought to monopolize all beauty within her

She strove to monopolize beauty, claiming it wholly for herself,

And how many beauties seek what cannot be had

And how often has a beauty sought the impossible!

وَتَجهَلُ أَنَّ الحُسنَ لَيسَ بِدائِمٍ

وَإِن هُوَ إِلّا زَهرَةٌ سَوفَ تَذبُلُ

Oblivious that beauty is not lasting

She remains ignorant that beauty is not everlasting,

That it is but a flower, soon to wilt

And that it is but a flower destined to wither away,

وَأَنَّ حَكيمَ القَومِ يَأنَفُ أَن يَرى

أَسيرَ طِلاءٍ بَعدَ حينٍ سَيَنصُلُ

That the wise disdain to behold

And that the wise man of the people disdains to be seen

A prisoner of paint which will soon fade

Captive to paint that shall fade after a short while.

وَكُلُّ فَتىً يَرضى بِوَجهِ مُنَمِّقٍ

مِنَ الناعِماتِ البيضِ فَهوَ مُغَفَّلُ

He who admires an artificial white complexion

Any young man satisfied with a decorated face

Is a fool swept away

Among the soft, fair maidens, is truly a fool.

إِذا كانَ حُسنُ الوَجهِ يُدعى فَضيلَةً

فَإِنَّ جَمالَ النَفسِ أَسمى وَأَفضَلُ

If a beautiful face is called a virtue

If facial beauty is to be called a virtue,

Then the beauty of the soul is far nobler

Then the beauty of the soul is far loftier and superior.

وَلَكِنَّما أَسماءُ بِالغيدِ تَقتَدي

وَكُلُّ الغَواني فِعلُ أَسماءَ تَفعَلُ

Yet she adheres to the names of coquetry

Yet Asma follows the example of the vain young women,

And all coquettes act like Asma

And all the beauties do exactly as Asma does.

فَلَو أَمِنَت سُخطَ الرِجالِ وَأَيقَنَت

بِسُخطِ الغَواني أَوشَكَت تَتَرَجَّلُ

If she feared men’s wrath and expected

If she were safe from men's displeasure and certain

The spite of coquettes, she would scarcely dress up

Of the wrath of other beauties, she would nearly turn into a man.

قَدِ اِتَّخَذَت مَرآتَها مُرشِداً لَها

إِذا عَنَّ أَمرٌ أَو تَعَرَّضَ مُشكِلُ

She took the mirror for a guide

She has taken her mirror as her sole guide,

When puzzled by some matter or complication

Whenever a difficulty arises or a problem appears.

وَما ثَمَّ مِن أَمرٍ عَويصٍ وَإِنَّما

ضَعيفُ النُهى في وَهمِهِ السَهلِ مُعضِلُ

No command is too difficult, but

Yet there is no truly complex matter at hand; rather,

Weak resolve makes the easy seem complex

To the weak-minded, in their delusion, the easy seems impossible.

تُكَتِّمُ عَمَّن يَعقِلُ الأَمرَ سِرَّها

وَلَكِنَّها تَفشيهِ ما لَيسَ يَعقِلُ

She hides her secret from reasonable men

She conceals her secret from those of understanding,

Yet exposes it to those unable to reason

Yet divulges it to that which cannot understand.

فَلَو كانَتِ المِرآةُ تَحفَظُ ظِلَّها

رَأَيتَ بِعَينَيكَ الَّذي كُنتَ تَجهَلُ

If her image kept her shadow

If the mirror could but retain her reflection,

You would behold what you were oblivious to

You would see with your own eyes what you had not known.

وَزادَ بِها حُبُّ التَبَرُّجِ أَنَّهُ

حَبيبٌ إِلى فِتيانِ ذا العَصرِ أَوَّلُ

And what enhanced her flirtatiousness

And her love for adornment was increased by the fact

Was that it is most beloved by the youth of today

That it is the primary passion of the youths of this age.

أَلَمّوا بِهِ حَتّى لَقَد أَشبَهوا الدُمى

فَما فاتَهُم وَاللَهِ إِلّا التَكَحُّلُ

They are sick with it, so that they resemble effigies

They have obsessed over it until they resemble dolls;

Lacking only kohl around their eyes

By God, they lack nothing now but to paint their eyes with kohl.

فَتى العَصرِ أَضحى في تَطَّريهِ حُجَّةً

تُقاتِلُنا فيها النِساءُ فَتَقتُلُ

The youth of today cites her coquetry

The modern youth, in his grooming, has become a justification

As evidence with which women dispute us and prevail

Used by women to fight against us, and slay.

إِذا اِبتَذَلَت حَسناءُ ثُمَّ عَذَلَتها

تَوَلَّت وَقالَت كُلُّكُم مُتَبَذِّلُ

If a beauty is shamed and then spurned

If a beauty degrades herself and you rebuke her,

She turns away saying: you are all contemptible

She turns away saying, "Every one of you degrades himself too."