لَعَمري لَأَعرابِيَّةٌ في مِظَلَّةٍ

تَظَلُّ بِرَوقَي بَيتِها الريحُ تَخفِقُ

By my life, she is an Arabian woman in a tent

Whose house is shaded by her palm branch partitions

كَأُمُّ غَزالٍ أَو كَدُرَّةِ غائِصٍ

إِذا ما بَدَت مِثلَ الغَمامَةِ تُشرِقُ

Like a mother gazelle or a diving pearl

When she appears like a radiant cloud

أَحَبُّ إِلَينا مِن ضِناكٍ ضِفِنَّةٍ

إِذا رُفِعَت عَنها المَراوِحُ تَعرَقُ

Dearer to us than a fat sheep

When its covering is lifted and it sweats

كَبِطّيخَةِ الزَرّاعِ يُعجِبُ لَونُها

صَحيحاً وَيَبدو داؤُها حينَ تُفلَقُ

Like a farmer's melon - its color is pleasing

Though its disease shows when cut open