وثلاثةٌ لم تجتمِعْ في مجلِسٍ

إلاّ لمثلِكَ والأديبُ أريبُ

Three who never gathered, but for one like you—

The poet, how strange his role!

الوَرْدُ في رامِشْنَةٍ مِن نَرْجِسٍ

والياسَمينُ وكُلّهُنّ غريب

A rose on a branch of narcissus,

Jasmine too—all are strangers.

فاحمرّ ذا واصفرّ ذا وابيضّ ذا

فبَدَتْ دلائلْ أمرُهُنّ عَجيب

So this one's red, that one's yellow, that one's white;

The signs of their affair seem odd indeed.

فكأنّ هذا عاشِقٌ وكأنّ ذا

كَ مُعَشَّقٌ وكأنّ ذاكَ رقيب

As if this one's a lover, that one's the beloved,

And that one there is the spy.