لا تَعِيبُوا السَّوادَ فَهُوَ مُناكُمْ

فِي فُرُوعٍ وأَعْيُنٍ وَحَواجِبْ

Do not blame blackness, for it is part of you

In branches, eyes, and eyebrows

ولَقَدْ تَجْعَلُونَ مِنْهُ رُقُوشاً

وَنُقُوشاً عَلَى خُدُودِ الكَوَاعِبْ

And you make designs from it

And tattoos on the cheeks of beauties

وَأَرَى الليلَ عِنْدَكُمْ مُسْتَحَبّاً

وَأَرَى الصبْحَ عابَهُ كُلُّ عائِبْ

And I see the night is loved by you

And I see the dawn displeased by every critic

وَسَلِ المِسْكَ وَالغَوَالِيَ عَنْهُ

وَسَلِ الحِبْرَ في صَحِيفَةِ كاتِبْ

Ask musk and perfumes about it

And ask the ink on the writer's page

وَعِذَاراً إِذَا أَلَمَّ بِخَدٍّ

دَبَّ فيهِ كَما تَدِبُّ العَقَارِبْ

And a rash when it afflicts a cheek

Crawls on it like scorpions crawl

وَكَفَى أنَّهُ لِحَبَّةِ قَلْبِي

وَلِعَيْنِي وللشبابِ مُناسِبْ

And suffice that it suits the apple of my eye

And my eye and youth it suits