وَمَملوكَةٍ أَنسابُها فارِسِيَّةٌ

لَها لينُ مَولىً تَحتَ قُوَّةِ والي

A slave girl of Persian descent

With a tutor's gentle touch under a governor's power

عَلَيها جَلابيبٌ يَروقُكَ وَشيُها

كَأَن قَد وَشَتها حِميَرٌ بِأَزالِ

She is clad in robes that delight you and enchant with their beauty

As if draped by wild donkeys with strips of cloth

تَحِنُّ لِفُقدانِ القَرينِ كَأَنَّها

فَصيلٌ حَماهُ الخِلفَ رَبُّ عِيالِ

She yearns for her absent companion as though

A calf under the care of the Lord of dependents

إِذا آنَسَت فَقدَ القَرينِ حَسِبتَها

جِمالاً تَراغَت بُكرَةً لِجَمالِ

When she senses her companion is gone, you would think

A beauty has faded at dawn due to a rival

تُواصِلُ بَينَ الكافِ وَالجيمِ رَنَّةً

إِذا ما يَمينٌ أَردَفَت بِشِمالِ

She links the “k” and the “j” with a delicate trill

Whenever a right hand follows a left