يا حبَّذا الفيلُ الَّذي شاهَدتُه

وَشهدتُ منه ما نَمى لي ذِكرُهُ

O how wonderful was that elephant I saw

And witnessed of it what brought back its memory

فكأَنَّه وكأَنَّ أَبيضَ نابه

لَيلٌ تبلَّج للنواظِر فَجرُهُ

As though it and as though its ivory tusks

Were a night whose dawn shimmered for all to see