جاءَتْ بعودٍ كأنّ نَغْمَتَهُ
صَوْتُ فَتَاةٍ تَشْكُو فِراقَ فتى
She came with an oud whose melody was like
She came with a lute, whose melody
the voice of a girl lamenting parting from a young man.
Was like the voice of a girl lamenting the absence of her beloved
مُخَفَّفٌ خَفَّتِ النفوسُ لَهُ
كأنّما الزّهْرُ حَوْلَهُ نَبَتا
Light in weight, it made souls feel light,
Subdued, souls became light for it
as though flowers had sprouted around it.
As if flowers bloomed around it
دارَتْ مَلاَوِيهِ فِيهِ واخْتَلَفَتْ
مثلَ اختلافِ الكفَّيْنِ شُبِّكَتَا
Its tuning pegs turned within it and alternated,
Her fingers turned about it, and moved
like the interlacing of two clasped hands.
Like intertwining hands that clasp
لَوْ حرَّكَتْهُ وراء مُنْهَزِمٍ
عَلَى بَرِيدٍ لعاجَ والتَفَتَا
If she played it behind a fleeing man
If she strummed it chasing one who flees
on a post-horse, he would turn aside and look back.
On a fast steed, he would turn back
يا حُسْنَ صوتَيْهِما كَأَنّهُما
أُخْتَانِ في صَنْعَةٍ تَرَاسَلَتَا
How lovely their two voices—as though they were
Oh, the beauty of their two voices, as if
two sisters answering one another in their craft.
They were two sisters conversing
وهُوَ على ذا ينوبُ إن سَكَتَتْ
عَنْهُ وَعَنْهُ تنوب إنْ سَكَتَا
Yet if she falls silent, it stands in
And it takes his place if she falls silent
for her voice; and she stands in for it if it falls silent.
And it takes her place if the two fall silent
Sol 6.1