جَاءَ الكِتَابُ وَأَصْدِقْ

بِهِ رَسُولاً أَمِينَا

The Book came with a truthful

Messenger conveying,

أدَّى الْبَلاَغَ وأَبْدَى

مِنَ الْحَدِيثِ شُجُونَا

He delivered the message and showed

The sorrows of the narration,

لَكِنْ شَجَانِي خَطْبٌ

وَصَفْتَهُ لِي مُبِينَا

But what grieves me is news

That you described to me clearly,

وَصْفاً تَنَاهَيْتَ فِيهِ

بَرَاعَةً وَفُنُونَا

A description in which you went to lengths

With eloquence and artistry,

فَيَا لَهُ مِنْ مُصَابٍ

أجْرَى الْفُؤَادَ شُؤُونَا

Oh what a calamity,

That made hearts grieve,

أتِلْكَ سَارَا الَّتِي كَا

نَ حُسْنُهَا يَسْبِينَا

Was that Sarah whose beauty

Used to captivate us,

وَكَانَ لِلعَقْلِ تَاجٌ

يَزِينُ مِنْهَا الْجَبِينَا

And reason was a crown,

Adorning her forehead,

وَلِلْحَيَاءِ شُعَاعٌ

يَغُضُّ عَنْهَا الْجُفُونَا

And modesty was a glow,

Veiling her eyes,

وَكَانَ كُلُّ اْبتِسَامٍ

مِنْهَا عَطَاءً ثَمِينَا

And every smile of hers

Was a precious gift,

وَكُلُّ لَفْظٍ كَدُرٍّ

يَصِيدُهُ السَّامِعُونَا

And any harsh word,

That listeners would catch,

مَاتَتْ قَتِيلَ هَوَاهَا

لَمْ تَبْلُغِ الْعِشْرِينَا

She died a victim of her passion

Before reaching twenty,

وَلَمْ تُزَفَّ عَرُوساً

مَرْجُوَّةً لِلْبَنِينَا

She wasn't wed as a bride,

Longed for by suitors,

وَلَمْ تُخَضَّبْ وَلَمْ يَشْ

دُ حَوْلَهَا الشَّادُونَا

She wasn't adorned, and no poets

Gathered around her,

وَلَمْ تَنَلْ مُلْكَ يَوْمٍ

بِهِ تَقَرُّ عُيُونَا

She didn't attain a day's rule

In which eyes would rest,

جَلَّ المُصَابُ مُلِمَّا

بِمِثْلِهَا أَنْ يَهُونَا

The calamity was too grave,

To be softened by one like her,

فَكَيْفَ وَهْوَ مُزِيلٌ

نُوراً ومُبْقٍ طِينَا

And it was removing light

And leaving behind clay,

دَبَّ الْفَسَادُ إلَيْهَا

خَفِيفَ وَطْءِ كَمِينَا

Corruption crept upon her

With the tread of an ambush,

وَعَالَجَ الرُّوحَ حَتَّى

أبَاحَ عِرْضاً مَصُونَا

And it treated the soul until

It made lawful a protected honor,

فَكَانَ أفْدَحَ رُزْءاً

وَكَانَ شَراً مًنُونَا

So it was the vilest disgrace,

And the evilest shame,

وَهَوَّنَ العُمْرَ خُسْراً

وَعَظَّمَ العِرْضَ دينَا

It made life a loss,

And honor a debt,

يَا لَيْتَهَا فِي سَبِيلِ الْ

عَفَافِ مَاتَتْ طَعِينَا

If only she had died protecting

Her chastity, how she would have been carried,

إذَنْ لَزُفَّتْ عَزِيزاً

عَلَى الْوَرَى أن تَبِينَا

As precious to mankind,

That eyes turn to her,

فِي مَشْهَدٍ يَسْتَدِرُّ

الصَّفَا عَلَيْهَا عُيُونَا

Her friends would weep for her,

And singers would lament,

تَبْكِي الصَّوَاحِبُ فِيهِ

وَيَنْدُبُ المُنْشِدُونَا

And everyone would raise their voices

Eulogizing her,

وَيَرْفَعُ الصَّوْتَ كُلٌّ

بِذِكْرِهَا تَأْبِينَا

But today she is not

One for us to bewail,

لَكِنَّهَا اليَوْمَ لَيْسَتْ

بِمَيْتَةٍ تُبْكِينَا

Nor a bride aspired to

By clans and families,

وَلاَ مُرَجَّاةَ بَعْسلٍ

وَعَيْلَةٍ صَالِحينا

She has become a tomb,

In which chastity lies buried,

أمْسَتْ ضَريحاً وَأمْسَى

فِيهَا الْعَفَافُ دَفِينَا

She sold beauty for money,

A losing business,

بَاعَتْ جَمَالاً بِمَالِ

وَكَانَ بَيْعاً غَبِينَا

And money remains enslaving

Mankind,

وَالمَالُ مَا زَالَ رَبَّا

يَسْتَعْبِدُ الْعَالَمِينَا

It misguided her, and it had misguided

The rightly-guided before,

أضَلَّهَا وَقَدِيمٌ

إضْلاَلُهُ الرَّاشِدِينَا

So look to what remains

Of her beauty, making itself seen,

فَنْظُرْ لِمَا هُوَ نَاجٍ

مِنْ حُسْنِهَا مُسْتَبِينَا

It is only what we do not want

To have been,

فَإنَّمَا هَوَ مَا لاَ

نَوَدُّهُ أَنْ يَكُونَا

A rose that turned to embers

At the touch of the corrupt,

وَرْدٌ تَحَوَّلَ جَمْراً

بِمَلمَسِ الْفَاسِقِينَا

A perfume that poison makes

For sniffing souls,

طِيبٌ يُحَلِّبُ سُمّاً

فِي أنْفُسِ الْنَّاشِقِينَا

A light that hands a lantern

To discerning eyes,

نُورٌ يَمُدُّ جِرَاباً

فِي أعْيُنِ المُبْصِرِينَا

A mirror of chaste nature

That represents the sinful,

مِرْآةُ خُلْقٍ عَفِيفٍ

تُمَثِّلُ المُجْرِمِينَا

A cup whose wine makes my verse

Intoxicated with its drinkers,

كَأسٌ تُرِيبُ فَنُظْمِي

بِخَمْرِهَا الشَّارِبِينَا

A memory of sorrow for beauty

That once contained virtues,

ذِكْرَى أسًى لِجَمَالٍ

حَوَى الْفَضَائِلَ حِينا

Then it transgressed and became -

In the eyes of onlookers - empty,

ثُمَّ اغْتَدَى وَهْوَ خَالٍ

مِنْهَا لَدَى النَّاظِرِينَا

Like a garden in which

Dear ones once settled,

كَجَنَّةٍ كَانَ فِيهَا

أحِبَّةٌ آهِلُونَا

Then they left it, and it remained

Halting the grieving.

فَفَارَقُوهَا وَظَلَّتْ

تَسْتَوَقِفُ الآسِفِينَا