بِبَنَاتِ الرَّوْضِ تَسْعَى رُفْقةٌ

مِنْ بَنَاتِ الْجَاهِ وَالقَدْرِ الرَّفِيعْ

Among the daughters of the garden, a company goes forth—

daughters of prestige and exalted rank:

زَهَرَاتٌ بَائِعَاتٌ زهَراً

يَا لَقَوْمِي هَلْ دَرَيْتُمْ مَا تَبِيعْ

blossoms selling blossoms.

O my people, do you know what this company sells?

هَذِهِ الْخُضْرَةُ فِيهَا أَمَلٌ

يُبْرِيءُ النَّفْسَ مِنَ الْجُرْحِ الوَجِيعْ

Within this greenery there is hope

that heals the soul of its aching wound;

وَبِهِ السَّلْوَى إِذَا الْحَظُّ التَوَى

وَبِهِ الأَمْنُ إِذَا الآمِنُ رِيعْ

in it is solace when fortune fails,

and safety when even the secure are struck with fear.

أُنْظُرِ الْوَرْدَ وَسَلْ حُمْرَتَهُ

هَلْ مُحَيّاً كَمُحَيَّاهُ البَدِيعْ

Look upon the rose, and ask its redness:

is any countenance like its exquisite face?

صُورَةُ الحُبِّ هِيَ الوَرْدُ فَمَنْ

يَشْتَرِيهِ وَلَهُ حُسْنُ الصَّنِيعْ

The rose is love’s own image; whoever

buys it earns the grace of a noble deed.

حَبَّذَا الأَبْيَضُ شَفَّافُ السَّنَا

عَنْ عَفَافٍ وَصَفَاءٍ وَخُشُوعْ

How lovely the white bloom, translucent with radiance,

revealing chastity, purity, and reverence.

تلْبَسُ العَذْرَاءُ فِي أَوْجِ العُلَى

مِنْهُ أَبْهَى حُلَلِ القَلْبِ الْوَدِيعْ

The maiden, at the summit of her glory, wears

from it the gentle heart’s most splendid robes.

هِيَ طَاقَاتٌ مِنَ الزَّهْرِ لَهَا

فِي الْيَدِ البَيْضَاءِ آيَاتٌ تَرُوعْ

They are bouquets of flowers, bearing

in a white hand wonders that inspire awe.

مَنْ شَرَاهَا فَبِمَا يَبْذُلُهُ

بَعْضُ تَخْفِيفٍ لِوَيْلاَتِ الربُوعْ

Whoever buys them, through what he gives,

brings some relief to the calamities of homes:

سَتْرُ أَعْرَاضٍ وَبِرٌّ بِذَوِي

رَحِمٍ ذَلُّوا وَإِرقَاءُ دُمُوعْ

the shielding of honor; kindness to

displaced kin; and the drying of tears;

وَأَسَا جَرْحَى وَإِبْقَاءٌ عَلَى

أُسُدٍ أَلْصقهَا بِالأَرْضِ جُوْعْ

comfort for the wounded, and sustaining

lions whom hunger has pinned to the earth;

وَكِسَاءٌ لِيَتِيمٍ وَنَدىً

يَسْتَدِرُّ الثَّدْيَ قُوتاً لِلرَّضِيعْ

clothing for an orphan, and a bounty

that makes the breast yield nourishment for the suckling child.

إِنَّمَا إِحْسَانُكمْ يُمْنٌ لَكُمْ

وَبِهِ الصِّحَّةُ وَالشَّمْلُ الْجَمِيعْ

Your benevolence is truly a blessing to yourselves;

through it come well-being and the unity of all.

وَبِهِ دَفْع الرَّزَايَا عَنْكمُ

إِنَّ فِعْلَ البُؤْسِ فِي الخَلْقِ فَظِيعْ

Through it calamities are driven away from you,

for misery’s work among humankind is dreadful.

يَسْتَطِيعُ الجُودُ فِي دَرْءِ الأَذَى

عَنْكُمُ مَا غَيْرُهُ لاَ يَسْتَطِيعْ

Generosity can ward away from you

harm that nothing else can ward away.

لاَ تضِنُّوا يَا أَحِبَّائِي فَمَا

مَنْ يُضِيعُ المَالَ فِي الخَيْرِ مُضِيعْ

Do not think so, my beloved friends: no one

who spends wealth on good is a squanderer.

هَذِهِ الطَّاقَاتُ فِيهَا لِلْفَتَى

مِنْ غَوَايَاتِ الصِّبَا وَاقٍ مَنِيعْ

These bouquets offer the young man

a mighty shield against the temptations of youth.

وَلِمَنْ لاَقى شِتاءَ الْعُمْرِ فِي

زَهَرَاتِ الْبِرِّ بُشْرَى بِالرَّبِيعْ

And for whoever encounters the winter of life, within

the blossoms of goodness lie glad tidings of spring.