طُفْتُ وَالصُّبْحُ طَالِباً فِي الجَنَانِ

سَلْوَةً مِنْ نَوَاصِبِ الأَشْجَانِ

I wandered at dawn seeking in the gardens

Solace from the pangs of passion’s agony

فَنفَى حُسْنُهَا الأَسَى عَنْ ضَمِيرِي

وَجَلاَ نَاظِرِي وَسَرَّ جنَانِي

Her beauty banished sorrow from my soul

Brightened my sight and delighted my heart

زَنْبَقٌ نَاصِعُ البَيَاضِ نَقِيٌّ

تَرْتَوِي مِنْ بَيَاضِهِ العَيْنَانِ

A lily gleaming pure white radiance

Refreshing the eyes with its brilliance

وَجُفُونٌ مِنْ نَرْجِسٍ دَاخَلَتْهَا

صُفْرَةُ الدَّاءِ فِي مَحَاجِرِ عَانِي

And eyelids with narcissi lined

Touched by the yellow hue of languor

وَوُرُودٌ كَأَنَّهَا مَلِكَاتٌ

بَرَزَتْ فِي غَلائِلِ الأُرْجُوَانِ

And roses like stately queens

Emerging in strands of purple

وَأَفَانِين مِنْ شَقِيقِ وَمِنْ فُلِّ

وَمِنْ مُضْعِفٍ وَمِنْ رَيْحَانِ

Violets, anemones, tulips as well

Sweet basil and fragrant herbs

كُلُّ ضَرْبٍ شَبِيهُ سِرْبٍ جَمِيعٍ

مُفْرَدٍ عَنْ لِدَاتهِ فِي مَكَانِ

Each species like unto a flock

Scattered alone in place

طَالَ فِيهَا تَأَمُّلِي وَكَأَنَّي

كُنْتُ مِنْهَا فِي رَوْضِ عِين حِسَانِ

Long I gazed as though I were

In the garden of Iram's bliss

فَتَوَخيْتُ مُشْبِهاً لأَلِيسٍ

بَيْنَهَا فِي صِفَاتِهَا وَالمَعَانِي

I fancied myself a companion

Matching their traits and meanings

فَإِذَا الْبَاهِرُ النَّقِيُّ مِنَ الزِّ

نْبَقِ مِرْآهُ حُسْنِهَا الْفَتَّانِ

But lo the bright pure lily

Is the mirror of her seductive beauty

رَسْمُهَا فِي سَنَائِهَا وَسَنَاهَا

وَصَدى لاسْمِهَا أَوِ اسْمٌ ثَانِي

Her form is in the lily's stem

An echo of her name or a second one

فِيهِ مِنْهَا الْبَهَاءُ وَالْقَامَةْ الْهَيْ

فَاءُ وَاللَّوْنُ صُورَةُ الوِجْدَانِ

It holds her brilliance, graceful height

Alluring hue, the very image of rapture

وَالْعَبِيرُ الَّذِي يُحَدِّثُ عَمَّا

فِي الضَّمِيرِ الأَخْفَى بِأَذْكَى بَيَانِ

The fragrance that speaks of what

Lies in the most hidden soul with clearest words

وَالشُّعَاعٌُ الَّذِي بِهِ يُرِي البَغْيَ زُهْراً

وَيُرِيهَا آزَاهِراً فِي آنِ

The rays with which it shows the beholder

A flower or a bouquet at once

فَهْيَ فِي الرَّوْضِ وَالنُّجُومِ قَوَاصٍ

وَهْيَ فِي الأَوْجِ وَالنُّجُومُ دَوَانِي

She is amidst the garden and the clustering stars

Amidst the horizon with the stars my desire

تَتَراءى السَّمَاءُ وَالأَرْضُ كُلٌّ

فِي سِوَاهَا وَتَلْتَقِي الْجَنَتَّانِ

Heaven and earth both appear

Each in the other and the two gardens meet

إِنَّمَا النَّرْجِسُ ابْتِسَامَةُ فَجْرٍ

أَلْطَفَتْ نَسْجَهَا يَدُ الرَّحْمَنِ

The narcissus is but the smile of dawn

Woven by God's gentle hand

قَامَ فِي حُلَّةِ الْبَيَاضِ فَكَانَتْ

ثَوْبَ رُوحٍ لا ثَوْبَ جِسْمٍ فَانِي

It stood in robes of whiteness thus becoming

A spirit's gown not a perishable body’s

وَاسْتَزَادَ الْحِلَى سِوَاهَا فَجَاءَتْ

حَيْثُ زَادَتْ عَلائِمُ النُّقْصَانِ

And other jewels beside it seemed to vie

Where more their signs of inferiority

هَكَذَا سِرُّ كُلِّ حَيٍّ نَرَاهُ

خَلَلَ الشَّكْلِ بَادِياً لِلْعَيَانِ

Such is the secret of every living thing we see

Evident amidst its form to the beholding eye

فَنَرَى أَنْفُسَ الْحِسَانِ حِسَاناً

حَيْثُمَا هُنَّ عَنْ حُلِيٍّ غَوَانِي

So we find loving souls to be loving

Wherever they are free of deceitful guile

وَنَرَى أَنْفُسَ الأَزَاهِرِ غُرّاً

إِذْ نَرَاهَا عفيفة الأَلْوَانِ

Just as we find the flowers’ essence to be chaste

When we see them pure of hue