وَمُرْتَبَعٍ لُذْنَا بِهِ غِبَّ سُحْرَةٍ

وَلِلصُّبْحِ أَنْفَاسٌ تَزيدُ وَتَنْقُصُ

And a square where we delighted in the mysterious magic of night,

While dawn's breath ebbs and flows.

وَقَدْ مَالَ لِلْغَرَبِ الْهلالُ كَأَنَّهُ

بِمِنْقَارِهِ عَنْ حَبَّةِ النَّجْمِ يَفْحَصُ

The crescent tilts westward like

A bird pecking with its beak at a starry seed.

رَقِيقِ حَوَاشِي النَّبْتِ أَمَّا غُصُونُهُ

فَرَيَّا وَأَمَّا زَهْرُهُ فَمُنَصَّصُ

Delicate are the sapling's leafy edges, yet its branches

Are supple, and its blossoms clustered.

إِذَا لاعَبَبْ أَفْنَانَهُ الرِّيحُ خِلْتَهَا

سَلاسِلَ تُلْوَى أَوْ غَدَائِرَ تُعْقَصُ

When the wind toys with its boughs

It twists them into chains or plaited braids.

كَأَنَّ صِحَافَ الزَّهْرِ وَالطَّلُّ ذائِبٌ

عُيُونٌ يَسِيلُ الدَّمْعُ مِنْهَا وَتَشْخَصُ

The flower buds and buds about to open

Are eyes from which tears spill and wink.

يَكَادُ نَسِيمُ الْفَجْرِ إِنْ مَرَّ سُحْرَةً

بِسَاحَتِهِ الشَّجْراءِ لا يَتَخَلَّصُ

The dawn breeze almost cannot slip through the thick trees

In that garden without getting snagged.

كَأَنَّ شُعَاعَ الشَّمْسِ وَالرِّيحُ رَهْوَةٌ

إِذَا رُدَّ فِيهِ سارِقٌ يَتَرَبَّصُ

Sunbeams and the gentle wind - when

An intruder steals through, lying in wait -

يَمُدُّ يَداً دُونَ الثِّمَارِ كَأَنَّمَا

يُحَاوِلُ مِنْهَا غَايَةً ثُمَّ يَنْكُصُ

Are a surveillance team stretching out a hand,

Trying to grasp him, then drawing back.

عَطَفْنَا إِلَيْهِ الْخَيْلَ فَلَّ مَسِيرَةٍ

وَلِلْقَوْمِ طَرْفٌ مِنْ أَذَى السُّهْدِ أَخْوَصُ

We turned our horses down a stretch

To shield the people from the glare of the plateau.

فَمَا أَبْصَرَتْهُ الْخَيْلُ حَتَّى تَمَطَّرَتْ

بِفُرْسَانِهَا واسْتَتْلَعَتْ كَيْفَ تَخْلُصُ

No sooner did the horses sight it than they were spattered

With their riders, eager to get free.

مَدَى لَحْظَة حَتَّى أَتَتْهُ وَمَاؤُهُ

عَلَى زَهْرِهِ وَالظِّلُّ لا يَتَقَلَّصُ

For an instant they raced, while its waters

Still glistened on the flowers and the shade shrank.

فَمَدَّتْ بِهِ الأَعْنَاقَ تَعْطُو وَتَخْتَلِي

نِهاباً وَتُغْلي فِي النَّباتِ وَتُرْخِصُ

They craned their necks, frisky and prancing,

Chomping the vegetation and churning it up.

أَقَمْنَا بِهِ شَمْسَ النَّهَارِ وَكُلُّنَا

عَلَى مَا بِهِ مِنْ شِدَّةِ الْعُجْبِ يَحْرِصُ

We stayed there till sunup, marveling at it,

Each man avid to possess such a wonder.

فَلَمَّا اسْتَرَدَّ الشَّمْسَ جُنْحٌ مِنَ الدُّجَى

وَأَعْرَضَ تَيْهُورٌ مِنَ اللَّيْلِ أَعْوَصُ

But when a wing of darkness reclaimed the sun,

And twilight, bent and cross-eyed, crept in,

دَعَوْنَا بِأَسْمَاءِ الْجِيَادِ فَأَقْبَلَتْ

لَوَاعِبَ فِي أَرْسَانِهَا تَتَرَقَّصُ

We summoned the stallions by name, and they came,

Frisking, fluttering in their paddocks.

وَقُمْنَا وَكُلٌّ بَعْدَ مَا كَانَ لاهِياً

بِأَظْلالِهِ كُرْهَ الرَّحِيلِ مُنَغَّصُ

And we left, but now, after being heedless,

Each loathing to bid farewell to his own shadow.

يَوَدُّ الْفَتَى أَلَّا يَزَالَ بِنِعْمَةٍ

وَلَيْسَ لَهُ مِنْ صَوْلَةِ الدَّهْرِ مَخْلَصُ

A lad dislikes leaving comforts;

He has no means to escape Fate's treachery.

فَلِلَّهِ عَيْنَا مَنْ رَأَى مِثْلَ حُسْنِهِ

وَمَا أَنا في ما قُلْتُهُ أَتَخَرَّصُ

To God belong the eyes that have seen the like of its beauty.

I do not exaggerate what I have said.

ظَفِرْتُ بِهِ في حِقْبَةٍ فَقَنَصْتُهُ

عَلَى غِرَّةِ الأَيَّامِ وَاللَّهْوُ يُقْنَصُ

I came upon it in an era, and snatched it

Away in a blithe, carefree time.