يا رُبَّ بِكرٍ عاتِقٍ

حُطَّت إِلَينا مِن عَلِ

Oh Lord of the early morning dawn

That descended upon us from on high

مِن حِجرِ أُمٍّ خِدرُها

دونَ السِماكِ الأَعزَلِ

From the rock of a numbed mother

Below the naked heights

مُطعِمَةٍ ضُيوفَها

في كُلِّ عامٍ مُمحِلِ

Who feeds her guests

Every fruitful year

وَطالَما ديسَت عَلى

عُلوِّها بِالأَرجُلِ

And long has it been trodden

In its loftiness by feet

مِن دونِها شَوكٌ كَأَط

رافِ الرِماحِ الذُبَّلِ

Beyond it thorns like the fins

Of rusted spears

حَصَّلَها القَنّاصُ بِال

حيلَةِ وَالتَوَصُّلِ

Ensnared by the hunter through

Cunning and drawing near

لَو لَم يُساعِدهُ أَخٌ

مِن أُمِها لَم تَحصُلِ

Had a brother not aided him

It would not have been caught

جاءَ بِها عَذراءَ حُب

لى كَالجِرابِ المُمتَلي

He brought it untouched like a sack

Filled to the brim

عاطِلَةٌ كَأَنَّها

ذِراعُ خودٍ عَيطَلِ

Idle as if it were

A lame man’s arm

في حُلَّةٍ خَفيفَةٍ

تَروقُ عَينَ المُجتَلي

In a sheer garment

Pleasing the ogler’s eye

فَشَقَّها وَاِستَلَّها

مِن غِمدِها كَالمُنصُلِ

So he opened it and drew it

From its sheath like a blade

فَاِبتَسَمَت عَن لُؤلُؤٍ

في السِلكِ لَم يَنفَصِلِ

And it smiled with pearls

In a wire not yet separated

كَأَنَّها إِذ بَرَزَت

بَيضاءَ كَالسَجَنجَلِ

As if when it emerged

White as gravel

سَبيكَةٌ مِن فِضَّةٍ

في سَفَطٍ مِن صَندَلِ

A silver ingot

In a box of sandalwood