عَجِبْتُ لَهَا إذْ آنَسَتْ وَهْيَ ظَبْيَةٌ

عَجِبْتُ لَهَا إذْ آنَسَتْ وَهْيَ ظَبْيَةٌ

وَكَيْفَ وَطَبْعُ الظَّبْيِ أنْ يَألَفَ القَفْرَا

وَكَيْفَ وَطَبْعُ الظَّبْيِ أنْ يَألَفَ القَفْرَا

I marveled at her when she grew tame, though she was a gazelle;

I wondered at her when she came to know me though she was a gazelle,

And how, when a gazelle's nature is to be at home in the wilderness?

And how is it the nature of a gazelle to befriend the desert,

وَأعْجَبُ أنْ ألْقَتْ حَبَائِلَ هُدْبِهَا

وَأعْجَبُ أنْ ألْقَتْ حَبَائِلَ هُدْبِهَا

لِطَائِرِ قَلْبٍ ظَنَّ مُقْلَتَهَا وَكْراً

لِطَائِرِ قَلْبٍ ظَنَّ مُقْلَتَهَا وَكْراً

And more wondrous still, she cast the snares of her lashes

And stranger still that she should cast the ropes of her love

For a heart's bird that took her eye for a nest.

For a heart's bird that thought its dwelling-place desolate.