1. أيا شقيقَ الرَّوْضِ حَيَّاه الْحَيَا

    فاحْمَرَّ وردُ خَدِّه من الْحَيَا

    O anemone of the meadow, greeted by the rain,

    the rose of its cheek reddened with bashfulness.

  2. لأنتَ تِرْبُ الغُصْنِ نَشْوانَ إذا

    أدارت السُّحْبُ له خَمْرَ النَّدَى

    Indeed, you are the bough's peer, tipsy when

    the clouds pass round for it the wine of dew.

  3. وامْتلأتْ كاسُ الشَّقِيقِ سُحْرَةً

    فاحْمَرَّ من خَجْلَتِه خَدُّ الطِّلاَ

    And the anemone's cup filled before dawn,

    so the wine's cheek reddened from its embarrassment.

  4. شِفاءٌ وَجْدِي لَثْمُ خالِ خَدِّه

    والْحَبَّةُ السَّوْداءُ للدَّاءِ شِفَا

    A cure for my longing is kissing the mole on his cheek;

    and the black seed is a cure for illness.

  5. يتْركُنِي تَرْكَ الظلِيمِ ظَلْمُه

    وهذه شِيمةُ آرامِ الْفَلاَ

    His cruelty abandons me as the male ostrich does,

    and such is the nature of the desert gazelles.

  6. تعلَّمتْ منه الليالي غَدْرَها

    فأنْجَزتْ باليأْسِ مِيعادَ الرَّجَا

    The nights learned their treachery from him,

    so they fulfilled hope's promise with despair.

  7. غَمائمٌ لُعْسُ الشِّفاهِ ابْتسَمتْ

    عن ثَغْرِ بارِقٍ إذا الثَّغْرُ بَكَا

    Dark-lipped clouds smiled,

    revealing a flashing mouth when that mouth wept.

  8. تفُكُّ مِن مَحْلٍ وجَدْبٍ أسْرَهُ

    وتنْثُرُ الدُّرَّ على هامِ الرُّبَى

    They release it from the bondage of drought and barrenness,

    and scatter pearls upon the hilltops.

  9. يسُوقها الرعدُ بصوتٍ مُذْهَبٍ

    من بَرْقِه وهْي بَطِيَّاتُ الخُطَا

    Thunder drives them with a voice gilded

    by its lightning, while they are slow of step.

  10. لا يَلِجُ الطَّيْفُ إليه فَرَقاً

    وفيه ليستْ تهتدي كُدْرُ القَطَا

    No dream-vision enters it, out of fear,

    and dusky sandgrouse cannot find their way within it.

  11. بالتُّرْسِ تسْرِي الشمسُ فوق أُفْقِهِ

    والصُّبْحُ يلْقاه بعَضْبٍ مُنْتضَى

    With a shield, the sun journeys above its horizon,

    and dawn meets it with a keen sword drawn.

  12. مَجَرَّةٌ في شَفَقٍ كأنها

    والزهرُ فيها ذاتُ مَنْظرٍ زَهَا

    A Milky Way in twilight, as though it—

    with the stars within it, a resplendent sight—

  13. نَهْرٌ به كَفُّ الشَّمالِ نثَرتْ

    وَرْداً ونَسْرِيناً جَنِيّاً قُطِفَا

    were a river where the north wind's hand scattered

    roses and eglantines, fresh and newly plucked.

  14. على أغَرِّ أدْهَمٍ قد طلَعتْ

    مِن وجهِه في ظُلْمةِ الليل ذُكَا

    Upon a white-blazed black steed: there rose

    from its face, in night's darkness, Dhuka, the sun.

  15. غُرَّتُه من تحت هُدْبِ شَعْرِهِ

    طُرَّةُ صُبْحٍ تحت أذْيالِ الدُّجَا

    Its forehead-blaze beneath the fringe of its mane

    is dawn's fringe beneath the trailing skirts of darkness.

  16. أدْهَمَ قيِّدِ كُلِّ وَحْشٍ شارِدٍ

    قبَّلَه الليلُ فكُلُّه لَمَى

    A black steed, the fetter of every fleeing beast,

    night kissed it, so it is dusky all over.

  17. نجائِبُ قد طفِقَتْ أخْفافُها

    في الرَّملِ تُبْدِي لي ضمائرَ الثَّرَى

    Noble riding-camels—their padded feet began

    in the sand to reveal to me the earth's secrets.

  18. قد سترَ الجمالُ حُسْنَ وَجْهِهِ

    صَوْناً لأبْكارِ العُقول والنُّهَى

    Beauty has veiled the loveliness of his face,

    to safeguard the virgin minds and intellects.

  19. فوقَف الحُسْنُ عليه حائِراً

    مُتيَّماً وَلْهانَ في ذاك الْبَهَا

    So beauty stood before him, bewildered,

    love-enslaved and distraught in that splendor.

  20. تَهْوَى الصَّبَا شَمائلَ اللُّطْفِ به

    فلا تُداوِي سُقْمَها أيْدِي الأُسَا

    The east wind loves his gentle qualities,

    and healers' hands cannot cure its sickness,

  21. إلاّ إذا ما لَمَستْ ضَرِيحَه

    فكم سَقامٍ من تُرابِه اشْتفَى

    except when it touches his tomb;

    and how many an illness found healing in his dust!

  22. سَرَى إلى السَّبْعِ الطِّباقِ جسمُه

    في صُحْبةِ الرُّوحِ الأمينِ ورَقَى

    His body journeyed by night to the seven tiered heavens,

    in the company of the Trustworthy Spirit, and ascended.

  23. إن قطَع الأفْلاكَ سُرْعَةً فلا

    بُعْدَ فإن ذاتَه شمسُ الضُّحَى

    If he crossed the celestial spheres so swiftly, it is no

    wonder, for his essence is the midmorning sun.

  24. حَوافِرُ البُراقِ مِن آثارِها

    قد ظهرَتْ فيه أهِلَّةُ السَّمَا

    From the traces left by Buraq's hooves,

    the crescents of heaven appeared therein.

  25. يُغْنِي عن المدحِ رَفِيعُ قَدْرِهِ

    فيُمْدَح المدحُ به وما دَرَى

    His exalted rank makes praise needless,

    so praise itself is praised through him, all unawares.

  26. كلُّ لِباسٍ للمديح قاصِرٌ

    عنه يُحَلَّ رَحْلُه دون المَدَى

    Every garment of praise falls short

    of him; its saddle is unstrapped short of the goal.

  27. سال لُعابُ الشمسِ ممَّا تشْتهِي

    لَذِيذَ هاتِيك المَعاني إذْ حَلاَ

    The sun's mouth watered with its craving

    for the savor of those meanings, so sweet were they.

  28. فصاحةٌ ما الشِّعر منها بالغٌ

    ببَحْرِه قطرةَ وَصْفِ ذِي صَفَا

    An eloquence of which poetry cannot attain

    with its ocean a drop in describing one so pure.

  29. لذلك قد قَطَّعَه الناسُ وقد

    دارتْ به دَوائرُ القومِ الأُلَى

    For that reason people have cut it into metrical feet, and

    the circles of the ancients have revolved around it.

  30. بين يَدَيْها ابنُ دُرَيدٍ حاجِبٌ

    وألِفاتُ شِعْرِه مِثْلُ الْعَصَا

    Before her stands Ibn Duraid as chamberlain,

    and the alifs of his verse are like a staff.

  31. ذَيْلُ الدُّجَى بِعَرْفِها مُمَسَّكٌ

    مُضَمِّخٌ خَلُوقُها بُرْدَ الضُحَى

    The hem of darkness is musked with her fragrance;

    her saffron perfume anoints the mantle of midmorning.