أَبكَيتَ مِن طَرَبٍ أَبا بِشرِ

أَبكَيتَ مِن طَرَبٍ أَبا بِشرِ

وَذَكَرتَ عَثمَةَ أَيَّما ذِكرِ

وَذَكَرتَ عَثمَةَ أَيَّما ذِكرِ

Have you wept with emotion, Abu Bishr,

You cried with ecstasy, O Abu-Bishr,

and recalled ʿAthma—what a remembrance!

And remembered Uthma in such remembrance,

وَهِيَ الَّتي لَما مَرَرتُ بِها

وَهِيَ الَّتي لَما مَرَرتُ بِها

في الطَوفِ بَينَ الرُكنِ وَالحِجرِ

في الطَوفِ بَينَ الرُكنِ وَالحِجرِ

And she is the one who, when I passed her

She who when I passed by her

during circumambulation, between the Corner and the Hijr,

In circumambulation between the corner and the rock,

قالَت حَصانٌ غَيرُ فاحِشَةٍ

قالَت حَصانٌ غَيرُ فاحِشَةٍ

فَسَمِعتُ ما قالَت وَلَم تَدرِ

فَسَمِعتُ ما قالَت وَلَم تَدرِ

said—a chaste woman, never indecent—

Said "An undistinguished horse,"

(I heard what she said, though she was unaware)

So I heard what she said though she knew it not

لِمَناصِفٍ خُرُدٍ يَطُفنَ بِها

لِمَناصِفٍ خُرُدٍ يَطُفنَ بِها

مِثلِ الظِباءِ يَكِدنَ بِالسَدرِ

مِثلِ الظِباءِ يَكِدنَ بِالسَدرِ

to bashful maidservants circling around her,

To a contemptible crippled man circling about her

like gazelles, beguiling with languid looks:

Like a frightened deer circling round lote-trees,

هَذا الَّذي يَسبي الفُؤادَ وَلا

هَذا الَّذي يَسبي الفُؤادَ وَلا

يَكني وَلَكِن باحَ في الشِعرِ

يَكني وَلَكِن باحَ في الشِعرِ

"This is the one who captivates the heart and does not

This one who captivates hearts but does not pretend -

speak in veiled terms, but has spoken openly in verse.

Rather he tells plainly in verse:

إِنَّ الرِجالَ عَلى تَأَلُّفِهِم

إِنَّ الرِجالَ عَلى تَأَلُّفِهِم

طُبِعوا عَلى الإِخلافِ وَالغَدرِ

طُبِعوا عَلى الإِخلافِ وَالغَدرِ

Indeed, men, for all their wooing,

"Men by their nature

are fashioned for broken promises and treachery."

Are inclined to faithlessness and treason."