هَل ساءَهُ أَن آلَ آساً وَردُهُ

هَل ساءَهُ أَن آلَ آساً وَردُهُ

وَتَعَطَّلَت مَن فيهِ كَأسٌ تُشرَبُ

وَتَعَطَّلَت مَن فيهِ كَأسٌ تُشرَبُ

Did it grieve him that his rose had turned to myrtle,

Has it grieved him that his rose has turned to myrtle,

and that a cup drunk from his mouth was left unused?

And a drinking cup has fallen idle, bereft of his mouth?

فَكَأَنَّ صَفحَتَهُ وَنَدَّ عِذارِهِ

فَكَأَنَّ صَفحَتَهُ وَنَدَّ عِذارِهِ

ماءٌ يَثورُ بِصَفحَتَيهِ طِحلِبُ

ماءٌ يَثورُ بِصَفحَتَيهِ طِحلِبُ

As though his face and the fragrant nadd of his cheek-down

So his cheek and the incense of his sideburns seem like

were water, with algae surging along its two banks.

Water on whose two surfaces algae rise.