ذكرتك والأسماءُ تذكر بالكنى

ذكرتك والأسماءُ تذكر بالكنى

فلله يا أسما الكنافة والذكر

فلله يا أسما الكنافة والذكر

I remembered you, and names are recalled by their bynames.

I remembered you, though names are called by nicknames,

So, praise be to God, O Asma, for the kunafa and the remembrance!

So praise be, O name of domed bread and remembrance,

يذكر صحنَ الوجه صحنُ كنافة

يذكر صحنَ الوجه صحنُ كنافة

هما الحلو ممَّا تشهد العين والفكر

هما الحلو ممَّا تشهد العين والفكر

A platter of kunafa recalls the broad surface of the face.

That recalls the cheek’s basin, bread’s hollowed basin,

Both are sweet, as the eye and mind attest.

The sweetest, witnessed by the eye and thought.

ليالي فطر الصوم إذ كلّ ليلةٍ

ليالي فطر الصوم إذ كلّ ليلةٍ

بإحسان نور الدِّين عيدٌ هو الفطر

بإحسان نور الدِّين عيدٌ هو الفطر

On nights of breaking the fast, when every night

Nights of breaking the fast, when each night

through Nur al-Din's kindness is a festival—the Feast of Fast-Breaking.

With the Light of Faith’s kindness was a feast of breaking fast,

وأنعامهُ عندِي وشكريَ عندهُ

وأنعامهُ عندِي وشكريَ عندهُ

ولكن متى يوفي بإنعامه الشكر

ولكن متى يوفي بإنعامه الشكر

And his bounty is with me, and my gratitude with him;

And his favors upon me, and my thanks upon him,

and yet, when can gratitude do full justice to his bounty,

But when can thanks requite his favors?

إذا كانَ ذا جودٍ وشعرٍ مجيبني

إذا كانَ ذا جودٍ وشعرٍ مجيبني

وأحسن من شعري له ذاك الشعر

وأحسن من شعري له ذاك الشعر

if the one answering me is endowed with generosity and verse,

If he was generous and poetry answered me,

and that verse is finer than my verse for him?

And his poetry was finer than my poetry,

ولم أنسَ ليلات الكنافة قطرها

ولم أنسَ ليلات الكنافة قطرها

هو الحلو إلاَّ أنه بالسحب الغزر

هو الحلو إلاَّ أنه بالسحب الغزر

And I have not forgotten the nights of kunafa: its syrup

And I never forgot the dripping nights of domed bread,

is sweet, yet through rain-laden clouds

The sweetness, save that it came in torrents,

يجود على ضعفي فأهتزُّ فرحةً

يجود على ضعفي فأهتزُّ فرحةً

كما انْتفض العصفور بلله القطر

كما انْتفض العصفور بلله القطر

it pours generously upon my frailty, so I quiver with joy,

He bestows upon my weakness, so I tremble joyfully,

as a sparrow shook itself when the rain had wetted it.

As the sparrow trembled from the rain’s wetness.