Sol 6.1

  1. تُعنِّتُ بالمسواكِ أبيضَ صافياً

    تكادُ عذارَى الدرّ منه تَحدَّرُ

    She torments a pure white mouth with her toothstick;

    virgin pearls all but cascade from it.

  2. وما سرَّ عيدانَ الأراك برِيقها

    تَناوُحها في أيكها تتهصَّرُ

    Nor did the arak twigs find such joy as in her saliva

    in swaying together, bending low in their thickets.

  3. لئن عدمتْ سقيا الثرى إنّ ريقَها

    لأعذبُ من هاتيك سُقيا وأخْضَرُ

    Though they have lost the soil's watering, her saliva

    is surely a sweeter, greener draught than that.

  4. وما ذقتُهُ إلا بشيمِ ابتسامها

    وكم مَخبرٍ يُبديه للعين منظرُ

    Yet I have tasted it only by watching her smile;

    and how many hidden truths a sight reveals to the eye!

  5. بدا لي وميضٌ مُخبرٌ أن صوبَهُ

    غريضٌ وما عندي سوى ذاك مخبرُ

    A flash appeared to me, announcing that its downpour

    is fresh—and I have no evidence beyond that.

  6. ولا عيب فيها غير أن ضَجيعها

    وإن لم تُصبها الساهرية يسهرُ

    And she has no fault, except that her bedfellow,

    even when sleeplessness does not afflict her, stays awake.

  7. تذودُ الكرى عنه بنشرٍ كأنما

    يُضوِّعُهُ مسكٌ ذكيٌّ وعنبرُ

    She drives slumber from him with a fragrance, as though

    heady musk and ambergris were diffusing it.

  8. وما تعتريها آفةٌ بشريةٌ

    من النوم إلا أنها تتخثرُ

    And no human frailty overtakes her

    from sleep, save that she grows languid.

  9. وغيرُ عجيبٍ طيبُ أنفاسِ روضةٍ

    مُنَوّرَةٍ باتتْ تُراحُ وتُمطَرُ

    Nor is it strange that a garden breathes sweetly,

    in bloom, fanned by breezes and rained upon all night.

  10. كذلك أنفاس الرياض بسُحرةٍ

    تَطيب وأنفاسُ الأنامِ تغَيَّرُ

    So the breath of gardens, just before dawn,

    grows sweet, while the breath of humankind turns stale.