1. وسوسنٍ يتهادى

    للأنس بالراحتين

    And an iris, gently swaying,

    for delight in the two palms.

  2. نعمَ المواصلُ لو لم

    يُعد بنأيٍ وبَينِ

    A fine companion, if only it did not

    promise distance and parting.

  3. كأنما خلقُهُ الفد

    خَسَّةٌ من لُجينِ

    As though its singular form

    were a head of lettuce made of silver,

  4. أو أنمُلٌ بضَّةٌ ما

    تركّبت في يَدينِ

    or tender fingers that have not

    been fitted into two hands.

  5. وبينَها حارسٌ لا

    ينامُ طرفةَ عَينِ

    And among them is a guard who does not

    sleep for the blink of an eye.

  6. علا واشرفَ منها

    على جمالٍ وزَينِ

    He rose and looked down from among them

    upon beauty and adornment,

  7. كما علا الحاجبُ

    المُنتقى على الشّعريينِ

    as the chamberlain rose—

    the chosen one—above the two Shiʿrā stars.

  8. مَلكٌ به حالَ دهري

    بينَ الخُطوبِ وبَيني

    A king through whom my fate interposed itself

    between calamities and me.