أجسام صخر دفنت في صخر

تناسبا واختلفا في النجر

Bodies of stone, buried in stone;

The two resembled each other, yet differed in origin.

تحكي ثنايا خفرات غر

تلوح من تحت ثياب خضر

They resemble the front teeth of shy, fair maidens,

Gleaming from beneath green robes.

أطرافها قد ضمخت بالحبر

كدر مفطوم رضاع الدر

Their tips have been daubed with ink,

Like pearls weaned from suckling milk.

أقعى على أذنابهن التبري

اقعاء أسد بصرت بنمر

Gold crouches upon their tails,

As lions crouch on catching sight of a leopard.

تفود ان حلت كفور القدر

بمثل أحداق جراد خزر

They froth—if that is the reading—when unsealed, like a boiling pot,

With bubbles like the eyes of narrow-eyed locusts,

أو مثل أنصاف صغار الذر

أو صارم فيه الفرند يجري

Or like halves of tiny ants,

Or a keen blade through which its watered pattern runs,

يعلو وينقض انقضاض الزهر

كأنما الليل انجلى عن فجر

Rising and plunging like bright stars falling,

As though night had cleared to reveal dawn.

تبدي ذرى هاماتها من جمر

وما عدا رؤوسها قد عري

They show the crowns of their heads as glowing coals,

While all but their heads have been stripped bare.

مزنرات لا لدين كفر

دفائن لا لانقضاء عمر

Girdled, but not for a faith of unbelief;

Buried, but not because a lifetime has ended,

في تربة من صنع أيدي القر

قد حنطت أجيادها بالعطر

In soil made by the hands of cold.

Their necks have been embalmed with perfume,

وحرمت حرم أخيذ الاسر

دفينها ينشر ميت القبر

And deprived, as a captive prisoner is deprived.

Their buried contents raise the dead from the grave;

بردها شفاء حر الصدر

تقسم باللَه العظيم القدر

Their coolness is a cure for the heat of the breast.

They swear by God, great in majesty,

أرضعت الا فطيم الخمر

فهي شفاء السكر بعد السكر

That they have suckled none but those weaned from wine.

So they are a cure for drunkenness after strong drink.