1. طالَ عَلَيها القِدَم

    فَهيَ وُجودٌ عَدَم

    Age has lain long upon her;

    so she is existence that is nothingness.

  2. قَد وُئِدَت في الصِبا

    وَاِنبَعَثَت في الهَرَم

    She was buried alive in youth,

    and revived in old age.

  3. بالَغَ فِرعَونُ في

    كَرمَتِها مَن كَرَم

    Pharaoh outdid, in tending

    her vine, whoever was generous.

  4. أَهرَقَ عُنقودَها

    تَقدِمَةً لِلصَنَم

    He poured out her cluster's juice

    as an offering to the idol.

  5. خَبَّأَها كاهِنٌ

    ناحِيَةً في الهَرَم

    A priest hid her

    aside within the pyramid.

  6. اِكتُشِفَت فَاِمَّحَت

    غَيرَ شَذاً أَو ضَرَم

    She was discovered, then vanished,

    save for fragrance or flame,

  7. أَو كَخَيالٍ لَها

    بَعدَ مَتابٍ أَلَم

    or like a phantom of her

    that visited after repentance.

  8. نَمَّ بِها دَنُّها

    وَهيَ عَلَيهِ أَنَم

    Her wine-jar betrayed her,

    and she betrayed it still more.

  9. بي رَشَأٌ ناعِمٌ

    ما عَرفَ العُمرَ هَم

    I am smitten with a tender gazelle,

    who has never known care throughout her life.

  10. أَخرَجَها اللَهُ كَال

    زَهرَةِ وَالحُسنُ كِم

    God brought her forth like the

    flower, with beauty as her sheath.

  11. تَخطُرُ عَن عادِلٍ

    لَم يُرَ إِلّا ظَلَم

    She sways with an upright form

    that never appears without doing wrong.

  12. تَبسِمُ عَن لُؤلُؤٍ

    قَدَّرَهُ مَن قَسَم

    She smiles, revealing pearls

    measured by Him who apportions.

  13. كَرَّمَهُ في النَوى

    هَذَّبَهُ في اليُتَم

    He ennobled them in separation,

    refined them in orphanhood.

  14. مُضطَهَدٌ خَصرُها

    جانِبُهُ مُهتَضَم

    Her waist is oppressed,

    its side unfairly crushed.

  15. طاوَعَ مِن صَدرِها

    أَيَّ قَوِيٍّ حَكَم

    It submitted, from her bosom, to

    whichever mighty one ruled.

  16. حَمَّلَهُ ثِقلَهُ

    ثُمَّ عَلَيهِ اِدَّعَم

    He made it bear his weight,

    then leaned upon it.

  17. تَسأَلُ أَترابَها

    مومِئَةً بِالعَنَم

    She asks her peers,

    gesturing with red shoots:

  18. أَيُّ فَتىً ذَلِكُن

    نَ العَرَبِيَّ العَلَم

    'Who is that young man,

    that illustrious Arab?

  19. يَشرَبُها ساهِراً

    لَيلَتَهُ لَم يَنَم

    He drinks her, keeping vigil

    all night, without sleeping.'

  20. قُلنَ تَجاهَلتِهِ

    ذَلِكَ رَبُّ القَلَم

    They said: 'You feign ignorance of him;

    that is the master of the pen,

  21. شاعِرُ مِصرَ الَّذي

    لَو خَفِيَ النَجمُ لَم

    Egypt's poet, who,

    even were the star hidden, would not be.'

  22. قُلتُ لَها لَيتَ لَم

    نُرمَ وَفي نُتَّهَم

    I told her: 'Would that we had not

    been accused—and in [what] are we suspected?'

  23. عاذِلَتي في الطِلى

    لَو أَنصَفَت لَم أُلَم

    My reprover concerning wine,

    had she been fair, I would not be blamed.

  24. إِن عَبَسَ العَيشُ لي

    عُذتُ بِها فَاِبتَسَم

    If life frowned upon me,

    I sought refuge in her, and it smiled.

  25. يَشرَبُها كابِرٌ

    بَينَ ضُلوعي أَشَم

    A noble one drinks her,

    high-nosed between my ribs.

  26. يَبذُلُ إِلّا النُهى

    يَهتِكُ إِلّا الحُرَم

    He gives all save reason;

    rends all save sacred bounds.

  27. يُكسِبُها خُلقَهُ

    يَمزُجُها بِالشِيَم

    He imparts his character to her,

    blends her with noble qualities.

  28. يَمنَعُها حِلمَهُ

    إِن دَفَعَتهُ اِحتَشَم

    He denies her his judgment;

    if she urges him, he remains modest.

  29. تِلكَ شُموسُ الدُجى

    أَم ظَبِيّاتُ الخِيَم

    Are those suns of the darkness,

    or gazelles of the tents?

  30. تُقبِلُ في مَوكِبٍ

    شَقَّ سَناهُ الظُلَم

    They approach in a procession

    whose radiance split the darkness.

  31. خِلتُ بِأَنوارِهِ

    قَرنَ ذُكاءٍ نَجَم

    I thought, amid its lights,

    the horn of Dhukāʾ, the sun, had risen.

  32. مَقصِدُها سُدَّةٌ

    آلَ إِلَيها العِظَم

    Their destination is a royal threshold

    to which greatness has passed,

  33. حَيثُ كِبارُ المَلا

    بَعضُ صِغارِ الخَدَم

    where the grandees of the gathering

    are among the lowliest servants.

  34. قَد وَقَفوا لِلمَها

    فَاِنسَرَبَت مِن أَمَم

    They stood for the oryx-maidens,

    who then slipped through from nearby,

  35. تَخطِرُ مِن جَمعِهِم

    بَينَ لُيوثٍ بُهَم

    swaying through their gathering

    among formidable lions,

  36. خارِجَةً مِن شَرىً

    داخِلَةً في أَجَم

    emerging from a lion-thicket,

    entering tangled groves,

  37. ناعِمَةً لَم تُرَع

    لاهِيَةً لَم تَجَم

    graceful, never frightened,

    playful, never resting.

  38. اِنتَشَرَت لُؤلُؤاً

    في المُهَجاتِ اِنتَظَم

    They scattered as pearls;

    in hearts they were strung together.

  39. تَمرَجُ في مَأمَنٍ

    مِثلَ حَمامِ الحَرَم

    They roam in safety,

    like doves of the sanctuary.

  40. مُؤتَلِفٌ سِربُها

    حَيثُ تَلاقى اِلتَأَم

    Their flock is harmonious;

    wherever it meets, it draws together.

  41. مُندَفِعاتٌ عَلى

    مُختَلِفاتِ النَغَم

    Sweeping onward to

    varying strains of melody,

  42. بَينَ يَدٍ في يَدٍ

    أَو قَدَمٍ في قَدَم

    with hand clasped in hand,

    or foot matched to foot.

  43. تَذهَبُ مَشيَ القَطا

    تَرجِعُ كَرَّ النَسَم

    They go with the sandgrouse's gait,

    return with the breezes' sweep.

  44. تَبعَثُ أَنّى بَدَت

    ضَوءَ جَبينٍ وَفَم

    They send forth, wherever they appear,

    the light of forehead and mouth.

  45. تُعجِلُ خَطواً تَني

    فاتِنَةً بِالرَسَم

    They quicken their steps, then slacken,

    bewitching with their light gait.

  46. تَجمَعُ مِن ذَيلِها

    تَترُكُهُ لَم يُلَم

    They gather part of their trains,

    then leave them ungathered.

  47. تَرفُلُ في مُخمَلٍ

    نَمَّ وَلَمّا يَتِم

    They sweep along in velvet,

    which betrays them, though not yet fully.

  48. تَتبَعُ إِلّا الهَوى

    تَقرَبُ إِلّا التُهَم

    They follow all save desire;

    draw near to all save scandal.

  49. فَاِجتَمَعَت فَاِلتَقَت

    حَولَ خِوانٍ نُظِم

    Then they gathered, then met

    around a table laid out,

  50. مُنتَهَبٍ كُلَّما

    ظُنَّ بِهِ النَقصُ تَم

    eagerly plundered: whenever

    a shortage was suspected, it was full again.

  51. مائِدَةٌ مَدَّها

    بَحرُ نَوالٍ خِضَم

    A table spread by

    a vast sea of generosity.

  52. تَحسَبُها صُوِّرَت

    مِن شَهَواتِ النَهَم

    You would think it had been fashioned

    from the cravings of ravenous appetite.

  53. لَم تُرَ في بابِلٍ

    ما عُهِدَت في إِرَم

    It was never seen in Babylon,

    never known in Iram.

  54. حاتِمُ لَو شامَها

    أَقلَعَ عَمّا زَعَم

    Had Hatim beheld it,

    he would have renounced his claims.

  55. مَعنُ لَوِ اِنتابَها

    أَدرَكَ مَعنى الكَرَم

    Had Maʿn visited it,

    he would have grasped the meaning of generosity.

  56. أَشبَهُ بِالبَحرِ لا

    يُحرِجُها مُزدَحَم

    It most resembles the sea; no

    throng can cramp it.

  57. قامَ لَدَيها المَلا

    يَبلُغُ أَلفَينِ ثَم

    The company stood beside it,

    numbering two thousand there,

  58. مُقتَرِحاً ما اِشتَهى

    مُلتَقِياً ما رَسَم

    asking for whatever it desired,

    finding whatever it ordered.

  59. لَو طَلَبَ الطَيرَ مِن

    أَيكَتِهِ ما اِحتَرَم

    Had it asked for the birds from

    their grove, they would not have been withheld.

  60. يا مَلِكاً لَم تَضِق

    ساحَتُهُ بِالأُمَم

    O king, never too narrow

    has your courtyard been for the nations.

  61. تَجمَعُ أَشرافَها

    مِن عَرَبٍ أَو عَجَم

    It gathers their nobles,

    Arabs or non-Arabs,

  62. تُخطِرُ مَن أَمَّها

    بَينَ صُنوفِ النِعَم

    lets all who seek it stride

    amid all kinds of blessings:

  63. سادَةُ أَفريقيا

    لُجَّتِها وَالأَكَم

    the lords of Africa,

    of its deep waters and hills.

  64. أَنتَ رَشيدُ العُلى

    في المَلأَينِ اِحتَكَم

    You are glory's Rashid,

    holding sway in both assemblies.

  65. لَيلَتُكُم قَدرُها

    فَوقَ غَوالي القِيَم

    Your night's worth

    is above the highest valuations.

  66. مُشرِقَةٌ مِثلُها

    في زَمَنٍ لَم يَقُم

    Radiant—its like

    has never arisen in any age.

  67. لا بَرَحَ الصَفوُ في

    ظِلِّكُمو يُغتَنَم

    May pure joy always, in

    your shade, be enjoyed,

  68. ما شَرِبوها وَما

    طالَ عَلَيها القِدَم

    as long as they drink her, and as long as

    age lies long upon her.