1. صُفْرُ مدارٍ تَضُمُّها شُرَفٌ

    مُفتَضَحٌ عند نَشْرِها العِطْرُ

    Yellow-rimmed blooms, enclosed by battlements;

    Perfume is put to shame beside their fragrance.

  2. تَحمِلُها خَيْزُرانَةٌ ذَبُلَتْ

    ذُبولَ صَبٍّ أذلَّهُ الهَجْرُ

    A bamboo cane bears them, drooping

    With the droop of a lovesick man whom estrangement has humbled.

  3. كأنها إذ زَهَتْ بألسِنَةٍ

    أنطَقَها للمُهَيمنِ الذِّكْرُ

    As though, when they bloom with tongues

    That remembrance has set speaking to the Guardian,

  4. خَناجرٌ من حَناجرٍ نُزِعَتْ

    فهي على الماءِ من دمٍ حُمْرُ

    They were daggers drawn from throats,

    And so lie upon the water, red with blood.