جَعَلَتْ رأسَها كرأسِ المنارهْ

جَعَلَتْ رأسَها كرأسِ المنارهْ

قَصْعةً مثلُ قَصْعَةِ الفوَّارهْ

قَصْعةً مثلُ قَصْعَةِ الفوَّارهْ

She made her head like the top of a minaret—

She made her head like the head of a minaret

A bowl like the basin of a fountain.

A bowl like the bowl of a fountain

ثم قالت لبستُ كَوْري فقلنا

ثم قالت لبستُ كَوْري فقلنا

حاملُ الكورِ مثلُ حاملِ كاره

حاملُ الكورِ مثلُ حاملِ كاره

Then she said, “I have put on my turban,” so we said:

Then she said "I wore a gown" so we said

“A turban-bearer is like a bundle-bearer.”

The bearer of gowns is like the bearer of hatred

وَحَشَتْ جَيْبَها غِرارةَ قُطْنٍ

وَحَشَتْ جَيْبَها غِرارةَ قُطْنٍ

أمِنَ الظَّرْفِ قَيْنَةٌ في غِراره

أمِنَ الظَّرْفِ قَيْنَةٌ في غِراره

And she stuffed her bosom with a sackful of cotton.

And she packed into her pocket a cotton pad

Is a songstress in a sack a mark of elegance?

Is it a purse in its wrapping in her pocket

خبّروني ما زيُّها خبّروني

خبّروني ما زيُّها خبّروني

فهو زيٌّ لم أختبرْ أخباره

فهو زيٌّ لم أختبرْ أخباره

Tell me what her attire is—tell me!

Tell me what is her attire, tell me

For it is a fashion whose particulars I have never examined.

It is an attire whose news I have not experienced

أعليها غلالةٌ أم لحافٌ

أعليها غلالةٌ أم لحافٌ

أتَشَكَّى برودةً أم حراره

أتَشَكَّى برودةً أم حراره

Is she wearing a thin undergarment or a quilt?

Is she wearing a gown or a blanket

Does she complain of cold or heat?

Is she feeling cold or hot

لستُ أدري ما زيُّها غير أنّا

لستُ أدري ما زيُّها غير أنّا

قد رُمينا من زِيَّها بالحجاره

قد رُمينا من زِيَّها بالحجاره

I do not know what her attire is, except that we

I do not know what her attire is, except that

Have indeed been pelted with stones by her attire.

We were pelted by stones from her attire