1. وغادةٍ ترفلُ في الشبابِ

    عاريةِ الحسنِ من المعَابِ

    And a lovely maiden, swaying proudly in youth,

    her beauty free of fault,

  2. كاسيةٍ من ملح التصابي

    أَجفانُها َنشْوى بلا شرابِ

    clothed in the charms of youthful dalliance.

    Her eyelids are tipsy without wine;

  3. تَأْسِرُ بالأَلحاظِ أُسْدَ الغابِ

    مربوبةٍ تُرْبي عَلَى الأَربابِ

    with her glances she captures the forest's lions.

    A cherished one who surpasses her masters,

  4. تُحْسِنُ أَنْ تلعبَ بالأَلبابِ

    جانبتُها في تَركها اجتنابي

    she knows how to play with minds.

    I shunned her as she ceased to shun me,

  5. إِذ مُدَّتي تَقْصُرُ عن عتابي

    فَأُذْهِبَتْ بمذهب الخطابِ

    for my time is too short for my reproaches.

    So it was carried away along the course of speech,

  6. مغضض اللحظِ من الجوابِ

    أَجلسني في العيِّ كالخطَّابي

    with gaze lowered by the reply.

    It left me sitting tongue-tied, like al-Khattabi.

  7. وذاك عُنوانٌ عَلَى كِتابِ

    داخلهُ صِفرٌ من الآدابِ

    And that is a title on a book,

    its contents devoid of learning,

  8. كأَنَّهُ قُفلٌ عَلَى خَرابِ

    مفتاحه أَير أَبي تُرابِ

    as though it were a lock upon a ruin,

    its key Abu Turab's penis.

  9. يا مُفرداً بمادحٍ كذَّابِ

    وصادقاً في هجوه مغتابي

    O you, singled out by a lying praiser,

    and my backbiter is truthful in his satire.

  10. مُطريك إِن أَطراك للثوابِ

    كَطائِرٍ أَرسل في ضَبابِ

    Your flatterer, if he flatters you for reward,

    is like a bird sent into fog.

  11. جاوزتَ في الوصف مدى الإِطنابِ

    قليلَ أَنسابكَ في الأَحسابِ

    You have exceeded, in description, the bounds of prolixity,

    O you whose ancestry is scant among ancestral honors,

  12. كَذِكْرِكَ المظلم في الكتابِ

    يا واحِد العُجْب بلا إعجابِ

    like your obscure mention in the book.

    O you unmatched in conceit, yet inspiring no admiration!

  13. بالَغَ في هجوك واغتيابي

    سَمَّاك إنساناً بلا استيجابِ

    He went too far in lampooning you and backbiting me:

    he called you human without warrant.

  14. دونكها مظلمةَ الجلباب

    غريبةَ الإغراب والإِعرابِ

    Take it, dark-cloaked,

    strange in its novelty and its expression,

  15. أوْقَعَ من مواقِعِ الضِّرابِ

    تبيتُ حَدْوَ الرَّكْبِ والركابِ

    harder-hitting than the blows of combat.

    It spends the night as a driving-song for riders and mounts.

  16. زينتها حقائب الأحقابِ

    والأرحبياتُ من الرحابِ

    Its ornaments are saddlebags on saddle-girths,

    and the Arhab she-camels from the open plains.

  17. تخطرُ في أَزمّة الذَّهابِ

    أَسرعَ من أَناملِ الحسَّابِ

    They sway in the reins of departure,

    faster than reckoners' fingers,

  18. كأنَّما ترقصُ في سرابِ

    يقذفن بالأيدي حصى الركابِ

    as though dancing in a mirage.

    With their forelegs they fling up the mounts' gravel,

  19. كأنَّما يلعبنَ بالطبطابِ

    من تحت أقمارٍ عَلى قبابِ

    as though they were playing with a bat,

    from beneath moons upon domes.

  20. تُقِلُّها أَهلَّةُ الأَصلابِ

    مذ سافرتْ بأنْفُسِ الأحبابِ

    Crescent backs bear them.

    Since they journeyed away with the souls of the beloved,

  21. بِتُّ وإبهامي على ذِنابي

    أندبُ قلباً دائِمَ الأندابِ

    I spent the night with my thumb upon my tail,

    mourning a heart whose scars never fade,

  22. حَتَّى تبدَّى الصبحُ من حِجابِ

    يضحكُ والظلماءُ في انتِحابِ

    until dawn emerged from behind a veil,

    laughing, while the darkness sobbed.