1. يا مَن نُعِدُّ بِهِ المَجازَ حَقيقَةً

    أَنتَ المُفَدّى خِفَّةً وَلِطافَةِ

    O you through whom we deem metaphor reality,

    You are the cherished one, all lightness and delicacy.

  2. إِنّي لَأُنصِفَ مِن ذَويكَ عَثيرَةً

    حَجَبوكَ عَن مُقَلِ الأَنامِ مَخافَةِ

    I would indeed judge a little lapse by your kin fairly:

    They veiled you from the eyes of humankind, for fear

  3. مِن أَن تَخدِشَ خَدَّكَ الأَبصارُ

    هامَت بِرُؤيَتِكَ العُيونُ وَرَجَحَت

    That gazes might scratch your cheek.

    Eyes were enraptured at seeing you, and deemed it likely

  4. إِنَّ الخُدودُ هِيَ الوُرودُ تَفَتَّحَت

    وَالبَعضُ يَزعُمُ أَنَّها قَد رُشِّحَت

    That the cheeks were roses that had blossomed.

    And some claim that they have been moistened.

  5. فَتَوَهَّموكَ وَلَم يَرَوكَ فَأَصبَحَت

    مِن وَهمِهِم في خَدِّكَ الآثارُ

    So they imagined you, though they had not seen you, and there appeared

    Marks upon your cheek from their imagining.