1. وسم الربيع الأرض هفي كأختها

    قبل العيون وأختها كالتوأم

    Spring marked the earth; she is like her sister,

    before our eyes, she and her sister like twins.

  2. بأبي جلالٌ راعني فنشدته

    وأصبت معنىً فيه يخطئه العمى

    A majesty—my father its ransom!—awed me, and I sought it,

    and I found in it a meaning that blindness misses.

  3. فطفقت أرمق وردةً فتانةً

    ضحك الندى في ثغرها المتكمم

    So I began to gaze at a captivating rose;

    dew laughed in her mouth, enclosed in its calyx.

  4. فرأيت أني ناظرق حسانة

    يقضي اللحاظ جليلة المتوسم

    Then I saw that I was gazing at a beautiful woman;

    the gaze judges her majestic in appearance.

  5. رفعت يداً فإذا الغصون كواعبٌ

    يرشفنني بنواظر المتهكم

    I raised a hand—and behold, the boughs were budding-breasted maidens,

    sipping me with a mocker's eyes.

  6. وإذا بساط الروض لج زاخر

    للَه روعة موجه المتحطم

    And behold, the meadow's carpet was a swelling sea;

    how wondrous, by God, its crashing waves!

  7. وكأنما الورق النضير حمائم

    كخواطر طافت برأس مهوم

    And it was as though the fresh green leaves were doves,

    like thoughts that wandered through a drowsy head.

  8. ووجدت صوتاً مثل أنفاس الصبا

    عذب الورورد كأنها من مغرم

    And I found a voice like the east wind's breath,

    sweet in its coming, as though from a lover:

  9. صوت من البحر العميق كأنها

    همس اللنسيم أو الحيا المترنم

    a voice from the deep sea, as though it were

    the whisper of the breeze, or of singing rain.

  10. عجباً لمعنى في مطاوي لفظه

    يذر الخلي رهين شجو مضرم

    How wondrous a meaning in the folds of its utterance,

    that leaves the carefree captive to a blazing sorrow!

  11. يا من تأوبه الهمموم حياته

    والهول يغشى كل كهف مظلم

    O you whom cares have haunted throughout your life,

    and terror shrouds every dark cavern,

  12. قد طال ما قطبت وجهك للدنا

    حتى نسيت بشاشة المتبسم

    so long have you frowned at the world,

    until you forgot the cheerfulness of one who smiles.

  13. لا تحسب الزمن النضير براجع

    إن السعادة فذةٌ لم تتئم

    Do not think the blooming days will return;

    indeed, happiness is singular; it has borne no twins.

  14. هل كنت دهرك غير طيف حائر

    أو كان عيشك غير حلم مبهم

    Were you, throughout your life, anything but a bewildered phantom,

    or was your life anything but an indistinct dream?

  15. ولهذه الآن التي تزهى بها

    من طيبها حلمٌ بحلم أدوم

    And surely this present moment, in which you exult,

    for its sweetness, is a dream within a more enduring dream.

  16. ولى الظلام وأجفلت أحلامه

    فرجعت أرمق غضة المتنسم

    Darkness departed, and its dreams fled in fright;

    so I returned to gaze at the rose, fresh in fragrance.

  17. فإذا مكان الطل دودٌ فاتك

    يا للحياة من الأذى التمحتم

    Then behold: in place of the dew were deadly worms.

    Alas for life, with its unavoidable suffering!