وَخَمّارَةٍ مِن بَناتِ القُسوسِ

وَخَمّارَةٍ مِن بَناتِ القُسوسِ

تَبيعُ المُدامَةَ في دارِها

تَبيعُ المُدامَةَ في دارِها

And a wine-seller, one of the priests’ daughters,

A veiled girl from the daughters of chiefs

Sells wine in her house.

Selling wine in her house

وَجاءَت تَهادى كَقَدِّ القَضيبِ

وَجاءَت تَهادى كَقَدِّ القَضيبِ

سَقَتهُ الغَوادي بِأَمطارِها

سَقَتهُ الغَوادي بِأَمطارِها

And she came swaying, like a branch’s slender form,

She came swaying like a slender branch

Watered by morning clouds with their rains.

Watered by the valley rains

وَفي كَفِّها قَهوَةٌ في الإِناءِ

وَفي كَفِّها قَهوَةٌ في الإِناءِ

وَكَالنّارِ لَم تَغلَ في نارِها

وَكَالنّارِ لَم تَغلَ في نارِها

And in her palm was wine in a vessel,

In her hand coffee in a vessel

And like fire, though it had not boiled in her fire,

Like fire unextinguished in its hearth

كَوَجنَةِ مَن هِيَ في كَفِّها

كَوَجنَةِ مَن هِيَ في كَفِّها

وَنَكهَتِها وَقتَ أَسحارِها

وَنَكهَتِها وَقتَ أَسحارِها

Like the cheek of the woman in whose palm it lay,

Like an oasis held in her hand

And her breath in her predawn hours.

And its lushness at dawn

فَمِن قارِصٍ وَردَتي خَدِّها

فَمِن قارِصٍ وَردَتي خَدِّها

وَمِن جاذِبٍ فَضلَ زُنّارِها

وَمِن جاذِبٍ فَضلَ زُنّارِها

So one pinches the two roses of her cheek,

From a clasping her cheek grew pale

And another tugs at the loose end of her girdle.

From a puller slipped her waistband