ونلن سقاطاً من حديث كأنّه

ونلن سقاطاً من حديث كأنّه

جنى النحل في أبكار عودٍ تقطَّفُ

جنى النحل في أبكار عودٍ تقطَّفُ

And they gained snatches of talk, as though it were

As though from a discourse dropped, like the hum

The bees’ harvest in a branch’s first growths, being plucked.

Of bees in the blossoms of a fresh-cut bough,

وإن ظلام الليل ينكبُ تحتهُ

وإن ظلام الليل ينكبُ تحتهُ

رجالٌ ويمضي الأحذيُّ المثقّفُ

رجالٌ ويمضي الأحذيُّ المثقّفُ

And indeed, beneath the darkness of night are stricken

And though the night's darkness bends over it

Men, while the nimble, adept man presses on.

Men pass, and the polished sword glints now.

وإنّا ذحمنا كلّ نجدةٍ سيّدٍ

وإنّا ذحمنا كلّ نجدةٍ سيّدٍ

بَطينٍ ولا يحزنك إلا المهفهَفُ

بَطينٍ ولا يحزنك إلا المهفهَفُ

And indeed we have thrust aside all the valor of a lord,

We strain at the skills of each lordly knight

Potbellied; and none grieves you but the slender-waisted man.

Miry or clean, yet sorrow moves you not,

ألا من لقلبٍ لا يزال كأنه

ألا من لقلبٍ لا يزال كأنه

يدا لامعٍ أو طائرٌ يتصرّفُ

يدا لامعٍ أو طائرٌ يتصرّفُ

Ah, who will aid a heart that is forever like

But only a heart that stays young in the breast,

A gesturing man’s two hands, or a bird flitting about?

A shining hand or a bird in its thought.

يطفن بغطريف كأنّ حبّيهُ

يطفن بغطريف كأنّ حبّيهُ

بدارة رمح آخر الليل مصحفُ

بدارة رمح آخر الليل مصحفُ

They circle a noble youth, as though his two beloveds

It hovers as though its love were a spear

At Dārat Rumḥ, at night’s end, were a codex.

At night's end over the Quran embossed.