1. يا ساكِني السَّفْحِ كَمْ عَيْنٍ بِكُمْ سَفَحَتْ

    نَزَحْتُمُ فَهيَ بَعْدَ البُعْدِ قَدْ نَزَحَتَ

    O dwellers of the hillside, how many eyes have shed tears for you!

    You went far away, and since your departure it has run dry.

  2. لَهفِي لِظَبْيَةِ إِنْسٍ مِنْكُمُ نَفَرَتْ

    لا بَلْ هِيَ الشَّمْسُ زالَتْ بَعْدَما جَنَحَتْ

    Alas for a human gazelle from your midst who has fled!

    No—she is the sun, which vanished after sinking low.

  3. بَيْضاءُ حَجَّبَها الواشُونَ حِينَ سَرَتْ

    عَنِّي فَلَو لَمَحَتْ صِبْغَ الدُّجى لَمَحَتْ

    Fair-skinned, she was veiled by talebearers as she traveled by night

    Away from me; had she glimpsed night's dye, she would have shone.

  4. يَقْتَصُّ مِن وَجْنَتَيْها لَحْظُ عاشِقِها

    إنْ ضَرَّجَتْ قَلْبَهُ بِالَّلحظِ أَوْ جَرَحَتْ

    Her lover's gaze takes vengeance on her cheeks

    If with her glance she bloodies his heart or wounds it.

  5. مَنْ لِي بِسَلْمٍ وَفِي أجْفانِ مُقْلَتِها

    لِلْحَرْبِ بِيضٌ حِدادٌ قَطُّ ما صَفَحَتْ

    Who can bring me peace, while within her eyelids

    Lie sharp, white swords for war that have never spared?

  6. يَهْتَزُّ بَيْنَ وِشاحَيْها قَضِيبُ نَقاً

    حَمائِمُ الحَلْيِ فِي أفْنانِهِ صَدَحَتْ

    Between her two sashes sways a bough upon a dune;

    The doves of jewelry have sung among its branches.

  7. وَأسْوِدُ الخالِ فِي مُحْمَرِّ وَجْنَتِها

    كَمِسْكَةٍ نَفَحَتْ فِي جَمْرَةٍ لَفَحَتْ

    And the black of her mole upon her reddened cheek

    Is like a grain of musk wafting fragrance in a scorching ember.

  8. لَها جُفونٌ وَأعْطافٌ عَجِبْتُ لَها

    بِالسُّقْمِ صَحَّتْ وَبِالسُّكْرِ الشَّديدِ صَحَتْ

    Her eyelids and her curves are a wonder to me:

    Sound in sickness, sober in deep drunkenness.

  9. وَرَوْضَةٍ وَجَناتُ الوَردِ قد خَجِلَتْ

    فِيها ضُحىً وَعُيُونُ النَّرْجِسِ انْفَتَحَتْ

    And a garden—the cheeks of roses had blushed

    There at forenoon, and the narcissi's eyes had opened.

  10. تَشاجَرَ الطَّيْرُ فِي أشجارِها سَحَراً

    وَمَالَتِ القُضْبُ لِلتَّغنيقِ فَاصْطَلَحَتْ

    The birds quarreled in its trees before dawn,

    And the boughs leaned toward an embrace, and so made peace.

  11. وَالقَطْرُ قَد رَشَّ ثوبَ الدَّوحِ حِينَ رَأى

    مَجامِرَ الزَّهرِ مِن إِذْيالِهِ نَفَحَتْ

    And the rain had sprinkled the robe of the trees when it saw

    The flowers' censers breathing fragrance from its hems.

  12. باكَرْتُها وَحَمامُ الَّروْضِ نافِرَةٌ

    عَن البُروجِ بِكَفِّ الصُّبْحِ إِذْ وَضَحَتْ

    I visited it early, while the garden's doves were fleeing

    From the towers at the hand of dawn as it brightened.

  13. ما بَيْنَ غُدْرانِ ماءٍ كاللُّجَيْنِ صَفَتْ

    وَأكْؤُسٍ كَنُضارٍ ذائِبٍ طَفَحَتْ

    Amid pools of water clear as silver

    And cups overflowing like molten gold.

  14. بِكْرٌ إِذْا ابْنُ سَماءٍ مَسَّها لَبِسَتْ

    ثَوْبَ الحَبابِ حَياءً مِنْهُ وَاتَّشَحَتْ

    A virgin wine—when a son of heaven touches her, she dons

    A robe of bubbles, shy before him, and drapes herself in it.

  15. تَشَعْشَعَتْ فِي يَدِ السَّاقِي وَقَد مُزِجَتْ

    كأنَّها بِنِصالِ الماءِ قَدْ ذُبِحْتْ

    She sparkled in the cupbearer's hand, already mingled,

    As though she had been slaughtered by the blades of water.

  16. يَسْعَى بِها أهْيَفٌ خَفَّتْ مَعاطِفُهُ

    لكِنْ رَوادِفُهُ مِنْ ثِقْلِها رَجَحَتْ

    A slim-waisted youth goes about with her, his flanks light,

    But his haunches tip the balance with their weight.

  17. لِلْحُسْنِ ماءٌ وَمَرْعًى فَوْقَ وَجْنَتِهِ

    رَبيعُ عَيْنِيَ فِيهِ كُلَّما سَرَحَتْ

    Beauty has water and pasture upon his cheek;

    My eye finds spring in him whenever it wanders.

  18. قالُوا تَعَشَّقْ ِسوى هذا فَقُلْتُ لَهُمْ

    لِي هِمَّةٌ لِدَنِيٍّ قَطُّ ما طَمَحَتْ

    They said, “Love someone other than this one”; so I told them,

    “My ambition has never aspired to anyone lowly.”

  19. فِي أَحسَنِ النَّاسِ أَشْعاري إِذْا نَسَبَتْ

    وَفِي أَجَلِّ مُلُوكِ الأََرْضِ إنْ مَدَحَتْ

    My poems, when they sing of love, concern the fairest of people,

    And, if they praise, the most august of earth's kings.

  20. يا طالِبَ الرِّزْقِ إنْ سُدَّتْ َمذاهِبُهُ

    قُلْ يا أَبا الفَتْحِ يا موسى وَقَدْ فُتِحَتْ

    O seeker of sustenance, if its avenues are barred,

    Say, “O Abu al-Fath! O Musa!”—and they stand open.

  21. لِلّهِ كَمْ رَوَّضَتْ يُمْناهُ مِن زَمَنٍ

    جَدْبٍ وَراضَتْ جِيادَ الجُودِ إِذْ جَمَحَتْ

    By God, how many a season his right hand has made verdant,

    Though barren—and tamed bounty's steeds when they ran wild!

  22. يُخْفِي عَطاياهُ وَالأيَّامُ تُظْهِرُها

    هَيهاتَ تَخْفِي رِياحُ المِسْكِ إِنْ نفَحت

    He conceals his gifts, while the days reveal them;

    Musk's scents can never stay hidden once they spread!

  23. سامَى السِّماكَ عُلُوّاً فاسْتَطالَ وَلَوْ

    ناوَتْ نَدَى يَدِهِ الأنواءُ لافْتَضَحتْ

    He rivaled al-Simak in height and rose above it; and if

    The rain-bringing stars rivaled his hand's bounty, they would be shamed.

  24. مَلكٌ إِذْا التَطَمَتْ أَمْواجُ عَسْكَرِهِ

    سَبَّحْتُ وَالخَيْلُ بِالأَبطالِ قَدْ سَبَحَتْ

    A king—when the waves of his army clash,

    I cry, “Glory to God!” while the horses swim bearing heroes.

  25. رِيحٌ إِذْا رَكَضَتْ رَعْدٌ إِذْا صَهَلَتْ

    بَرْقٌ سَنابِكُها فِي الصَّخْرِ قَدْ قَدَحَتْ

    Wind when they gallop, thunder when they neigh,

    Lightning—their hooves have struck sparks from the rock.

  26. جُرْدٌ إِذْا لاعَبَت أَعْطافَها مُلِئَتْ

    تيهاً وَإِنْ لَمَحَتْ أَقْرانَها مَرِحَتْ

    Sleek steeds—when they playfully sway their flanks, they are filled

    With pride; and if they glimpse their peers, they prance.

  27. تَلْقَى الأَسِنَّةَ عَنْ فُرسانِها كَرَماً

    فَكُلُّ جارِحَةٍ مِنها قَدِ انْجَرَحَتْ

    Nobly they take the spearheads in place of their riders,

    So every limb of theirs has been wounded.

  28. يَحْمِلْنَ أُسْداً لَها سُمْرُ القَنا أًجَمٌ

    فِي مَعْرَكِ المَوتِ لا أَقْعَتْ وَلا كَلَحَتْ

    They carry lions whose thickets are brown lances;

    On death's battlefield they neither crouch nor scowl.

  29. يَصْلَى أَمامَهُمُ نارَ الوَغى مَلِكٌ

    ضاقَتْ بِأعْدائِهِ الأرْضُ الَّتي انْفَسَحتْ

    At their head a king braves the fire of battle;

    The earth, for all its breadth, has grown narrow for his enemies.

  30. إنْ كانَ أَضْحَكَهُمْ وَعْكٌ أَلَمَّ بِهِ

    فَلْتُبْكِهِمْ بَعْدَ هذا صِحَّةٌ صَلَحتْ

    If a fever that assailed him made them laugh,

    Then let his restored health make them weep after this.

  31. أَصْبَحْتَ كالشَّمْسِ ما شِينَت بِمَنْقَصَةٍ

    بَعْدَ الْكُسُوفِ إِذْا أَنْوارُها وَضَحَتْ

    You have become like the sun, unmarred by any flaw

    After eclipse, when its rays shine clear.

  32. لا أَعدَمَ اللَّهُ هذا الخَلْقَ مِنْكَ يَداً

    بَيْضاءَ إِنْ مَنَعَتْهُمْ غَيْرُها سَمَحتْ

    May God never deprive these people of a hand from you—

    A white, generous hand that gives when others deny them.