وَإِلَى نَدَاكَ رَكِبْتُهَا زِنْجِيَّةً

وَإِلَى نَدَاكَ رَكِبْتُهَا زِنْجِيَّةً

كَرُمَتْ مَنَابِتُ سَاجِهَا وَالعَرْعَرِ

كَرُمَتْ مَنَابِتُ سَاجِهَا وَالعَرْعَرِ

And toward your bounty I rode her—a Zanj woman.

To your call I rode her, swift as wind,

Noble were the places where her teak and juniper grew.

Her saddle's nap rose high and undeterred,

سَحْمَاءُ مَنْشَؤُهَا بِبَحْرٍ مُخْصِبِ

سَحْمَاءُ مَنْشَؤُهَا بِبَحْرٍ مُخْصِبِ

أَبَدَاً وَمَولِدُهَا بِبَرٍّ مُقْفِرِ

أَبَدَاً وَمَولِدُهَا بِبَرٍّ مُقْفِرِ

Soot-black, nurtured on a sea that is bountiful

Born in fertile seas yet barren sands her source,

always, though her birthplace is barren land.

Never fading, ever surfacing assured.

إِنْ جَانَبَتْ قَصْدَ الهَوَى بمُقَدَّمٍ

إِنْ جَانَبَتْ قَصْدَ الهَوَى بمُقَدَّمٍ

عَطَفَتْهُ كَفُّ خَلِيْلِهَا بِمُؤَخَّرِ

عَطَفَتْهُ كَفُّ خَلِيْلِهَا بِمُؤَخَّرِ

If her bow veers from the desired course,

If her zeal met refusal she would turn its tide,

her companion’s hand turns it back at the stern.

With her rider's palms she gently would steer

فكأنّهَا والفجرُ قد خلع الدُّجَى

فكأنّهَا والفجرُ قد خلع الدُّجَى

للعَيْنِ قِطْعَةٌ ظُلْمَةٌ لم تُسْفِرِ

للعَيْنِ قِطْعَةٌ ظُلْمَةٌ لم تُسْفِرِ

So she seems, as dawn has cast off the gloom,

As dawn strips night of its veil,

to the eye a patch of darkness that has not brightened.

Leaving eyes in darkness not yet cleared.

طارتْ إليك تطايُراً بقوادمٍ

طارتْ إليك تطايُراً بقوادمٍ

منشورةٍ وقوادِمٍ لم تُنْشَرِ

منشورةٍ وقوادِمٍ لم تُنْشَرِ

She flew to you, winging her way on primary feathers—

Toward you she flew on hooves spread and unspread,

spread, and primary feathers that were not spread.

Galloping glory faster than fear.