1. اللهُ أكبرُ في منارِ الجامعِ

    من سبتةٍ تأذينَ عبد خاشع

    God is greatest, from the great mosque's minaret

    in Ceuta—the call of a humble servant.

  2. اللهُ أكبرُ للصلاة أقيمُها

    بين الصفوفِ من البلاطِ الواسعِ

    God is greatest; I perform the prayer

    among the rows in the spacious paved court.

  3. اللهُ أكبر مُحرماً وموجهاً

    وجهي إلى ربي بقلب خاشع

    God is greatest, as I enter prayer and turn

    my face toward my Lord with a humble heart.

  4. الحمدُ للّه السلامُ عليكمُ

    آمين لا تفتح لكلِّ مخادعِ

    Praise be to God; peace be upon you.

    Amen! Do not open your door to every deceiver.

  5. إنّ النساءَ خدعنني ومَكَرْنَ بي

    وملأنَ من ذكر النساءِ مسامعي

    The women deceived me and plotted against me,

    and filled my ears with talk of women,

  6. حتى وقعتُ وما وقعتُ لجانب

    لكنْ على رأسي لأمر واقعِ

    until I fell—not upon my side,

    but upon my head, through what was bound to happen.

  7. واللّهِ ما كانت إليه ضرورة

    لكنَّ أمرَ اللّه دونَ مُدافعِ

    By God, there was no need for it,

    but none can avert God's decree.

  8. فخطبْنَ لي في بيتِ حُسنٍ قلنَ لي

    وكذبنَ بلْ هوَ بيت قبحٍ شائعِ

    They sought me a bride in a house of beauty, they said—

    and lied: it was a house of notorious ugliness.

  9. بكراً زعمن صغيرةً في سنّها

    حسناءَ تُسفرُ عن جمالٍ بارعِ

    A virgin, they claimed, young in years,

    a beauty unveiling a dazzling loveliness.

  10. خَوْد لها شعرٌ أثيثٌ حالكٌ

    كالليلِ يجلو عن صباحٍ ساطعِ

    A tender maiden with thick, jet-black hair,

    like night revealing a radiant dawn.

  11. حوراءُ يرتاعُ الغزال إذا رنتْ

    بجفون حشفٍ في الخمائل راتعِ

    Dark-eyed: the gazelle starts when she gazes

    with the eyelids of a fawn grazing in the thickets.

  12. تتلو الكتاب بغنّة وفصاحةٍ

    فيميلُ نحوَ الذكر قلبُ السامعِ

    She recites the Book with nasal resonance and eloquence,

    so the listener's heart inclines toward remembrance.

  13. بسَّامةٌ عن لؤلؤ متناسق

    من ثغرها في نظمه المتتابعِ

    Ever smiling, revealing well-matched pearls

    from her mouth, strung in an unbroken row.

  14. أنفاسُها كالراح فُضَّ ختامها

    من بعد ما خُتمت بمسكٍ رائعِ

    Her breath is like wine whose seal is broken

    after it has been sealed with exquisite musk.

  15. غيداءَ كالغصنِ الرطيب إذا مشت

    ناءَتْ بردفٍ للتعجل مانعِ

    Graceful as a supple branch, when she walks,

    her hips weigh her down, preventing haste.

  16. تخطو على رِجْلي حمامة أيكة

    مخضوبة تُصبي فؤاد الخاشعِ

    She steps on the feet of a woodland dove,

    henna-dyed, captivating the humble worshipper's heart.

  17. ووصفنَ لي من حُسنها وجمالها

    ما البعضُ منه يُقيم عذرَ الخالعِ

    They described to me such beauty and loveliness

    that even a fraction would excuse a libertine.

  18. فدنوتُ واستأمنتُ بعد توحّش

    وأطاعَ قلبٌ لم يكن بمطاوعِ

    So I drew near and sought reassurance after shying away,

    and a heart that would not yield obeyed.

  19. فحملنني نحو الوليّ وجئنني

    بالشاهدين وجلد كبشٍ واسعِ

    They took me to her guardian and brought me

    the two witnesses and a broad ram's hide,

  20. وبغرفة من نافع لتفاؤلٍ

    واللهِ عزَّ وجلَّ ليس بنافعِ

    and a handful of nāfiʿ seed, for good luck—

    though, by God, mighty and majestic, it was no help.

  21. فشرطنَ أشراطاً عليَّ كثيرةً

    ما كنتُ في حملي لها بالطائعِ

    They imposed many conditions upon me,

    which I did not willingly undertake.

  22. ثم انفصلتُ وقد علمتُ بأنني

    أوثقت في عنقي لها بجوامعِ

    Then I departed, knowing that I

    had been bound to her with shackles round my neck.

  23. وتركنني يوماً وعدنَ وقلنَ لي

    خذ في البناءِ ولا تكنْ بمدافعِ

    They left me for a day, then returned and said,

    'Begin the consummation; do not put it off.

  24. واصنعْ لها عرساً ولا تحوج إلى

    قاضٍ عليك ولا وكيل رافعِ

    Hold a wedding feast for her, and do not force recourse

    to a judge against you, or an advocate bringing suit.'

  25. فقرعتُ سنّي عندَ ذاك ندامةً

    ما كنتُ لولا أن خُدعت بقارعِ

    I gnashed my teeth then in remorse—

    I would not have done so had I not been deceived.

  26. ولزمنني حتى انفصلتُ بموعدٍ

    بعد اليمين إلى النهار الرابعِ

    They pressed me until I departed with a date agreed,

    after swearing an oath, for the fourth day.

  27. فلو انني طلّقتُ كنتُ موفقاً

    ونفضتُ من ذاك النكاح أصابعي

    Had I divorced her, I would have chosen well

    and shaken my fingers free of that marriage.

  28. لكنْ طمعت بأن أرى الحسن الذي

    زوّرن لي فدممتُ سوءَ مطامعي

    But I hoped to see the beauty that

    they had fabricated for me; so I condemned my base desires.

  29. فنظرتُ في أمر البناء مُعجّلاً

    وصنعتُ عُرساً يالهامِنْ صانعِ

    So I hastily attended to the consummation,

    and held a wedding feast—what a host!

  30. وطمعتُ أن تُجلى وأبصر وجهها

    وتقرُّ عيني بالهلال الطالعِ

    I hoped she would be unveiled and I might see her face,

    and my eye be gladdened by the rising crescent.

  31. فذكرنَ لي أن ليسَ عادةُ أهلها

    جَلْوَ العروس وتلك خدعةُ خادعِ

    They told me it was not her family's custom

    to unveil the bride—and that was a deceiver's trick.

  32. وظننتُ ذاكَ كما ذكرنَ ولم يكنْ

    وحصلتُ منه في مقام الفازعِ

    I thought it was as they said, but it was not,

    and through it found myself in a state of terror.

  33. وحملنني ليلاً إلى دار لها

    في موضع عن كلِّ خير شاسعِ

    At night they took me to a house of hers,

    in a place far removed from every good:

  34. دار خراب في مكان موحش

    ما بينَ آثار هناكَ بلاقعِ

    a ruined house in a desolate place,

    amid the barren ruins there.

  35. فقعدتُ في بيتٍ صغير مُظلم

    لا شيءَ فيه سوى حصير الجامعِ

    I sat down in a small, dark room

    with nothing in it but the mosque's mat.

  36. فسمعتُ حساً عَنْ شمالي مُنكراً

    وتنحنحاً يحكي نقيقَ ضفادعِ

    I heard a strange sound to my left,

    and throat-clearing like the croaking of frogs.

  37. فأردتُ أن أنجو بنفسي هارباً

    ووثبتُ عند الباب وثبةَ جازعِ

    I wanted to escape with my life, fleeing,

    and sprang to the door with a frightened man's leap.

  38. فلقيتهنَ وقد أتينَ بجذوةٍ

    فرددنني وحبسنني بمجامعِ

    I met them as they came with a glowing brand;

    they turned me back and held me in their clutches.

  39. ودخلنَ بي للبيت واستجلسنني

    فجلستُ كالمقرور يوم زعازعِ

    They led me into the room and made me sit,

    and I sat like one shivering with cold on a day of gales.

  40. وأشرنَ لي نحو السماء وقُلنَ لي

    هذي زويبعةُ وبنت زوابعِ

    They pointed toward the sky and said to me,

    'This is Zuwaybiʿah, daughter of whirlwinds.

  41. هذي خليلتُك التي زوجتها

    فاجلس هنا معها ليوم السابعِ

    This is your beloved, whom you have married;

    sit here with her until the seventh day.

  42. وتهنأ النُّعمى التي خولتها

    فلقدْ حصلتَ على رياضٍ يانعِ

    Enjoy the blessing you have been granted,

    for you have gained flourishing gardens.'

  43. فنظرتُ نحو خليلتي متأملاً

    فوجدتُها محجوبةً ببراقعِ

    I looked toward my beloved, studying her,

    and found her concealed behind veils.

  44. وأتيتُها وأردتُ نزع خمارها

    فغدتْ تدافعني بجدٍ وازعِ

    I approached her and tried to remove her head-covering,

    but she began resisting me with forceful resolve.

  45. فوجأتُها في صدرها ونزعته

    وكشفتُ هامتها بغيظ صارعِ

    I struck her in the chest and pulled it off,

    and bared her head in overpowering rage.

  46. فوجدتُها قرعاءَ تحسبُ أنها

    مقروعةُ في رأسها بمقارعِ

    I found her bald—you would think she had been

    beaten upon the head with mallets.

  47. حولاء تنظرُ قرنها في ساقها

    فتخالها مبهوتة في الشارعِ

    Cross-eyed, she sees her temple down at her shin,

    so you would think her dumbstruck in the street.

  48. فطساءَ تحجو أن روثةَ أنفها

    قطعت فلا شلّت يمين القاطعِ

    Flat-nosed: you would think the tip of her nose

    had been cut off—may the cutter's right hand never wither!

  49. صماءَ تُدْعى بالبريح وتارةً

    بالطبلِ أو يؤتى لها بمقامعِ

    Deaf, she is called to with shouting, and sometimes

    with a drum, or clubs are brought to her.

  50. بكماءَ إن رامت كلاماً صوّتتْ

    تصويتَ معزى نحو جدي راضعِ

    Mute: if she tries to speak, she cries

    like goats bleating toward a suckling kid.

  51. عرجاءَ إن قامتْ تُعالج مشيها

    أبصرت مشية ضالع أو خامعِ

    Lame: when she rises and struggles to walk,

    you see the gait of one limping or hobbling.

  52. فلقيتها وجعلتُ أبصقُ نحوها

    وأفرُّ نحو دُجى وغيث هامعِ

    I faced her and began spitting toward her,

    and fled into darkness and pouring rain,

  53. حيرانَ أعدو في الزقاقِ كأنني

    لصٌ أحسَّ بطالب أو تابعِ

    bewildered, racing through the alley as though I were

    a thief sensing a pursuer or someone on his trail,

  54. حتى إذا لاحَ الصباحُ وفتحوا

    بابَ المدينة كنتُ أول كاسعِ

    until, when dawn appeared and they opened

    the city gate, I was the first to set out.

  55. واللّه مالي بعدَ ذاكَ بأمرها

    علمٌ ولا بأمور بيتي الضائعِ

    By God, since then, about her affairs

    I know nothing, nor of my lost household's affairs.