1. عرِّج بِمُنعَرَجِ الكَثيبِ الأَعفَرِ

    بَينَ الفُراتِ وَبَينَ شَطِّ الكَوثَرِ

    Turn aside at the bend of the dust-colored dune,

    Between the Euphrates and the bank of Kawthar.

  2. وَلتغتبِقها قَهوَةً ذَهَبيّةً

    مِن راحَتي أَحوى المَراشفِ أَحوَر

    And drink it at evening—a golden wine—

    From the palms of one with dusky lips and eyes of vivid black and white.

  3. وَعَشيةٍ كَم كُنت أَرقب وَقتَها

    سَمحت بِها الأَيّامُ بَعدَ تَعذُّرِ

    And an evening—how often I had watched for its hour!—

    The days granted it after it had proved elusive.

  4. نِلنا بِها آمالنا في رَوضَةٍ

    تَهدي لِناشقِها نَسيمَ العَنبَرِ

    We attained our hopes that evening in a garden,

    Offering an ambergris-scented breeze to whoever breathes it in.

  5. وَالدَهرُ مِن نَدَمٍ يَسفّهُ رَأيه

    في ما مَضى مِنهُ بِغَير تكدُّرِ

    And Time, in remorse, calls its own judgment foolish

    Concerning its past, without distress.

  6. وَالوُرقُ تَشدو وَالأَراكة تَنثَني

    وَالشَمسُ ترفُلُ في قَميصٍ أَصفَرِ

    And the gray doves sing, and the arak tree bends,

    And the sun struts in a yellow shirt.

  7. وَالرَوضُ بَينَ مَذهَّبٍ وَمُفَضَّضٍ

    وَالزَهرُ بَينَ مَدَرهَمٍ وَمُدَنَّرِ

    And the garden is part gilded, part silvered,

    And the flowers: some like dirhams, some like dinars.

  8. وَالنَهرُ مَرقومُ الأَباطح وَالرُبى

    بِمُصَندَلٍ مِن زَهرِهِ وَمُعَصفَرِ

    And the river's gravel flats and hillocks are embroidered

    With its sandalwood-tinted and safflower-dyed blossoms.

  9. وَكَأَنَّهُ وَكَأَنَّ خُضرَةَ شَطِّهِ

    سَيفٌ يُسَلُّ عَلى بِساطٍ أَخضَرِ

    And it seems, against the greenery of its bank,

    A sword unsheathed upon a green carpet.

  10. وَكَأَنَّما ذاكَ الحَبابُ فِرِندُهُ

    مَهما طَفا في صَفحِهِ كَالجَوهَرِ

    And those bubbles seem to be its blade's damask pattern,

    Whenever they float on its surface like jewels.

  11. وَكَأَنَّهُ وَجِهاتُهُ مَحفوفَةٌ

    بِالآسِ وَالنُعمانِ خَدّ مُعَذِرِ

    And it seems, with its sides bordered

    By myrtle and anemones, a youth's downy cheek.

  12. نَهرٌ يَهيمُ بِحُسنِهِ مَن لَم يَهِم

    وَيُجيد فيهِ الشِعرَ مَن لَم يَشعُرِ

    A river whose beauty enraptures even those never before enraptured,

    And even those who never composed verse make fine poetry about it.

  13. ما اصفَرَّ وَجهُ الشَمسِ عِندَ غُروبِها

    إِلذا لِفُرقَةِ حُسنِ ذاكَ المَنظَرِ

    The sun's face did not turn yellow at its setting

    Except because it was parting from the beauty of that scene.