هُو بدرُ الجمَالِ يَرنو لبَدرٍ

هُو بدرُ الجمَالِ يَرنو لبَدرٍ

وغزالٌ مِن خلفِ ظِلِّه يَجري

وغزالٌ مِن خلفِ ظِلِّه يَجري

He is the full moon of beauty, gazing at a full moon.

He is the full moon of beauty yearning for a full moon

And a gazelle runs behind his shadow.

And a gazelle running behind his shadow

نظمَ الحُسنُ منهما بيتَ شِعرٍ

نظمَ الحُسنُ منهما بيتَ شِعرٍ

وهلِ الشِّعرُ غيرُ شَطرٍ بشَطرِ

وهلِ الشِّعرُ غيرُ شَطرٍ بشَطرِ

Beauty composed from the two of them a line of verse.

Beauty has composed a verse of poetry from them

And is poetry anything but a half-line joined to a half-line?

And is poetry anything but one hemistich to another?

ورَقيبٌ عليهمَا قد تَصَدَّى

ورَقيبٌ عليهمَا قد تَصَدَّى

لهُما غيرَ أنَّه واوُ عَمرِو

لهُما غيرَ أنَّه واوُ عَمرِو

And a watcher over them has taken a stand

And a guardian watching over them both

Against them—yet he is merely the silent wāw in ʿAmr.

No one but the prolonged "wow" of life