وَذي حُلَّةٍ مِن نَسيجِ الزَمانِ

يُضاحِكُ أَحمَرُها الأَصفَرا

With a dress woven of the fabric of time

Its redness makes yellow laugh

يُؤانِسُ مَن ظَلَّ مُستَوحِشاً

إِذا اِختَلَسَ الصَحوُ مِنهُ الكَرى

It comforts whoever felt lonely

When wakefulness stole drowsiness from it

وَيَدعو إِلى القَصفِ أَربابَهُ

بِأَحسَنِ صَوتٍ إِذا كَرَّرا

And it calls its masters to alight

In the best voice when it coos again

وَيَجلو عَلى أَهلِهِ نَفسَهُ

بِتاجِ عَقيقٍ عَلَيهِ يُرى

And it pleases itself around its family

With a crown of carnelian seen upon it

فَأَمّا الشُنوفُ لَدى أُذنِهِ

إِذا اِهتَزَّ في مَشيِهِ أَو جَرى

As for the tufts next to its ear

When it shakes as it walks or runs

فَتَنظُرُ مِنها لَهُ صَنعَةً

تُبَهرِجُ صَنعَةَ كُلِّ الوَرى

You see in it a making

That dazzles the making of all creatures

وَهَل هُوَ إِلّا العَروسُ الَّتي

تَقَلَّدَتِ الحَلى وَالجَوهَرا

Is it not but the bride who

Adorned herself with jewelry and gems

أَو الرَوضُ باكَرَهُ وابِلٌ

فَأَلبَسَتهُ الوَردَ وَالعَبهَرا

Or an early dawn garden, a downpour

That dressed it with roses and fragrance

كَأَنَّ الصَباحَ حَبيبٌ لَهُ

إِذا غابَ أَسهَرَهُ مُفكِرا

It is as if the dawn is a beloved to it

That keeps it sleepless thinking of when absent

فَلا يَتَهَنّا بِأَلفاظِهِ

إِلى أَن يُشاهِدَهُ مُسفِرا

So it does not indulge in its words

Until it sees the dawn revealed

فَلا عَدِمَ الشَربُ أَذكارَهُ

فَكَم بَكَّرَ الشَربُ إِذ بَكَّرا

May its drinking never lack prayers

How often drinking supplicates when offered early

جَميلٌ يَمُنُّ عَلَيهِم بِهِ

يَحِقُّ لِمَولاهُ أَن يُشكَرا

A beauty that favors them with it

Rightfully deserving their gratitude

وَأَحسَنَ عاداتِهِ أَنهُ

يُصَفِّقُ مِن قَبلَ أَن يَنعَرا

And its best habit is that

It claps before it hoots