لَقَد عُجتُ في رَسمٍ أَجَدَّ زَمانُهُ

لَقَد عُجتُ في رَسمٍ أَجَدَّ زَمانُهُ

لَنا دارِسٍ ما كانَ غَيرُ التَواقُفِ

لَنا دارِسٍ ما كانَ غَيرُ التَواقُفِ

Indeed, I turned aside at a trace that time had worn away,

I was at a loss in drawing that hastened its time,

Faded for us, where we had done no more than stand together,

For us a resident, nothing but pauses,

عَشيَّةَ قالَت قَد أَشادَ بِسِرِّنا

عَشيَّةَ قالَت قَد أَشادَ بِسِرِّنا

وَسِرِّكُمُ مَجرى الدُموعِ الذَوارِفِ

وَسِرِّكُمُ مَجرى الدُموعِ الذَوارِفِ

On the evening she said, 'Our secret has been proclaimed

In the evening she said, he praised our secret,

And yours, by the flow of streaming tears.'

And your secret is like tears pouring down,

فَقُلتُ لَها إِنّي أَرى بِكُمُ النَوى

فَقُلتُ لَها إِنّي أَرى بِكُمُ النَوى

عَنوجاً مَتى نَرجُ اِقتِرابَ المَخالِفِ

عَنوجاً مَتى نَرجُ اِقتِرابَ المَخالِفِ

So I told her, 'I see separation carrying you away,

I said to her I see in you an intention,

Wayward—when can we hope the one who resists will draw near?'

Deviating when we approach the dissenter,

فَلَمّا تَواقَفنا تَحَيَّرَ حَولَها

فَلَمّا تَواقَفنا تَحَيَّرَ حَولَها

نَواعِمُ كَالغِزلانِ بيضُ السَوالِفِ

نَواعِمُ كَالغِزلانِ بيضُ السَوالِفِ

So when we stopped together, there milled around her

When we paused, the delicate ones wandered around her,

Delicate women like gazelles, white-necked,

Like white necked gazelles, pure and chaste,

وَثيراتُ أَعجازٍ دِقاقٌ خُصورُها

وَثيراتُ أَعجازٍ دِقاقٌ خُصورُها

طَويلاتُ أَعناقٍ ثِقالُ الرَوادِفِ

طَويلاتُ أَعناقٍ ثِقالُ الرَوادِفِ

Soft-rumped, with slender waists,

With slender hips, and long elegant necks,

Long-necked, with heavy buttocks.

Heavy in their sides, high in their humps,

يَطُفنَ بِها مِثلَ الدُمى بَينَ سافِرٍ

يَطُفنَ بِها مِثلَ الدُمى بَينَ سافِرٍ

إِلَينا وَمُستَحيٍ رَآنا فَصارِفِ

إِلَينا وَمُستَحيٍ رَآنا فَصارِفِ

They circle around her like statues, some unveiled

They roam around her like the trained beasts,

Toward us, and some shy, who saw us, then turned away.

Coming toward us, shy when they see the separator,

وَجاءَت بِتُبّاعٍ لَها بَينَ مُنكِرٍ

وَجاءَت بِتُبّاعٍ لَها بَينَ مُنكِرٍ

لِمَوقِفِنا لَو يَستَطيعُ وَعارِفِ

لِمَوقِفِنا لَو يَستَطيعُ وَعارِفِ

And she came with followers of hers: some who would object

And she came followed by her friends, between disapprover

To our standing together if they could, and some who understood.

Of our stance, if only he could and a knower,