1. O crescent moon, O slender bow, O shower of rain
Whether you appear, bend, or walk
١. يا هِلالاً يا قَضيباً يا رَشا
إنْ تبَدّى أو تثنّى أو مشَى
2. O gazelle whose bloom is in my tears
Whenever it wills and its pasture is the enclosure
٢. يا غَزالاً وِرْدُهُ في أدمُعي
كلّما شاءَ ومرْعاهُ الحَشا
3. My passion for you has spread among people
And if not for my weeping eyes it would not have spread
٣. قد فَشا فيكَ هُيامي في الوَرى
وهْوَ لوْلا دمْعُ عَيْني ما فَشا
4. And how much I preferred to conceal my love
Except the tears betrayed the secret
٤. ولَكَمْ آثرْتُ كِتْمانَ الهَوى
غيْرَ أنّ الدّمْعَ بالسِّرِّ وشَى
5. How can one conceal when for a person
His secret is engraved on his cheek
٥. كيفَ بالكِتْمانِ يوْماً لامرئٍ
سرّهُ في خدّهِ قدْ نُقِشا
6. Or console someone whose body and heart
Are in the valley of misery
٦. أو بسُلْوانٍ لمَنْ في رِيّةٍ
جِسْمُهُ والقلْبُ في وادِي الأشا
7. Take me as a gift freely offered to you
A free woman, and do with my heart as you please
٧. خُذْ فؤدي لكَ منّي هِبَةً
حُرّةً وافْعَلْ بقَلْبي ما تَشا
8. I sold sleep for wakefulness, so for me
There is no distinction between dawn and evening
٨. بعْتُ فيكَ النّومَ بالسُهْدِ فلا
فَرْقَ عنْدي بيْنَ صُبْحٍ وعِشا
9. How many nights I spent in their darkness
Riding the steed of my passion on the mattress
٩. كمْ لَيالٍ بتُّ في ظَلْمائِها
أمْتَطي منْ نارِ شوْقِي فُرُشا
10. Whenever I awakened woe to my liver
The earth swayed from what afflicted me
١٠. كلّما صِحْتُ بها وا كَبِدي
مادَتِ الأرضُ لِما بي دَهَشا
11. As if the stars were an intoxicated drink
That reached the point of tipsiness
١١. وكأنّ النّجْمَ شرْبٌ ثمِلٌ
واصلَ الثّمْلَةَ حتّى ارتَعشا
12. And as if the dawn in the night had
Filled the horizons from what it stirred
١٢. وكأنّ الصُبْحَ في الليلِ وقدْ
ملأَ الأرْجاءَ ممّا جيّشا
13. My hands were filled with the essence of tears
Strangely, trinkets came into my heart
١٣. مُلِئَتْ منْ جوْهَرِ الدّمْعِ يَدي
عجَباً أقْبَلُ في قَلْبي الرّشا
14. And from my eyes' water a river flowed
When I let my floods of tears gush
١٤. وجَرى من ماءِ عيني نهَرٌ
حينَ أرْسَلْتُ دُموعي مُجْهِشا
15. So they were amazed at jewels that can't be bought
And a river that doesn't quench thirst
١٥. فاعْجَبوا منْ جوْهرٍ لا يُقْتَنى
ولنَهْرٍ ليس يَرْوي عطَشا
16. O companion of my heart whenever
The breeze of ostrich feathers was perfumed
١٦. يا نَديمَيّ فؤادي كلّما
نفحَتْ ريحُ النُّعامَى انْتَشا
17. Delight my heart with memories of the tribe
For the tribe whose homesickness distressed them
١٧. أنِّسا قلبي بتَذْكارِ الحِمى
فالحِمى منْ أهلِهِ قد أوْحَشا
18. The day we parted my heart was lost so search
Among the hooves of the mounts and rummage
١٨. ضاعَ يومَ البيْنِ قلْبي فابْحَثا
بيْنَ أخْفافِ المَطايا وانْبِشا
19. And mix it an aromatic coffee
That was generous in its generosity and good in its settlement
١٩. وامْزُجاها قهْوَة عِطرِيّةً
كرُمَتْ كرَماً وطابَتْ عُرُشا
20. So when one with a cheerful eye sees it
He thinks it a fire in the distance, so he lives
٢٠. فإذا أبْصَرَها ذو قِرّةٍ
ظنّها بالبُعْدِ ناراً فَعَشا
21. And when its drinker kisses it
He frowns at it and recoils
٢١. وإذا قبّلَها شارِبُها
قطّبَ الوجْهَ لَها وانْكَمشا
22. So the one who poured it became angry, a serpent
Deposited it or a male hyena
٢٢. فسلا السّاقي الذي أترَعَها
حيّةً أوْدَعَها أو حنَشا
23. A rebel watched for a chance from him
Then when he got it, he pounced and snatched
٢٣. ثائِرٌ راقبَ منْهُ فُرصَةً
ثمّ لمّا أمْكَنَتْهُ بطَشا
24. And the horizons seem like a distant smile
The Abyssinians conquered it
٢٤. وتَخالُ الأفْقَ ثغْراً قاصِياً
غلَبَ الرّومُ عليْهِ الحَبَشا