1. When Layla is far away and her dwellings are desolate,
I have no fire but my sighs that kindle it.

2. Who can make me spend nights and be pleased with her land,
Stubbornly staying in our dwellings and her house?

3. Would that I had never crossed the land where she lived,
So I might enjoy the nearness of being her neighbor!

4. I compare her with the full moon and the swaying branch at times,
Yet she is but a gazelle and the sound of her bells.

5. If there were a fire on Muḥaṣṣab or one lit at Najd,
I would say that is where her house lies.

6. How can the soul feel narrow with the wine of love,
While you are its ferment and from you is its cupbearer?

7. O night that has destroyed my soul, show some tenderness
Since killing the soul in you is its pride.

8. May God not let me see a night, O night, with an evening meal,
Settled from troubles upon you.