1. O you whose eyelids were deprived of sleep
So fair eyelids could rest

2. The aching heart did not leave
A healthy body at peace

3. And an enamored soul worn out by love
Whose passion overwhelmed him

4. Love he hides and broadcasts
Through tears flowing generously down his cheeks

5. Alive yet in the state of a dead man
Your love inters him in a grave

6. Better for him than what he endures
Is a death where rest can be found

7. And my life I sacrifice for one disobeyed
And I did not obey good advice

8. Of all dishonor
Even if I were the disgraced one

9. If only in his isolation I could
With my meager efforts bring relief

10. The morning breeze is kept from
Blowing my way when its fragrance stirs

11. How many nights I spend
Sleepless nights with no morn

12. Restless, burning inside
My aching wounded heart

13. A desperate woman
Crazed by the fever of your heart

14. Like a gazelle of the wilderness
Who came to you or the open plain

15. She grazes on hearts and browses
On the tenderness of the young

16. Had she exposed herself
To the Magian’s shining swords

17. They would have offered her instead of
Sacrifice in the Temple of Fire

18. Or if she had sanctified herself
To the Christians, they would have called her Messiah

19. But she was ill-mannered
With ugly morals

20. She refuses intimacy
Even if she were to be the ardent one

21. I would have offered myself, but
It is not for me to be so bold

22. Witnessed your attributes fitting mine
In the relics of Ctesiphon laid bare

23. And glory destined for me
To which truly I am entitled

24. Changing them for the glory
I seek elevated and comforting

25. Long have I blazed trails in composing
Of love poems ample and free

26. And in making excuses I was lavish
In eloquent tongue of pure Arabic

27. And I prefaced inherited narration
With innate poetry from my soul

28. And joined them with an ambition
Lofty and aspiring

29. And determination not one to
Succumb to hardships or ordeals

30. I made my palm a companion
To gentleness and swordplay

31. Both were my friends in every
Perilous and daring venture

32. And if I sensed poetry not used
For satire or praise

33. I found it still rendered virtues
Eloquently into this graceful speech