1. I come to you with news of Layla though her abode you cannot visit
Her wailing has intensified and her bitterness endures

2. Her wailing has softened from the south winds of Unayzah
As the neighing of thirsty steeds softens by the Nile watering-place

3. Some said: Her avoidance cannot hurt you
Yes, whatever pleases souls does hurt them

4. Does not copious weeping hurt the eye?
Denying it sleep and joy

5. Today comes without Layla as if
Without Layla came an excuse or months

6. For every meeting we encounter delight
Though I visit her daily, each day has its excuse

7. My intimate, may your soul be guided, for separation
Has come without the beloved, so bitter is its agony

8. My intimate, no hour of night passes
That we do not count as like another we will endure

9. Needs may arise sought by the youth
A moment, though the soul fears what cannot hurt it

10. Whenever I visited Layla, she was veiled
So the next morning her aloofness pained me

11. My intimate, sorrow is general and
The modes of separation share Layla and her abode

12. Her coldness I have seen and
Her indifference to my need and her door's harshness

13. If Layla were in distant Najran, in refusal
Her palace would turn to me

14. It comforts my eye to see the caravan
Climbing toward Layla while she speeds barefoot

15. She did not stop until her train relaxed
And she slowed after the steep climbing

16. I looked out over the barren earth, perhaps
I would see Layla's fire or her keen sight would find me

17. So I called "Layla!" and the camels were like
Lofty palm-trees shaken by a storm

18. She said: "I see no use in your company
For the ferocity of enemies with rage in their breasts"

19. She lowered the ropes so I reached her
Though my climbing almost pictured me

20. When I entered the tent, its sides folded
And the pegs of sturdy rope bound it

21. She eased the ties of the howdah with steps
And steady gait, once too difficult for her

22. It cures me of longing to see her on the far
Lonely and fearful balcony I visit

23. And to leave the barren settlement in its land
Where its ravens and eagles circle

24. Except Layla has been quick to start early
And rise Saturday morning to depart

25. What black-eyed gazelle with lovely
Glancing eyes is lovelier than she?

26. She has shown us the cisterns of death, and we saw
The pure-edged pools that her glance stirs up

27. Oh sincere soul, how can she attain it
If a frightened fugitive seeks her protection?

28. She protects though the desolation of exile rends her
One day she will enjoy ease or free her captive

29. She said: "Today I see you dark-faced, pale
What whiteness of cheek has her fervor scorched?"

30. "If a day has deadly poison, its captive
Is shortened by less than the poison"

31. "Change me if you are changed
By separation, its covertness and captivity"

32. "You dove of the valley, grace me
With the valley rain's showers that watered you"

33. "Show me - still is your feathering soft?
Still are you in tender green, its like?"

34. "If you coo, tears well in my eyes for you
If you moan, passion moans its murmuring"

35. Layla claimed I am debauched
Corrupted at heart or in my morals

36. Say to Uqayl: What talk of a band
Beset by foes could harm her?

37. No! Cease, lest horses charge between us
And feet run or wings take flight

38. Perhaps you, he-goat from Mureyr, will punish
Layla and see me visit her

39. Let my blood be shed if her husband
Sees any fault in me but visiting her

40. When I visit her, I say "Oh Muslims!"
Is there harm to her in my words "Oh Muslims"?

41. With the smoothest gait, as if
An elder branch sways with its fruit

42. With the clearest enunciation, like
The bitterness of sap drawn out, bitter

43. I have crossed the dangerous passes of Tanuf
Feared, which the wolf turns from when the dog snarls

44. You see the weaklings among them as if
They are water skins with their contents poured out

45. By the rugged night, halfway between sunset
And night prayer, I always travel

46. The many foes refused to avoid
My hounds until their fury stirred

47. Do not blame my ignorance, but my recklessness
You see with my enemies, in their perception slow

48. Do I fear the Chastiser of souls? I have not visited
My negligent acts in Hamdan with remorse

49. Swaying with heavy rumps, hocks, and shoulders,
Smooth hooves and slender legs