1. Tell her whose cheeks have reached full perfection,
And whose figure has gained graceful poise,

2. Whose glance, like that of a startled fawn,
Adorns her neck with beauty of a gazelle,

3. Whose wine-colored drink reflects a hue,
Instantly intoxicating and cascading,

4. With cheeks that rival the redness of roses,
And saliva sweeter than icy drinks,

5. Whose beauty has dazzled the entire world,
So peerless, nothing equals her at all,

6. I beseech, by the One called: “Oh Lord!”
With a plea - Glory to Him, The Most High -

7. I yearn for you with a longing that melts
Solid rocks or tumbles down mountains,

8. I stay up all night, unable to see
Earth’s surface, nor rest easy at all,

9. People loved whoever saw her, while I
Loved you an age, yet saw no phantom,

10. Without precedent - people never saw
An idol, yet placed hope in her fully,

11. Revive the soul of one smitten with love,
Infatuated by you, and console him,

12. Do not spurn, O fairest of mankind,
A man in direst of straits,

13. O two censurers! Do not blame love
In a man who cannot resist passion!

14. And tell the lady of coquetry that I
Do not hear words in my love of her,

15. And ask her: Is she entitled to shed
Protected blood, yet forbid legal union?

16. Is it just that I gave her my soul,
Yet she granted not my eyes their portion?

17. And rewarded constancy with rejection,
And loved my affection with disdain?

18. And cast me into the heat of her separation,
Inflaming my heart into an inferno?

19. Or restore my bygone days, after
Their determined departure and flight?

20. Wherein I was a man who would go and return
With empty mind, seeing no tasks,

21. Wearing the garb of one who shuns all,
Accompanying only the vile and jobless,

22. Aspiring in my ignorance, unable to see
Righteousness as rectitude, or misguidance as error.

23. What judgment has fate over me, that I give
It hands of obedience, or humiliation?

24. What loss do you see mine, apart from my weeping
Over fine living, before thirties departure?