1. Oh my heart, what have the eyes done to you?
They have been cruel, so love has taken its reins.

2. Oh refuge of sorrows, grief has reached its peak,
Though tongues of advice dissuade me all along.

3. In your love how many wounds recklessly were made,
By the glances of the doe and the curls of the gazelle.

4. He sways like a bending branch in the wind,
Medium in stature, a twig of sweet basil.

5. Meaning to him I’d sacrifice myself if need be,
And would face the sand dunes with more sand dunes.

6. Nashwan, his waist bears the burden of his love,
Which has maddened this passionate lover of his.

7. He smiles with such beauty as if he were
A pearl with the shell of a coral reef.

8. Eyes don’t turn away when meeting his,
As if they weren’t from the human race at all.

9. Oh Salim, his love flows through my soul,
Like the spirit flows in the body of man.

10. How many nights have I stayed up until dawn,
With my hands clutching my heart in its throbbing.

11. I reminisce about you, then sorrow disquiets me,
So I gnaw my fingers in regret over you.

12. Stay away, my friend, from his glances,
Beware, for they are the snares of the devil.

13. Like a sword, the deception of his love slashes souls,
Yet his face appeals to the beholder.

14. I don’t seek union with you so another can be first,
If another attained it, I’d be the next.

15. If I found your acceptance and another sought it,
He’d be in my place if that came about.

16. If you allowed me to reunite then sent an apparition,
That would suffice me and be enough for me.

17. Increase my agony and shun me, for that is my goal,
After having been your equal among all mankind.