1. The rabab's melancholy is like a swift she-camel,
A tenth of the dark fox's song prowling at night,

2. I brought it near to the watering places from the belly of a sandy valley,
And for the gazelle, the wolf, and the goat it lies down.

3. It is as if the flashing of lightning in its chambers
Is a battle-fire kindled in a bending tent-pole,

4. It faded like the swooping of birds and the night was departing
With its body, and dawn had just begun to shine,

5. The night grew dark and its darkness intensified
As the blazing fire intensified in the forest,

6. It was sated with fresh water from two seas
As the young gazelle settled in the meadow,

7. Oh, what is wrong with my eyes - no, your father's -
When Layla is remembered, they begin to tear,

8. And what is wrong with my heart - whenever passion
Stirs for her though she is beyond its reach - it aspires,

9. I find in Layla eloquent Arab poetry
Embroidered like a Yemeni cloak interwoven with patterns,

10. It consoles you for what you have given or promises you its return,
Though its promise, apart from you, is of no use,

11. Layla's buttocks sway like the bending of the north wind,
Disdainful of what the generous one disdains and scorns,

12. Her shoulders are plump and her breasts slight,
The heart, though nearly bankrupt from desire, aspires,

13. I know nothing of her apart from guesswork, and that
To her home are led spotted camels with striped necks,

14. Except that I knew she is the sweet water, the merchandise
Fresh and gushing,

15. However much pleasure and bliss we found,
And we admired the holiday resort and the meadow,

16. We said: perhaps the water will increase, so we will buy,
And raise a youth who will grow and be nurtured,

17. Vain hopes upon vain hopes in people
Follow one another and are pursued,

18. But the world is an illusion, and you will not see
In it pleasure but that it perishes and is stripped away,

19. To God belongs what is above the sky and beneath it,
To Him belongs wealth, He gives it to whom He wills and denies.