1. لها أغلى حبيباتي

    بداياتي وغاياتي

    To her, the dearest of my beloveds,

    belong my beginnings and my ends.

  2. لها غزوي وإرهاقي

    لها أزهى فتوحاتي

    To her belong my campaigning and my exhaustion,

    to her, my most splendid conquests,

  3. وأسفاري إلى الماضي

    وإبحاري إلى الآتي

    and my journeys into the past,

    and my sailing into the future.

  4. لعيني (أم بلقيس)

    فتوحاتي وراياتي

    To the eyes of Umm Bilqis,

    my conquests and my banners,

  5. وأنقاضي وأجنحي

    وأقماري وغيماتي

    and my ruins and my wings,

    and my moons and my clouds.

  6. لها تلويحُ توديعي

    لها أشواقُ أوباتي

    Hers is the wave of my farewell;

    hers, the longings of my returns.

  7. أشرقُ وهي قدامي

    أغربُ وهي مرآتي

    I rise, and she is before me;

    I set, and she is my mirror.

  8. إليها ينتهي روحي

    ومنها تبتدي ذاتي

    In her my soul reaches its end,

    and from her my being begins.

  9. أُغني وهي أنفاسي

    وأسكتُ وهي إنصاتي

    I sing, and she is my breath;

    and I fall silent, and she is my listening.

  10. وأظمأ وهي إحراقي

    وأحسُو وهي كاساتي

    And I thirst, and she is my burning;

    and I sip, and she is my cups.

  11. أموت وحُبها موتي

    وأحيا وهي مأساتي

    I die, and love for her is my death;

    and I live, and she is my tragedy.

  12. ترويني لظىّ وهوى

    وأشدُو ظامئاً هاتي

    She slakes my thirst with flame and passion,

    and, thirsty, I sing: "Give me!"

  13. فتقصيني كعادتها

    وأتبعها كعاداتي

    So she turns me away, as is her habit,

    and I follow her, in keeping with my habits.

  14. وأغزلُ من روايحها

    مجاديفي ومرساتي

    And from her scents I weave

    my oars and my anchor.

  15. هنا وهناك مولاتي

    وأسأل: أين مولاتي؟

    Here and there is my lady,

    and I ask: "Where is my lady?"

  16. أنا فيها وأحملها

    على أكتاف آهاتي

    I am in her, and I carry her

    on the shoulders of my sighs,

  17. على أشواق أشواقي

    على ذرات ذراتي

    on the longings of my longings,

    on the atoms of my atoms.

  18. وأذوي وهي تحملني

    فتنمو في جراحاتي

    And I wither, and she carries me,

    so she grows in my wounds.

  19. وأسألُ: أين ألقاها؟

    فتغلي في صباباتي

    And I ask: "Where can I find her?"

    So she boils in my passionate longings,

  20. وترنو من أسى همسي

    ومن أحزان أوقاتي

    and gazes out from the sorrow of my whisper

    and from the sorrows of my moments.

  21. ومن صمتي كتمثال

    أشكل وجه نحاتي

    And from my silence, like a statue,

    I shape my sculptor's face.

  22. وتبدو من شذا غزلي

    ومن ضحكات حلواتي

    And she appears from the fragrance of my love poetry,

    and from the laughter of my sweethearts,

  23. ومن نظرات جيراني

    ومن لفتاتِ جاراتي

    and from the glances of my neighbors,

    and from the gestures of my female neighbors,

  24. ومن أسمارِ أجدادي

    ومن هذيانِ جداتي

    and from the evening talk of my grandfathers,

    and from the delirious talk of my grandmothers,

  25. ومن أحلامِ أطفالي

    ومن أطيافِ أمواتي

    and from the dreams of my children,

    and from the shades of my dead.

  26. هنا ميلاد غاليتي

    هنا تاريخُها العاتي

    Here is the birth of my beloved;

    here is her fierce history.

  27. هنا تمتدُّ عاريةً

    وراء الغيهبِ الشاتي

    Here she stretches out naked

    beyond the wintry gloom.

  28. تحن إلى الغدِ الأهنى

    فيمضي قبل أن يأتي

    She yearns for a happier tomorrow,

    yet it passes before it arrives.