1. لاَ تَلْتفِتْ باللهِ يا ناظري

    لاهيف كالغصنِ النّاضرِ

    Do not turn, by God, O my eye,

    Toward a slender-waisted one, like a verdant bough.

  2. ما السربُ والبانُ وما لعلعٌ

    ما الخَيفُ ما ظبيُ بني عامرِ

    What are the herd and the moringa trees, and what is Laʿlaʿ?

    What is al-Khayf, what is the gazelle of Banū ʿĀmir?

  3. يا قلب واصرف عنك وهم النقا

    وخَلّ عن سرب حمى حاجرِ

    O heart, cast off the illusion of the sandhill,

    And leave the herd in Ḥājir's protected pasture behind.

  4. جمَالُ مَنْ سَمّيتَهُ داثِرُ

    مَا حَاجةُ العَاقِلِ بالدّاثرِ

    The beauty of the one you named is perishable.

    What need has the wise person of the perishable?

  5. وَانّما مَطْلبه في الَّذي

    هَام الْوَرَى فِي حُسْنه الّبَاهرِ

    Rather, his quest is only for the One

    Whose dazzling beauty has enraptured all creation.

  6. فالشعث والغبر وكمثلي أنا

    أفنى من أجل الأول الآخرِ

    So the disheveled, the dust-covered, and such as I—

    I perish for the sake of the First, the Last.

  7. أفادَ لِلشْمس السَّنَا مثلمَا

    أعاره للقمر الزاهرِ

    He bestowed radiance upon the sun, just as

    He lent it to the shining moon.

  8. أصبحت فيه مُغرما حائرا

    لله دَرُّ المغْرم الحْائرِ

    I have become enamored of Him, bewildered.

    How wondrous, by God, is the bewildered lover!