قسما برقة خصرك الميال

وبلوعتي وبدمعي السيال

I swear by the delicacy of your swaying waist,

And by my anguish and my streaming tears:

ما غاب شخصك لحظة عن خاطري

يا من تربع في منصة بالي

Your image has not left my mind for a moment,

O you enthroned upon the dais of my thoughts.

لك في الفؤاد منازل معمورة

والسر الا من خيالك خالي

For you are flourishing dwellings in my heart,

And my inner self is empty of all but your image.

ان انت اظهرت الوفاء او الجفا

حالي وحقك في غرامك حالي

Whether you show faithfulness or coldness,

By your worth, my state in loving you stays sweet.

اتظن مهما حرت يا حلو اللمى

تلوي لغيرك في الهوى آمالي

Do you think, however bewildered you grow, O sweet dark-lipped one,

That my hopes in love would turn toward anyone but you?

تحيي بمعسول الغثير وان تمل

فلقد تميت بخصرك العسال

You revive with your honey-sweet mouth [reading uncertain], and if you sway,

Then surely you slay with your swaying waist.

يا مالكا رقي ترفق فالهوى

يضني المحب بجمره المتوالي

O you who hold me in bondage, be gentle, for love

Wears the lover down with its unceasing embers.

فاطرح صدودك والنفور وان تكن

تختال عن عجب بطرز غزال

So cast aside your shunning and aversion, though you may

Strut in self-admiration, in the manner of a gazelle.

اني وابيض طرفك الماضي الشا

لجريح مصلت طرفك الفصال

Indeed, by the gleaming blade of your keen-edged gaze [text unclear],

I am wounded by your unsheathed, cleaving glance.

ابكي لذكرك والتلهف ديدني

والوجد مرطي والهوى سريالي

I weep at the thought of you; yearning is my constant habit,

And longing is my mantle, and love my robe [reading uncertain].

ارخصتني فقطعت حبل مودتي

يا ايها الريم العزيز الغالي

You held me cheap, and so you severed the cord of my affection,

O dear and precious white gazelle.

ومن المصائب لو عرفت بلا مرا

هجر الكرام وعشرة الانذال

And among misfortunes—if you only knew, beyond dispute—

Are forsaking the noble and keeping company with the base.

خامرت رأيك واهما عن قسوة

فغدوت ميالا لكل ظلال

You clouded your judgment, deluded by hard-heartedness,

So you became drawn to every shadow.

ان الجمال اذا يشاب بخفة

وبسوء خلق لم يكن بجمال

Indeed, beauty, when mingled with frivolity

And bad character, is no beauty at all.

ريض فؤادك بالكمال وان ترم

عزا فعاشر كل اهل كمال

Train your heart in excellence, and if you seek

Honor, then keep company with all people of excellence.

ولرب مفتون بوقت وهو لم

يعلم بان الوقت نسج خيال

And many a man is beguiled by the times, though he does not

Know that time is a fabric of illusion.

جرح القلوب من الكرام وراح عن

طيش يبرقم حول اهل المال

He wounded noble hearts and went off, out of

Recklessness, flitting around the wealthy [verb uncertain].

صرعته حادثة وشتت مسرعا

اهل الحطام تقلب الاحوال

A calamity struck him down; and swiftly were scattered

The men of worldly wealth by the turns of fortune.

المال يفنى والجمال مبدل

واجل ما يقنى كرام رجال

Wealth perishes, and beauty changes;

And the noblest acquisition is honorable men.