1. حوّاء أُمُّكِ حبُّها أَشقانا

    يا ليتَ تفّاحَ الهوى ما كانا

    Eve, your mother—her love brought us misery.

    Would that the apple of desire had never been!

  2. لو لم يكن فيهِ الذي في خدِّها

    ما غرَّ آدمَ زَوجَها وأبانا

    Had it not held what lay in her cheek,

    it would not have beguiled Adam, her husband and our father.

  3. لم يقطفِ الثَّمرَ المحرَّمَ آكلاً

    منهُ ليَستَحلي بهِ العصيانا

    He did not pluck the forbidden fruit to eat

    of it and savor disobedience through it.

  4. بل قالَ وهو مفكّرٌ في خَوفهِ

    حوّاءُ عن هذا الإلهُ نهانا

    Rather, he said, pondering in his fear:

    Eve, God has forbidden us this.

  5. أغوَتهُ إذ كان المساءُ مُزَخرَفاً

    لألذَّ أحلامٍ تزين كرانا

    She tempted him when the evening was adorned

    for the sweetest dreams that grace our slumber,

  6. وعلى الجنانِ غَشاوةٌ فضيَّةٌ

    من نورِ بَدرٍ يستخفُّ جنانا

    and over the gardens lay a silvery veil

    of a full moon's light that makes the heart flutter.

  7. والرّيحُ عاطرةٌ وفي نفحاتِها

    ما يُنعشُ الأرواحَ والأبدانا

    The wind was fragrant, and in its wafts

    was that which revived souls and bodies.

  8. فرأى لطيبِ حياتهِ ما حَوله

    بَهجاً فرامَ الحُسنَ والإحسانا

    With his life so sweet, he saw all around him

    joyful, and sought beauty and goodness.

  9. فتبسّمَت ورَنت إليهِ وظرفُها

    شركٌ فكان الجاذبَ الفتّانا

    She smiled and gazed at him; her charm

    was a snare, and became the bewitching lure.

  10. وغدت تُشَوِّقُهُ إِلى تفّاحةٍ

    مِنها يُروِّي قلبَهُ الظمآنا

    She began rousing his longing for an apple

    from which to quench his thirsty heart.

  11. حتى إذا عرَضَت فأعرَضَ خائفاً

    أدَنت من الخدَّين ما أشقانا

    Until, when she offered it and he turned away in fear,

    she brought close those cheeks that brought us misery.

  12. وتمايلت دلّاً وقالت هذه

    كُلْها كما قبَّلتني أحيانا

    She swayed coquettishly and said: This one—

    eat it, as you have sometimes kissed me.

  13. فرنا إليها قائلاً في نَفسهِ

    أَبأكلِ تفّاحٍ يكون رَدانا

    He gazed at her, saying to himself:

    Can eating apples be our ruin?

  14. فلنأكُلَنَّ من المليحةِ فالرِّضا

    مِنها عليهِ كلُّ صعبٍ هانا

    Then surely we shall eat from the lovely one; for favor

    from her made every hardship easy for him.

  15. حواءُ يا أمَّ الورى لولاكِ ما

    كان الهوى بين الأنامِ هوانا

    Eve, O mother of humankind, but for you,

    love among people would not have been humiliation.

  16. فلقد خُلِقتِ لحيلةٍ ومكيدةٍ

    وتطَلُّبِ اللذّات في دُنيانا

    You were indeed created for trickery and scheming,

    and for pursuing pleasures in our world.

  17. زانت جمالكِ خفّةٌ ولطافةٌ

    والعقلُ جبهةَ آدمٍ قد زانا

    Lightness and delicacy adorned your beauty,

    while reason had adorned Adam's brow.

  18. أكذاكَ سرُّكِ أن تريهِ آكلا

    مما بذَلتِ له ومما صانا

    Is this your secret: to see him eating

    of what you offered him and what he had kept inviolate?

  19. وكذا خيانتُكِ القبيحةُ لم تزل

    تُردي الرّجالَ وتخربُ البُلدانا

    And so your ugly betrayal has never ceased

    to ruin men and lay countries waste.

  20. هوَّنتِ ذاكَ عليهِ ثم خَدعتِهِ

    بدموعِ غدرٍ قد جَرَت غُدرانا

    You made that seem easy to him, then deceived him

    with treacherous tears that flowed in streams.

  21. ولكم جَرى دمعُ النساءِ لخدعةٍ

    وغدا الخؤون بدَمعهِ غرقانا

    How often women's tears have flowed for deception,

    and the betrayer was left drowned in his tears.

  22. أمّا الدموعُ من الرجالِ فنزرةٌ

    وصفيَّةٌ لا تعرفُ البُهتانا

    But men's tears are few,

    and pure, knowing no falsehood.

  23. رُحماكِ أيّتُها التي من أُمِّها

    وَرِثت محاسنَ تقتلُ الإنسانا

    Have mercy, you who from your mother

    inherited charms that slay a human being.

  24. هذا الجمالُ حَفَظتِهِ وبَذلتِهِ

    فأضلَّنا في حبِّهِ وهدانا

    This beauty—you guarded it and bestowed it,

    so it led us astray in love for it, and guided us.

  25. والدّمعُ زيَّنَ خدّكِ الباهي كما

    بضفائرِ الرأسِ الجميلِ ازدانا

    Tears adorned your radiant cheek, just as

    the braids of your beautiful head had adorned it.

  26. لولا احتيالُكِ ما عَصينا ربَّنا

    في الحبِّ والقلبُ الجموحُ عصانا

    But for your wiles, we would not have disobeyed our Lord

    in love, while the headstrong heart disobeyed us.

  27. أخضَعتِهِ وسَلبتِ كلَّ كنوزهِ

    فغدا أمامَكِ خاضِعاً حَيرانا

    You subdued it and robbed it of all its treasures,

    so it stood before you submissive and bewildered,

  28. فكأنهُ ملكٌ هوى عن عَرشِه

    فبَكى التّقى والملكَ والسلطانا

    like a king fallen from his throne,

    weeping for piety, kingship, and dominion.

  29. الحبُّ سوَّى بيننا لكنَّه

    قد صارَ عندي الدّينَ والإيمانا

    Love made us equals, yet it

    has become, for me, religion and faith.

  30. لا تحسبي القَلبين في شَرعِ الهوى

    شرعاً فحبِّي كان أعظمَ شانا

    Do not think the two hearts, under love's law,

    are equal, for my love was greater in stature.

  31. في الحب لذَّ لكِ السكوتُ ولذّتي

    كانت بلاغتَهُ وكان بيانا

    In love, silence was sweet to you, while my delight

    was love's eloquence, and love was lucid speech.

  32. لولا حياءٌ فيهِ ضِعفُكِ قوةٌ

    أطلقت للأوطارِ منكِ عنانا

    Were it not for modesty, in which your weakness is strength,

    you would have given your desires free rein.

  33. إني عرفتُكِ فهو قولُ مجرِّبٍ

    لا تُنكري ما يدفع النكرانا

    I have known you; these are the words of one experienced.

    Do not deny what leaves no room for denial.

  34. لكن دَعي الأقدارَ تجري مثلما

    شاءَ الغرامُ فوَصلنا قد حانا

    But let the fates run their course, just as

    passion has willed, for the time of our union has come.

  35. إني غفَرتُ لكِ الذّنوبَ جميعَها

    كيما يطيبُ وصالُنا ولقانا

    I have forgiven you all your sins,

    so that our union and meeting may be sweet.

  36. حظّي كحظّكِ في الشقاوةِ والهوى

    فلتمتزج لتعاونٍ روحانا

    My lot is like yours in misery and love;

    let our two souls mingle to aid each other.

  37. أهواكِ يا فتّانةً صافحتُها

    وصَفَحتُ عنها فالتقى دَمعانا

    I love you, enchantress whose hand I clasped,

    and whom I forgave; then our tears met.

  38. في حبّكِ العذريِّ قلبي طاهرٌ

    والحبُّ تطهيراً حكى النيرانا

    In chaste love for you, my heart is pure,

    and love, in purifying, resembles flames.

  39. ولأجل عينيك البنفسج شاقني

    فجنيتُه وشممتُه نشوانا

    For your eyes' sake, the violet captivated me,

    so I plucked it and breathed its scent, intoxicated.

  40. فمن الشذا والنورِ صَدري مُفعَمٌ

    يَستَقبلُ الآمالَ والسّلوانا

    So my breast is filled with fragrance and light,

    welcoming hopes and consolation.

  41. أبداً يحنُّ إلى قوامٍ ليِّنٍ

    وكذاكَ يهوى الطائرُ الأغصانا

    Forever it yearns for a supple figure,

    just as a bird longs for branches.

  42. عيناكِ من لونِ السماءِ فمنهما

    ومن السماءِ القلبُ رقَّ ولانا

    Your eyes are the color of the sky; from them

    and from the sky, the heart grew tender and soft.

  43. والدّمعُ منٌّ مِن جفونِك مُنزَلٌ

    يُحيي مُحِبّاً تائهاً وَلهانا

    Tears are manna sent down from your eyelids,

    reviving a lover lost and distraught with longing.

  44. إن أطبقت شفتايَ جَفنيك اهدئي

    لأذوقَ لذاتِ الهوى ألوانا

    If my lips close your eyelids, be still,

    so I may taste love's pleasures in all their kinds.

  45. تقبيلُ جَفنكِ لا يُعَدُّ خطيئةً

    إني أراهُ رَحمةً وحنانا

    Kissing your eyelid is no sin;

    I see it as mercy and tenderness.

  46. ما ذنبُ نحلٍ يجتَني من سوسَنٍ

    والجفنُ منكِ يُشابهُ السوسانا

    What sin is there in bees gathering from an iris,

    when your eyelid resembles the iris?

  47. فلطالما عذَّبتِني ومنعتني

    فاستَغفري عن بخلِك الرحمانا

    How often you have tormented and denied me;

    ask the All-Merciful to forgive your stinginess.

  48. أحبيبتي قد فاضَ حسنُكِ والهوى

    فمتى أكونُ بمائه ريّانا

    Ah, my beloved, your beauty and love have overflowed;

    when shall its water quench my thirst?

  49. فتزوّدي إنّ الحياة قصيرةٌ

    ويمرُّ كالطيرِ الجميلِ صِبانا

    So gather provisions, for life is short,

    and our youth passes like a beautiful bird.

  50. فتعلّقي بجناحهِ ثم انتِفي

    من ريشهِ ما اشتاقَهُ قلبانا

    Cling to its wing, then pluck

    from its feathers what our two hearts have longed for.

  51. كُوني لهُ نهَّابةً وهَّابةً

    أو فاحملي الخسرانَ والحُرمانا

    Be one who plunders it and gives lavishly,

    or bear loss and deprivation.

  52. فليخفقنَّ القلبُ في لذّاتهِ

    ما زلتِ سامعةً له خَفَقانا

    Let the heart surely beat amid its pleasures,

    as long as you still hear it beating.

  53. والعينُ إن لم تبكِ أو تسهر جَوى

    ما استَحلتِ التّسهيدَ والهملانا

    If the eye neither weeps nor stays awake in anguish,

    it finds no sweetness in sleeplessness and streaming tears.

  54. فبِمَ التعلُّلُ يا مليحةُ والهوى

    ما ضمَّ أعطافاً ومسَّ بنانا

    What solace, then, lovely one, when love

    has not embraced waists or touched fingertips?

  55. الليلُ أقبلَ والنجومُ كأنها

    عقدٌ يضمُّ الدرَّ والمرجانا

    Night has come, and the stars seem

    a necklace strung with pearls and coral.

  56. والزَّهرُ فتَّحهُ النسيمُ وعَرفُهُ

    قد عطَّرَ الأذيالَ والأردانا

    The breeze has opened the flowers, and their scent

    has perfumed hems and sleeves.

  57. والغصنُ مالَ وكالزّفيرِ حَفَيفُهُ

    يهدي لكِ التفّاحَ والرمّانا

    The branch leans, its rustle like a sigh,

    offering you apples and pomegranates.

  58. أو ما سمعتِ من الفؤادِ خفوقَهُ

    لما تذكَّرَ واشتهى الطَّيرانا

    And have you not heard the heart's beating

    when it remembered and longed to fly?

  59. فكأنه طيرٌ يغادرُ عشَّه

    ليرى الصّباحَ وينشدَ الألحانا

    As though it were a bird leaving its nest

    to see the morning and sing melodies.

  60. ولئن ذكرتِ حديثَ إلفِكِ تهتُفي

    صَدري غدا من حبِّهِ ملآنا

    And if you recall your beloved's words, you will exclaim:

    My breast has grown full of love for him.

  61. يا ليتَهُ قربي وليتي قربَهُ

    سَكرَى الغرامِ تُنادمُ السّكرانا

    Would that he were near me, and I near him,

    drunk with passion, drinking with the drunken one.

  62. ويقولُ لي وحديثُه أُغنيَّةٌ

    يا مُشتهاةُ قَتلتِني هُجرانا

    He says to me, his words a song:

    O longed-for one, your estrangement has killed me.

  63. لا شيء أهذَبُ من كليماتِ الهوى

    ودموعهِ حيثُ الجوى أبكانا

    Nothing is more refined than love's little words

    and its tears, when longing has made us weep.

  64. أبداً ترقّ لها قلوبُ أحبّةٍ

    وتشقّ عنهم في الثّرى الأكفانا

    They forever soften lovers' hearts

    and tear away their shrouds beneath the earth.

  65. فكأنها عطرٌ عليكِ نَشَقتُهُ

    فتعطَّرَ المنديلُ منهُ زَمانا

    They are like perfume upon you that I breathed in,

    and the handkerchief kept its fragrance for a time.

  66. لم يعرفِ النسيانَ قلبي ساعةً

    لا يعرفنَّ فؤادُكِ النّسيانا

    My heart has not known forgetfulness for a single hour;

    may your heart never know forgetfulness.

  67. فتذكّري في الليلِ طيبَ حديثِنا

    وتذكّري في الصُبحِ طيبَ هوانا

    Remember at night the sweetness of our conversation,

    and in the morning remember the sweetness of our love.

  68. إن لم يهيِّج فيكِ أشجانَ الهوى

    شِعري تركتُ الشّعر والنسوانا

    If the sorrows of love are not stirred within you

    by my verse, I shall abandon poetry and women.

  69. وإذا الطبيعةُ زالَ منها نضرُها

    تخفي البلابلُ صَوتها الرنّانا

    And when nature loses its freshness,

    the nightingales conceal their ringing voices.