1. عَلى ثِقَة بِاتلافي وَعلم

    أحبك بِاختياري لا بِرَغمي

    Certain of my ruin and knowing it well,

    I love you by my own choice, not against my will.

  2. بِنَفسي مَن يُعذِبُها وَيَجني

    بِغَير جِناية مني وَجُرم

    My soul as ransom for him who torments it and wrongs me,

    Without offense or crime on my part.

  3. وَبي مَن زارَني مِن غَير وَعد

    وَلَم يَك ذاكَ يَخطر لي بِوَهم

    And myself as ransom for him who visited me without a promise,

    And that had never even crossed my mind.

  4. رَثى مِن بَعد ما قَد كانَ يَجفو

    لَما لاقَيت مِن كَمَدٍ وَغَم

    He took pity, after having been unkind,

    On the anguish and grief I had suffered.

  5. فَزارَ الصَب يُقدمهُ بَشير

    كَما طَلَعَ الهِلال عَقيب نجم

    So he visited the lovesick lover, preceded by a herald,

    As the crescent rose just after a star.

  6. وَقَد لَبس السَواد وَجاءَ يَسعى

    كَما شَقَ الحَنادس بَدر تَم

    And he had donned black and came hastening,

    As a full moon cleaved the deepest darkness.

  7. فَأَقسم صادِقاً بِمَن اِبتَلاني

    وَمَن جَعَلَ الضَنا وَالسَقم قَسمي

    So I swear truthfully by the one who afflicted me,

    And by the one who made wasting and sickness my lot:

  8. لَقَد مَزج الهَوى روحاً بِروح

    وَما قرن اللُقا جِسماً بِجسم

    Love has indeed mingled soul with soul,

    Yet the meeting has not joined body with body.

  9. وَكَيفَ وَقَد أَذابَ الحُب جِسمي

    وَقَد أَفنى السقام دَمي وَلَحمي

    And how could it, when love has melted my body,

    And sickness has consumed my blood and flesh?

  10. فَلا شَيءٌ سِوى نَفسٍ خَفيٍ

    وَدَمع كَإِنهِمال المُزن يَهمي

    So nothing remains but a faint breath,

    And tears pouring like rain from the clouds.