1. ناء بِمصر وَبِالشَآم حَبيبُهُ

    دَنفٌ وَلَكن أَينَ مِنهُ طَبيبُهُ

    Far away in Egypt, while his beloved is in Syria.

    Sick with love—but how far from him is his physician!

  2. قَد بانَ عَن أَحبابِهِ فَهَل أَشتَفي

    وَهَل اِستَراحَ حَسودَهُ وَرَقيبُهُ

    He has parted from his loved ones—so shall I find relief?

    And have his envier and his watcher found rest?

  3. رقت لَهُ أَوصابُهُ وَنحُولَهُ

    وَبَكى عَلَيهِ بُكاؤُهُ وَنَحيبُهُ

    His ailments and his wasting took pity on him,

    and his weeping and sobbing wept over him.

  4. قَلق الفُؤاد وَصَبهُ وَطروبَهُ

    وَمشوقَهُ وَسَليبهُ وَلَسيبهُ

    Restless of heart, ailing and enraptured,

    yearning, robbed of his heart, and stung within it.

  5. أَفنى تَجلدهُ النَوى وَشَبابَهُ

    وَأَعارَهُ كَمداً يَبيت يُذيبُهُ

    Separation consumed his fortitude and his youth,

    and lent him grief that melts him all night long.

  6. يا مانِعي الشَكوى وَقَد أَبلى الضَنا

    جسمي وَأَفنى مُهجَتي تَعذيبَهُ

    O you who forbid my complaint, though wasting sickness has worn out

    my body, and its torment has consumed my lifeblood.

  7. يا يوسف الحَسَن الَّذي قَد شاقَ يَعقوب

    الأَسى فاشتاقَهُ يَعقوبُهُ

    O Joseph of beauty, who has stirred longing in the Jacob

    of sorrow—so his Jacob longed for him.

  8. عَذبت أَيوب الصَبابَة وَالبَلا

    أَفلا يَضيق بِضَرِهِ أَيوبهُ

    You have tormented the Job of ardent longing and affliction;

    will his Job, then, not be distressed by his suffering?

  9. يا مَن لَهُ كُل الجَمال أَنيقُهُ

    وَبَديعُهُ وَشَريفُهُ وَغَريبُهُ

    O you to whom all beauty belongs—its elegance,

    its marvels, its nobility, and its rarity.

  10. لي في النَسيب رَقيقهُ وَرَشيقُهُ

    وَمَنيعُهُ وَلَطيفُهُ وَعَجيبُهُ

    Mine in love poetry are its tender and graceful strains,

    its lofty, subtle, and wondrous strains.

  11. وَليَ الغَرام زَفيرهُ وَحَنينُهُ

    وَفُنونَهُ وَجُنونَهُ وَكُروبهُ

    And mine are passion's sighs and yearning,

    its varied forms, its madness, and its anguish.

  12. كَبدٌ تَسيل مِن الجُفون وَمَدمَع

    أَبَداً تَصوب شُؤُونَهُ وَغُروبَهُ

    A liver flowing from the eyelids, and a weeping eye

    whose tear ducts and streams pour down forever.

  13. أَنا صاحب القَلب المَعَذب في الهَوى

    أَبَداً يَزيد وَجيبهُ وَندوبَهُ

    I am the one with a heart tormented by love;

    its throbbing and its scars keep growing forever.

  14. وَسِهام طَرفك لا يَبلُّ رَميّها

    وَغَليل وَجدي لا يَبلّ لَهيبُهُ

    And your glance's arrows—their victim never heals;

    and the burning thirst of my longing—its flame is never quenched.

  15. وَمَدام ريقك لا يَفيق نَزيفُهُ

    وَقَريح جفني لا يملّ سكوبَهُ

    And the wine of your saliva—whoever it intoxicates never sobers;

    and my wounded eyelid never tires of pouring tears.

  16. وَبِسحر جفنك قَد تملكت الوَرى

    وَحكمت فيهُم فَالقُلوب قُلوبَهُ

    And with your eyelid's magic you have taken possession of humankind,

    and ruled over them; the hearts are his.

  17. لَم يحص مِن قَتَلت لحاظك حاسب

    فَصَريع حُبك لَم تَعد ذُنوبَهُ

    No reckoner has counted those your glances have slain;

    so the one felled by your love—you have not counted his sins.

  18. فَإِرحَم بِعَيشك مَن صَفا لَك وَدَهُ

    دونَ الأَنام وَقَلَّ مِنكَ نَصيبُهُ

    So have mercy, by your life, on one whose love for you is pure,

    to the exclusion of all others, though his share of you is scant.

  19. صَب يَذوب عَلَيكَ مِنهُ غَيرة

    فَمُرور أَنفاس النَسيم يريبهُ

    An ardent lover, melting with his jealousy over you,

    so the passing breaths of the breeze arouse his suspicion.