ما كانَ أَغناكَ يا عَيني عَن النَظَرِ

ما كانَ أَغناكَ يا عَيني عَن النَظَرِ

فَمَصرَعي كانَ بَينَ السحر وَالحورِ

فَمَصرَعي كانَ بَينَ السحر وَالحورِ

How well you could have done, O my eye, without looking!

My eyes could not spare me from looking

For my death lay between enchantment and dark-eyed beauty.

So my demise was between magic and maidens

أَجلت لَحظيَ في خَدَيهِ فَاِشتَعَلَت

أَجلت لَحظيَ في خَدَيهِ فَاِشتَعَلَت

غَلالة الوَجنة الحَمراء مِن نَظَري

غَلالة الوَجنة الحَمراء مِن نَظَري

I let my gaze roam over his cheeks, and set ablaze

I delayed my glance on his cheeks so it was set ablaze

The veil of his crimson cheek with my gaze.

The redness of shyness from my sight

فَلو تَأَمَلتُها أُخرى لَأَحرَقَني

فَلو تَأَمَلتُها أُخرى لَأَحرَقَني

شُعاعَها وَاِختَفَت عَني مِن الخَفر

شُعاعَها وَاِختَفَت عَني مِن الخَفر

For had I looked at it again, I would have been burned

So if I looked at it again, its rays would burn me

By its radiance; it hid from me out of bashfulness.

And it would disappear from me in shyness

رِفقاً بِتَعذيب قَلبي يا مُعذِبُهُ

رِفقاً بِتَعذيب قَلبي يا مُعذِبُهُ

فَإِنَّني بَشر يا أَحسَن البَشَر

فَإِنَّني بَشر يا أَحسَن البَشَر

Be gentle in tormenting my heart, O its tormentor;

Be gentle in tormenting my heart, o' its tormentor

For I am human, O fairest of humankind.

For I am but a human, o' the best of humans

صَيَرتُ جِسمي رَقيقاً كَالزُجاج غَدا

صَيَرتُ جِسمي رَقيقاً كَالزُجاج غَدا

يَشف مِن جَمر نار الشَوق وَالفِكر

يَشف مِن جَمر نار الشَوق وَالفِكر

I made my body thin as glass; it has grown

My body became as delicate as glass in the morning

Translucent from the embers of the fire of longing and thought.

Healing from the embers of passion and thought

دُخانَها زَفَراتي وَالحَريق بِها

دُخانَها زَفَراتي وَالحَريق بِها

قَلبي بِلا زَلة وَالدَمع كَالشَرر

قَلبي بِلا زَلة وَالدَمع كَالشَرر

Its smoke is my sighs, and what burns within it

Its smoke my sighs and the blaze within it

Is my heart, though guiltless; and tears are like sparks.

My heart without fail and my tears like sparks

وَعاذل قالَ لي إِن الهَوى خَطَرٌ

وَعاذل قالَ لي إِن الهَوى خَطَرٌ

لا كُنت إَن لَم أَكُن مِنهُ عَلى خَطَر

لا كُنت إَن لَم أَكُن مِنهُ عَلى خَطَر

And a reprover told me, 'Love is truly perilous.'

And a critic said to me that love is dangerous

May I cease to be if I am not imperiled by it!

If I were not already in danger from it