1. أَهدى إِلَيَّ التَلفا

    أَفنى فُؤادي كَلفا

    He bestowed ruin upon me;

    he consumed my heart with infatuation—

  2. ظَبي أَغنّ حُسنَهُ

    قطَّع قَلبي شَغفا

    a nasal-voiced gazelle whose beauty

    tore my heart apart with passion.

  3. لَم يَبق مِني صَدُهُ

    إِلّا دُموعاً ذَرفا

    His rejection left nothing of me

    but streaming tears.

  4. وَلَم أَنَل في حُبِهِ

    إِلّا الأَسى وَالأَسَفا

    And in loving him I gained nothing

    but sorrow and regret.

  5. وَفَيتُهُ حَق الهَوى

    مُضاعِفاً فَما وَفى

    I paid him love's due,

    doubling it, yet he did not keep faith.

  6. قَد رَقَّ جِسماً وَقَسى

    قَلباً وَلِأَن مَعطَفا

    He has grown delicate in body, yet hard

    of heart, and supple of waist.

  7. عَرفت في أَلحاظِهِ

    لَما تَفَرست الجَفا

    I discerned in his glances,

    when I looked closely, his coldness.

  8. أَقرأ في خُدودَهُ

    ضَميرُهُ مِن الصَفا

    I read upon his cheeks

    his inner thoughts, through their clarity.

  9. أَفدي الَّذي يَمُرُّ بي

    مُغاضِباً مُنحَرِفا

    I would ransom the one who passes by me,

    angry and turning away.

  10. يَهِزّ تَحديق العُيو

    ن مِنهُ قَدّاً أَهيَفا

    The eyes' fixed gaze sways

    his slender-waisted form.

  11. يَفديهِ مني كُلَما

    أَبقى وَما قَد أَتلَفا

    All of me would ransom him—

    what he spared and what he has destroyed.