1. إِذا ما نَسيم الريح مِن نَحوِكُم أَسْرا

    أَطارَ شَرار النار مِن كَبدي الحَرّا

    Whenever the wind's breeze travels by night from your direction,

    It sends sparks of fire flying from my burning liver.

  2. أَتَت مِن رِياض النير بين عَشية

    وَقَد حَمَلَت مِن عُطر أَرجائِها نَشَرا

    It came at evening from the gardens of al-Nayrabayn,

    And had borne a fragrant waft from their scented reaches.

  3. تَكاد تُعاطيني سَلافة خَمرِها

    وَيَقطر مِن أِذيالِها ماؤُها قَطرا

    It almost offers me the purest of its wine,

    And its water drips, drop by drop, from its hems.

  4. أَحملها مني تَحية وَامق

    وَأَبعث رُسل الدَمع في أَثرها تترا

    I charge it with a lover's greeting from me,

    And send messengers of tears in its wake, one after another.

  5. وَبَرقٌ سَرى وَاللَيل قَد رَقَّ بَردُهُ

    فَأَسرى بِقَلبي نَحوَكثم وَنَفى الصَبرا

    And lightning passed by night, while the night's chill had grown mild,

    So it bore my heart by night toward you and banished patience.

  6. كانّ مبادي الصُبح ذَيل غِلالُهُ

    قَد اِنغَمَسَت في أَدمُعي فَبَدَت حمرا

    As though dawn's first gleams were the hem of a gauzy robe,

    Dipped in my tears and thus appearing red.

  7. أَكلُّ نَسيم مَرَّ بي يَستَفرني

    وَكُلُ وَميض لاحَ لي جدد الذِكرى

    Does every breeze that passes me stir me,

    And every flash that shines before me renew remembrance?

  8. وَيَوم النَوى لا كانَ إِذ فَتَكَت بِنا

    وَأَظهَرَ فينا الحُب آيتهُ الكُبرى

    And on the day of parting—may it never have been!—when it struck us down,

    And love revealed in us its greatest sign,

  9. أَقول لِنَفسي حينَ عافَت حَياتها

    أَلا فَردي هَذا الحَمام لَكَ البُشرى

    I say to my soul when it loathes its life:

    Come, then, to this death—glad tidings are yours!

  10. فَقَد طالَما قَد كُنت تَستَعجلينهُ

    إِذا ما تَجافوا عَنكَ أَو أَظهَروا هَجرا

    For you have so often sought to hasten it,

    Whenever they drew away from you or showed estrangement.

  11. لَعَلَ الرَدى يَشفيكَ مِن لاعِجِ الأَسى

    فَإِن الرَدى بِالصَب بَعد النَوى أَحرى

    Perhaps death will cure you of the searing sting of grief,

    For death better befits the lovesick lover after parting.

  12. وَيا قَلب ما هَذا اللَهيب أَكلما

    نَضجت عَلَيك الماء صَيرَتهُ جَمرا

    And O heart, what is this blaze? Whenever

    I sprinkle water on you, do you turn it into embers?

  13. وَهَل تَنطَفي نار الغَرام وَكُلما

    خبت بِدُموعي أَوقدَتها يَد الذِكرى

    And can love's fire die out, when every time

    It fades beneath my tears, remembrance's hand rekindles it?

  14. يا صاحِبي بِاللَهِ غَيب بِذكرهم

    وَجُوديَ عَني فَهُوَ ما زالَ لي سَكرا

    O my companion, by God, through remembrance of them, hide

    My own being from me, for it has always intoxicated me.

  15. عَسى يَنقضَي عَصر الفُراق بِحالَةٍ

    سِواءٌ حَلا عِندي بِها العَيش أَو مَرّا

    May the age of parting end somehow,

    Whether life in that state becomes sweet to me or bitter.

  16. وَإِن مُت فَادفني بِعَيشك صاحِبي

    مَع الغربا وَاِكتُب عَلى شِدَتي سَطرا

    And if I die, then bury me—by your life, my companion—

    Among strangers, and write a line about my suffering:

  17. أَلا رحم الرَحمن حَرّاً قَضى أَسىً

    وَلَم يَسلُ عَن أَلف وَلَم يَرتَكب غَدرا

    Lo, may the All-Merciful have mercy on a noble man who died of grief,

    And never forgot a beloved, nor committed betrayal.