قالتْ أتخلِفُ ما وعدتَ به أبي

قالتْ أتخلِفُ ما وعدتَ به أبي

ويطيبُ في أذنيك رجْعُ بكائي

ويطيبُ في أذنيك رجْعُ بكائي

She said, “Will you break the promise you made my father,

My father asked will you break your promise?

And does the echo of my weeping please your ears?

And does the sound of my weeping please your ears?

قد كنتَ لي رمزاً أهيم بحبِّهِ

قد كنتَ لي رمزاً أهيم بحبِّهِ

ونسجتُ من خطواتِهِ خيلائي

ونسجتُ من خطواتِهِ خيلائي

You were indeed a symbol to me, one I loved to distraction,

You were an obsession I was madly in love with

And from his footsteps I wove my pride.”

And I wove my pride from your footsteps

قلتُ الليالي أسْرجَتْ أقمارها

قلتُ الليالي أسْرجَتْ أقمارها

فعَلمْتُ منها أينَ يكمُنُ دائي

فعَلمْتُ منها أينَ يكمُنُ دائي

I said, “The nights lit their moons,

I said the nights have saddled their moons

So I learned from them where my ailment lies hidden.

So I learned where my affliction lies

ورأيتُ حُسْنَكِ آسراً فخشيتُهُ

ورأيتُ حُسْنَكِ آسراً فخشيتُهُ

وصَرَعتُهُ بقصائدِ الإغراءِ

وصَرَعتُهُ بقصائدِ الإغراءِ

And I saw your beauty was captivating, so I feared it,

And I saw your beauty taking me captive so I feared it

And I felled it with poems of seduction.”

And I felled it with poems of seduction