1. أَمِنكَ لِلصَبِّ عِندَ الوَصلِ تَذكارُ

    وَكَيفَ والحُبُّ إِظهارٌ وإِضمارُ

    Do you spare the lovesick lover a thought at reunion?

    And how, when love is both disclosure and concealment?

  2. أَمّا أَنا فإِذا أَحبَبتُ جَارِيَةً

    لَم أَنسَها أَبَداً وَالناسُ أَطوارُ

    As for me, whenever I love a maiden,

    I never forget her; people are of different kinds.

  3. يا لَيتَ مَن وَلَدَت حَوّاءُ مِن وَلَدٍ

    صُفّوا اِتِّباعاً لأَمرِي ثُمَّ أَختارُ

    Would that all the children Eve has borne

    were lined up in obedience to my command; then I would choose.

  4. إِنيّ بُليتُ بِشَخصٍ لَيسَ يُنصِفُني

    باغٍ لِقَتلي وَرَبّي مِنهُ لي جارُ

    I have been afflicted with someone who does not treat me fairly,

    bent on killing me, while my Lord is my protector against them.

  5. صادَت فُؤادِيَ مِكسالٌ مُنَعَّمَةٌ

    كَالبَدرِ حينَ بَدا بيضاءُ مِعطارُ

    A languid, pampered woman captured my heart,

    like the full moon when it appears, fair-skinned and richly perfumed.

  6. خَودٌ تُشيرُ بِرَخصٍ حَفَّ مِعصَمَهُ

    دُرٌّ وَساعِدُهُ لِلوَجهِ سَتّارُ

    A tender maiden gestures with a soft hand, its wrist encircled

    by pearls, its forearm a screen for her face.

  7. صادَت بِعَينٍ وَثَغرٍ رَفَّ لُؤلُؤُهُ

    فالعَينُ مُمرِضَةٌ وَالثَغرُ سَحّارُ

    She captured me with an eye and a mouth whose pearls gleamed;

    so the eye brings sickness, and the mouth casts spells.

  8. يا لَيتَ لي قَدَحاً في رَاحَتي أَبَداً

    قَد مَسَّ فَاها فَفيهِ مِنهُ آثارُ

    Would that I always had in my palm a cup

    that had touched her mouth and bore traces of it.

  9. طوبَى لِثَوبٍ لَها إِنّي لَأَحسُدُه

    إِذا عَلاها وَشَدَّ الثوبَ أَزرارُ

    Blessed is a garment of hers; I truly envy it

    when it covers her and buttons fasten the garment.

  10. ما سُمِّيَت قَطُّ إِلاّ هِجتُ أَذكُرُها

    كأَنّما أُشعِلَت في قَلبيَ النارُ

    Never is she named without my being stirred to remember her,

    as though fire were kindled in my heart.

  11. يا مَن يُسائِلُ عَن وَجدي لِأُظهِرَهُ

    إِنَّ المُحِبَّ لتَبدو مِنهُ أَسرارُ

    O you who ask about my passion so that I may reveal it,

    a lover's secrets do indeed emerge.

  12. فَاِسمَع مُناقَلَتي وَاُنظُر إِلى نَظَري

    إِن كانَ مِنكَ لِما في الصَدرِ إِنكارُ

    So listen to my conversation and watch my gaze,

    if you deny what lies within my breast.

  13. أَما اِسمُها فَهوَ مَكتومٌ فَلَيسَ لَهُ

    مِنّي إِلَيكَ بِإِذنِ اللَهِ إِظهارُ

    As for her name, it is concealed; there shall be no

    disclosure of it from me to you, by God's leave.

  14. كَأَنَّما القَلبُ مِن يَومِ اِبتُليتُ بِها

    بَينَ السَماءِ وَبَينَ الأَرضِ طَيّارُ

    It is as though my heart, since the day I was afflicted with her,

    has been flying between heaven and earth.

  15. ما لِلهَوى لا أَراشَ اللَهُ أَسهُمَهُ

    إِنَّ الهَوى لِعِبادِ اللَهِ ضَرّارُ

    What ails love? May God never feather its arrows!

    Indeed, love does grievous harm to God's servants.

  16. أَمسى يُكَلِّفُني خَوداً مُمَنَّعَةً

    مِنّي وَمِن دونِها حُجبٌ وَأَستارُ

    Now it makes me yearn for a tender maiden kept apart

    from me, with veils and curtains set before her.

  17. تِلكَ الرَبابُ وَلا إِعلانَ لَو عَلِمَت

    ما بي لَقَد هاجَها شَوقٌ وَتَذكارُ

    That is al-Rabab—no public disclosure! If she knew

    what ails me, longing and remembrance would surely stir her.

  18. طالَ الوُقوفُ بِبابِ الدارِ في عِلَلٍ

    حَتّى كأَنّي لِبابِ الدارِ مِسمارُ

    Long have I stood at the house's door on various pretexts,

    until I seem a nail fixed to the house's door.

  19. إِنّي أُطِيلُ وَإِن لَم أَرجُ طَلعَتَها

    وَقِفي وَإِنّي إِلى الأَبوابِ نَظّارُ

    I prolong, though I have no hope of her appearing,

    my vigil; indeed, I am ever watching the doors.

  20. أَقولُ لِلدارِ إِذ طالَ الوُقوفُ بِها

    بَعدَ الكَلالِ وَماءُ العَينِ مِدرارُ

    I say to the house, when my standing there has grown long,

    after growing weary, while tears stream from my eyes:

  21. يا دارُ هَل تَفقَهينَ القَولَ عَن أَحَدٍ

    أَم لَيسَ إِن قالَ يُغني عَنهُ إِكثارُ

    O house, do you understand anyone's speech,

    or, if one speaks, does much speaking avail one nothing?

  22. يا دارُ إِنَّ غَزالاً فيكِ بَرَّحَ بي

    لِلَّهِ دَرُّكِ ما تَحوينَ يا دارُ

    O house, a gazelle within you has tormented me;

    God bless you for what you hold, O house!

  23. مازِلتُ أَشكو إِلَيها حُبَّ ساكِنِها

    حَتّى رَأَيتُ بِناءَ الدارِ يَنهارُ

    I kept complaining to it of my love for its inhabitant,

    until I saw the house's structure collapsing.

  24. ما لي أَزورُ أُناساً لَيسَ يَعرِفُني

    مِن أَهلِهِم أَحَدٌ إِنّي لَزَوّارُ

    Why do I visit people when I am not known

    by anyone of their household? I am indeed a frequent visitor.

  25. أما لَئِن قَبِلوا عُذري لَقَد عَدَلوا

    في حُكمِهِم وَلَئِن رَدّوا لَقَد جارُوا

    Now, if they accept my excuse, they surely act justly

    in their judgment; and if they reject it, they surely act unjustly.

  26. قالوا نَسيرُ فَلا ساروا وَلا وَقَفوا

    وَلا اِستقَلَّت بِهِم لِلبَينِ أَكوارُ

    They said, 'We shall depart'—may they neither journey nor halt,

    nor may camel-saddles carry them off to parting.

  27. ما عِندَهُم فَرَجٌ في قُربِ دارِهِمُ

    وَلا لَنا مِنهمُ في البُعدِ أَخبارُ

    There is no relief with them when their house is near,

    nor have we news of them when they are far away.

  28. إِذا تَرَحَّلَ مَن هامَ الفُؤادُ بِهِم

    فَما أُبالي أَقامَ الحَيُّ أَم ساروا

    When those whom my heart adores depart,

    then I care not whether the tribe stays or departs.