1. هل من سبيلٍ إلى رِيقِ المُريقِ دَمي

    فما يُزيل سِوى ذاك اللَّمى ألَمي

    Is there a way to the saliva of the one who spills my blood?

    For only that darkness of her lips dispels my pain.

  2. يَشْفِي به من يُهينُ الدُّرَّ مَنْطِقُها

    نَظْمَاً ونثراً بدُرِّ الثَّغر والكِلَمِ

    She whose speech puts pearls to shame heals with it,

    In verse and prose, with the pearls of her mouth and words.

  3. رَوْدٌ تَرودُ حِمى قَلْبِي وتشربُ من

    دَمْعِي وتسكن من صدري إلى حَرم

    A graceful maiden roams my heart's preserve and drinks from

    My tears, and finds repose in a sanctuary within my breast.

  4. نادتْ محاسِنها العُشّاقَ مُعلِنةً

    أنّ المَنى والمُنى في مُقْلتي وفمي

    Her charms called to the lovers, proclaiming

    That death and desire are in my eye and my mouth.

  5. فما احْتكمْتُ وعيْنَيْها إلى فَمِها

    إلاّ شُغِلتُ عن الخَصْمين بالحَكَمِ

    So never did her eyes and I appeal to her mouth

    Without becoming absorbed in the judge instead of the two disputants.

  6. غَرّاءُ كالدُّرَّة البيضاء تَحْجُبُها

    أستارُ بحرٍ بماء الموتِ مُلتَظِم

    Radiant as a white pearl, concealed by

    The veils of a sea surging with the water of death.

  7. تُهْوى فَتَهْوي المُنى دون اللَّحاقِ بها

    أَفْدِيك مِن أَمَمٍ أَعْيَا على الأُممِ

    She is loved, yet hopes fall short of reaching her.

    I would ransom you—so near, yet beyond the nations' reach.

  8. زارَتْ فَأَيْقَظتُ صَوْنِي في زيارتها

    ليَقْظتي وَنَدَبتْ الحلْمَ للحُلُمِ

    She visited, and during her visit I roused my self-restraint

    Because I was awake; she summoned forbearance to the dream.

  9. آليتُ أسألُ إلْمامَ الخيالِ ولي

    عَينٌ وقد ظَعَنَ الأحباب لم تَنَمِ

    I swore to seek the dream-phantom's visit, while I have

    An eye that has not slept since my loved ones departed.

  10. كأنَّني بهمُ أَقْسَمتُ لا طَمِعت

    طيبَ الكَرى فأبَرَّتْ مُقلَتي قَسَمي

    As though I had sworn by them that it would never crave

    The sweetness of slumber; so my eye fulfilled my oath.

  11. وكيف لي يَوْمَ ساروا لو صَحِبْتُهمُ

    مِن المطايا ورأسي مَوْضِعَ القَدِم

    And how, the day they left, could I—had I gone with them—have had

    A mount, with my head in the place of a foot?

  12. بانوا فَرَبْعُ اصطباري مُنذ بَيْنِهمُ

    بالٍ كَرَبْعِهمُ البالي بذي سَلَم

    They departed; since their parting, my patience's dwelling

    Is worn away, like their worn dwelling at Dhu Salam.

  13. وا وَحْشَتي إذ أُنادي في مَعالِمِهمْ

    صُمّاً تُجيبُ بما يَشفي من الصَّممِ

    Ah, my loneliness, when among their landmarks I call

    To deaf things that answer with what cures deafness.

  14. يَشْكُو صَداها إلى عَيْنِي فَتَمْنَحُها

    دَمْعَاً إذا فاض أَغْنَاها عن الدِّيَمِ

    Their thirst complains to my eye, which grants them

    Tears that, when they overflow, spare them any need for steady rains.

  15. وكلّما قال صحبي طالَ مَوْقِفُنا

    فارْحلْ بنا قالت الآثارُ بل أَقِم

    And whenever my companions said, 'We have lingered long—

    So depart with us,' the traces said, 'No, stay.'

  16. مَنازِلٌ كلّما طال البِعاد عَفَتْ

    كأنما تَسْتَمِدُّ السُّقْمَ من سَقَمي

    Dwellings that fade the longer separation lasts,

    As though they draw sickness from my sickness.

  17. قِفوا فَأَقْوى غَرامي ما يُجَدِّدُهُ

    برَسْمِه طَلَلٌ أقوى على القِدَم

    Halt! For my strongest passion is what is renewed

    By the trace of a ruin grown desolate with age.

  18. قُل للأُلى غَرَّهمْ حِلْمي ونَقَّصَهمْ

    إيّاكمُ وطريقَ الضَّيْغَمِ اللَّحِم

    Tell those whom my forbearance has deceived and diminished:

    'Beware the path of the flesh-hungry lion.'

  19. فالحِلْمُ جَفْنٌ وإنْ سُلَّتَّ حَفيظتُه

    فربّما كَشَفَتْ عن صارِمٍ خَذِمِ

    For forbearance is a sheath; if its indignation is unsheathed,

    It may uncover a sharp, keen-cutting sword.