1. يعد عَليَّ أَنفاسي ذُنوباً

    إِذا ما قُلت أَفديهِ حَبيبا

    He counts my breaths against me as sins

    Whenever I say I would give my life for him, my beloved.

  2. وَأَبعد ما يَكون الود مِنهُ

    إِذا ما باتَ مِن أَمَلي قَريبا

    And affection is farthest from him

    Whenever he draws near to my hope.

  3. حَبيب كُلَّما يَلقاهُ صَبٌّ

    يَصير عَلَيهِ مَن يَهوى رَقيبا

    A beloved—whenever a lovesick lover meets him,

    The one he loves becomes a watcher over him.

  4. يَعاف مَنازل العُشاق كَبراً

    وَلَو فَرشت مَسالكها قُلوبا

    He shuns lovers' dwellings out of pride,

    Even if I paved their paths with hearts.

  5. فَلو حَمل النَسيم إِلَيهِ مِني

    سَلاماً راحَ يَمنَعَهُ هُبوبا

    So if the breeze carried to him from me

    A greeting, he would stop it from blowing.

  6. أَغار عَلى الجَفا مِنهُ لِغَيري

    فَلَيتَ جَفاهُ أَضحى لي نَصيبا

    I am jealous of his coldness toward another;

    Would that his coldness were my portion!

  7. وَأَعشَق أَعيُن الرقباءَ فيهِ

    وَلَو مَلَئت عُيونَهُم عُيوبا

    And for his sake I adore the watchers' eyes,

    Even if their eyes were filled with flaws.

  8. لَقَد أَخَذَ الهَوى بِزِمام قَلبي

    وَصَير دَمع أَجفاني صَبيبا

    Love has indeed seized the reins of my heart

    And made my eyelids' tears a torrent.

  9. وَما أَملت في أَهلي نَصيراً

    فَكَيفَ الآن أَطلبهُ غَريبا

    I have hoped for no helper among my kin;

    So how can I now seek one in a stranger?

  10. وَأَقصِد أَن يَعيد رُوا شَبابي

    زَمان غادر الولدان شِيبا

    And seek to have my youth's beauty restored

    By an age that has left children gray-haired?

  11. وَما خَفيت عَلَيَّ الناس حَتّى

    أَروم اليَوم مِن رَخم حَليبا

    Nor are people so unknown to me that

    I should seek milk from vultures today.

  12. أَذا ظَنَ الذُباب خَشيتُ مِنهُ

    لِفَقد مُساعِدي يُلفى مُجيبا

    If the fly thinks, I fear it,

    For want of my helper, who would be there to answer.

  13. وَهب أَني حَكيت الشاة ضُعفاً

    فَما لي أَحسَب السُنور ذِيبا

    And grant that I resemble a sheep in weakness:

    Why do I take the cat for a wolf?

  14. عَسى يَوماً يَراش جَناح حَظي

    فَأَغدو قاصِداً شَهماً وَهوبا

    Perhaps one day my fortune's wing will be feathered,

    And I shall set out for a gallant, generous man,

  15. عَزيزاً مُستَفاداً مِن عَزيز

    كَوَرد أَكسب الأَيام طيبا

    Honored, with honor gained from one honored,

    Like a rose that has given the days fragrance.

  16. لَئِن سَعدت وَلَو في النَوم عَيني

    بِرُؤياهُ لِتلكَ العَين طُوبى

    If my eye is blessed, even in sleep,

    With a vision of him—blessed be that eye!

  17. وَإِن ضَنَ السَحاب فَلا أُبالي

    وَفَيض نَداهُ قَد أَضحى سَكوبا

    And if the clouds withhold their rain, I do not care,

    While the flood of his bounty has become a downpour.

  18. وَهَل أَبغي وَفي النادي سَناهُ

    طُلوع الشَمس أَو أَخشى المَغيبا

    And, with his radiance in the gathering, need I seek

    The sun's rising, or fear its setting?

  19. ظَفرت بِمَدحِهِ فَعَلَوت قَدراً

    وَسَماني الزَمان بِهِ أَديبا

    I triumphed through praising him, and rose in standing;

    And through it Time called me a man of letters.

  20. وَغادر رَوض أَفكاري جَنيّاً

    وَصَبر غُصن آمالي رَطيبا

    And left the garden of my thoughts ripe for harvest,

    And the branch of my hopes endured, still fresh.

  21. إِذا تُلِيَت مَآثرهُ بِأَرض

    غَدا الفلك المُدار بِها طَروبا

    If his noble deeds are recited in a land,

    The celestial sphere revolving above it grows enraptured.