1. رَكَائِبُ سُهْدِي مِنْ قَراها المَدامِعُ

    هَدَاهَا لَهيبٌ أَضْرَمَتْهُ الأَضالِعُ

    The camels of my sleeplessness are fed in part with tears;

    A flame my ribs kindled has guided them.

  2. أَبيْتُ أَبيتُ اللَّيْلَ إلَّا بِلَوعَةٍ

    أَقَضَّتْ بِهَا وَجْداً عَلَيَّ المَضاجِعُ

    I have refused to spend the night save in anguish;

    Through longing for her, my beds have grown harsh beneath me.

  3. كأَنَّ الدُّجَى يَبْكِي لِحاليَ رَحْمةً

    فَتِلْكَ النُّجُومُ الزّاهراتُ مَدامِعُ

    It is as though night's darkness weeps in pity for my plight,

    And so those radiant stars are tears.

  4. يَا رَبِّ هَلْ طَيْفُ الحبيبةِ زَائِرٌ

    وَهَلْ عَهْدُ لَيْلَى بِالأُجَيرِعِ رَاجِعُ

    O my Lord, will my beloved's dream-phantom visit?

    And will the days with Layla at al-Ujayriʿ return?

  5. وَيا رَبَّة الخَالِ الخَليَّةِ مِنْ جَوَىً

    مُحِبٍّ لَهُ دُونَ التَّصبُّرِ مَانِعُ

    And O lady with the beauty mark, untroubled by the heartache

    Of a lover whom a barrier keeps from mustering patience:

  6. هَجَرَتْ فَلَمْ يَسْتَغْرِقِ الطَّرْفَ هَجعَةٌ

    فَنَاظِرُهُ صَادٍ وهجْرُكَ صَادِعُ

    She forsook him, and no slumber overtook his eye;

    So his eye thirsts, and your desertion shatters him.

  7. وَمَا ذنْبُ مَنْ لَا عِنْدَهُ الحُبُّ ذَائِعٌ

    وَلا السِّرُّ مَبْذُولٌ وَلا العَهْدُ ضَائِعُ

    And what fault has one whose love is not made public,

    Nor his secret divulged, nor his pledge forsaken?