1. أَساكنةً وادي الآراكِ أراك

    تزينينَ لي وادي الأراك أراكِ

    O woman dwelling in the valley of arak trees, I see you;

    I see you adorning the valley of arak trees for me.

  2. تزينينَ لي أجزاعهُ وبراقه

    وما كانَ مِن أثلٍ به وأراكِ

    You adorn for me its bends and stony sands,

    And all the tamarisk and arak trees that stand there.

  3. تذكّرني أيّام أَلفتنا بهِ

    حمائمُ مِن فوقِ الغصون بواكِ

    I am reminded of the days of our intimacy there

    By doves weeping above the branches.

  4. وَلولا هواكِ العذب ما لذّ ذكرهُ

    لِقلبي ولكن ذا لأجل هواكِ

    Were it not for sweet love of you, its memory would not delight

    My heart; but that is because of my love for you.

  5. فَليتكِ مِثلي في الغرامِ سقيمة

    فَيضحي دوائي وصلنا ودواكِ

    Would that you, like me, were sick with love,

    Then our union would become my cure and yours.

  6. رَعى اللّه عصراً كان للشمل جامعا

    رَعاهُ رعاهُ دائماً ورعاكِ

    May God preserve an age that brought the company together;

    May He preserve it, preserve it always, and preserve you.

  7. أَتَدرينَ يا لعسا المراشفِ عندنا

    جَنى النحل أَحلى أم لذيذ جناكِ

    Do you know, O dusky-lipped one, whether to us

    The bees' harvest is sweeter, or your luscious harvest?

  8. هنيئاً لمسواكِ الأراكةِ إذ جرى

    بثغرك واِستولى رضاب لماكِ

    How fortunate the arak toothstick, as it passed

    Across your mouth and claimed the sweet saliva of your dusky lips.

  9. فَما بائع للنفسِ يوماً بخاسرٍ

    عليك إِذا ما باعها وشراكِ

    So no one who sells his soul is ever at a loss

    For your sake, if he sells it and buys you.

  10. أُحاولُ مِن دَهري لقاك وخير ما

    تمنّيت مِن دَهري منال لقاكِ

    I seek from my fate a meeting with you, and the best thing

    I have wished of my fate is to attain a meeting with you.

  11. خلقت لقلبي في الهوى فتنةً وما

    لهُ فتنة في العالمين سواكِ

    You were created as a temptation for my heart in love, and

    It has no temptation in all the worlds but you.

  12. بِمَن قَد كساكِ الحسن في خلقه اِرفقى

    بصبٍّ براهُ واحداً وبراكِ

    By Him who clothed you in beauty among His creation, be gentle

    With a lovesick man—He alone fashioned him and you.

  13. مَتى أَنا يا ذات النوى بعد ذا النوى

    أراكِ ويا بشراكِ يوم أراكِ

    When, O lady of separation, after this separation, shall I

    See you? And what glad tidings for you on the day I see you!

  14. أَلا كيفَ حالي إِذ تمادت بك النوى

    وَكيفَ وِصالي بعدَ طول نواكِ

    Ah, what is my state, since separation has carried you so far?

    And how can I reunite with you after your long absence?

  15. أقولُ غداةَ البينِ للحسرةِ اِرفقي

    بِمن قد علَت للبينِ فوق قراكِ

    At dawn of parting I tell the weary she-camel, 'Be gentle

    With her who has climbed upon your back to depart.

  16. وَلا توجفي إلّا عَلى مهلة بها

    إِذا وجبَ المسرى وجدّ سراكِ

    And travel with her only at a gentle pace,

    When night travel is required and your night journey grows urgent.

  17. هيَ الشمسُ إلّا أنّها شمس هودجٍ

    تريك الضُحى حيث اِدلهمّ دجاكِ

    She is the sun, except that she is a sun within a camel-litter,

    Showing you morning light wherever your darkness thickens.'

  18. وَلَم أَنسها يوم الرحيلِ وقد رنت

    بلحظٍ لها وقتَ التفرّق باكِ

    Nor have I forgotten her on departure's day, when she gazed

    With a weeping glance of hers at the moment of parting.

  19. وَسلّت حسامَ اللحظِ منها كأنّه

    حسامُ فلاحٍ سلّ يوم عراكِ

    And drew from herself the sword of her glance, as though it were

    Falah's sword, drawn on a day of combat.

  20. فتىً في معاليه عليهِ تَحاسَدت

    أسرّة أنماطٍ وجرد مذاكِ

    A youth for whom, amid his lofty deeds, there vie

    Couches with patterned rugs and sleek, mature steeds.

  21. وَلَو قيسَ أهلُ الأرضِ قدراً جميعهم

    بهِ ما وفوا مِن نعلهِ بشراكِ

    And even if all the earth's people were measured in worth

    Against him, they would not match a strap of his sandal.

  22. فَما سارَ عنهُ الوفد إلّا وعندهم

    نجائب عيسٍ بزّلٍ ورماكِ

    No delegation ever left him without having

    Choice pale camels, fully mature, and mares.

  23. فَما جاوزوا هم إلّا تصعّدت

    بهم هممٌ جاوزنَ كلّ شكاكِ

    They themselves never passed on without there rising

    With them aspirations that surpassed every doubter.

  24. توقّد في روضِ العلا راقياً بلا

    مراقٍ إِلى شمراخهِ ومواكِ

    He blazed in the garden of glory, ascending without

    Steps to its summit or supports.

  25. إِذا غصّ دست بالملوكِ رأيتهُ

    ألدّهمُ في منطقٍ ومحاكِ

    When a dais is crowded with kings, you see him

    The most formidable of them in speech and disputation.

  26. فَهيهاتَ أَن يدنو إِليهِ مماثل

    وَيَحكيهِ في الفعلِ الجميل محاكِ

    Far be it that any peer should come close to him,

    Or any imitator match him in noble deeds.

  27. فَما كلُّ نارٍ نار موسى وإِن سمت

    وَلا كلُّ نجمٍ لاحَ نجم سماك

    Not every fire is Moses' fire, though it rises high,

    Nor is every shining star the star Simak.

  28. إِليكَ أَبا سلطان جاءت كأنّها

    لطيمة مسكٍ فتّتت بمذاكِ

    To you, Abu Sultan, it has come as though it were

    A pouch of musk, crumbled with pestles.

  29. عروب قوافي نظمها قَد تَصَرّحت

    فهنَّ فصاحُ اللفظِ غير ركاكِ

    Amorous, its woven rhymes have spoken plainly,

    For they are eloquent in wording, not feeble.

  30. أَتت من فتىً أَضحت تباريحُ فكره

    إِليك منَ الدهرِ الغشوم سواكِ

    It came from a youth whose torments of thought have become

    Goads from tyrannical fate, driving him toward you.

  31. أسير اِفتقارٍ جاءَ يدعوك معلناً

    لتنعشهُ من أسرهِ بفكاكِ

    A prisoner of poverty, he came appealing to you openly,

    That you may revive him by freeing him from his captivity.

  32. وَقد طال ما أنقذته من مهالكٍ

    وَلولاك لَم يبرح أسير هلاكِ

    And long have you rescued him from deadly perils;

    Without you, he would remain a captive of ruin.

  33. لَه فيك مِن سحرِ الكلام غرائباً

    لجرحِ قلوبِ العاشقين بواكِ

    He has marvels of verbal magic in your praise,

    Weeping for the wound in lovers' hearts.