1. ما تَطيبُ الدُنيا لِفَقدِ حَبيبٍ

    وَحَياةُ المُفارِقينَ حِمامُ

    The world is not sweet when a beloved is lost;

    the life of those parted is death.

  2. فَحَياتي لا أَوحَشَ اللَهُ مِنها

    وَعَلى الدَهرِ بَعدَ مَوتي السَلامُ

    As for my life—may God never leave me bereft of it!

    And after my death, farewell to time!

  3. لَستُ أَرضى الرِضا بِأَيسَرَ مِن لا

    قَعقَعَ الرَعدُ مِنهُ لي يا غَمامُ

    I will not accept assent on easier terms than a 'no'

    whose thunder has rattled at me, O cloud.

  4. وَأَرى شَخصَهُ بِعَيني وَسَمعي

    كُلَّما مَرَّ بِالصَباحِ الحَمامُ

    And I see his form with my eye and my hearing

    whenever the doves pass by in the morning.

  5. إِنَّ أَيّامَ مَن نَأَوهُ لَيالٍ

    وَلَيالي مَن زارَهُم أَحلامُ

    Indeed, the days of one they have forsaken are nights,

    and the nights of one who has visited them are dreams.

  6. إِنَّ عَيني قَد أَغرَقَ النورُ عَيني

    فَعَلى مَن تُمَوِّهُ الأَيّامُ

    Indeed, my eye—light has drowned my eye;

    whom, then, do the days deceive?

  7. وَالتَلاقي في ظُلمَةِ اللَيلِ ضَوءٌ

    وَالنَوى في ضِيا الصَباحِ ظَلامُ

    And meeting in the darkness of night is light,

    and separation in morning's radiance is darkness.

  8. بِأَبي أَنتَ مِن هِلالٍ لِفِطرٍ

    غَيرَ أَنّا مِنَ الوِصالِ صِيامُ

    My father be your ransom—what a crescent of fast-breaking you are!

    Yet we are fasting from union.

  9. إِن تَصِل مَن قَطَعتَ فَالعامُ يَومٌ

    أَو تَدَع مَن وَصَلتَ فَاليَومُ عامُ

    If you reunite with one you cut off, a year is a day;

    or leave one you joined, a day is a year.

  10. أَو تَقُل لي إِنَّ الغَريمَ ذَميمٌ

    فَجَوابي إِنَّ الغَرامَ ذِمامُ

    Or if you tell me, 'The lover is blameworthy,'

    my answer is, 'Passion is a binding pledge.'

  11. رُمتُ ما لا يَعِزُّ عَنكَ وَعَنّي

    فَكَأَنّي قَد رُمتُ ما لا يُرامُ

    I sought what is not beyond you or me,

    yet it is as though I sought the unattainable.

  12. وَإِذا جُدتَ لِلمَنامِ بِطَيفٍ

    فَعَلى ناظِري المَنامُ حَرامُ

    And if you grant sleep a phantom,

    sleep is forbidden to my eye.

  13. ساكِنٌ ناظِري وَلَم يَسكُنِ المَح

    بوبُ مُذ قَطُّ ناظِراً وَالمَنامُ

    He dwells in my eye; never have the be-

    loved and sleep ever dwelt together in an eye.

  14. وَإِذا الخَصمُ كانَ يَقضي عَلَينا

    فَإِلى مَن فيهِ يَكونُ الخِصامُ

    And if the adversary is passing judgment against us,

    then to whom can a dispute against him be brought?

  15. إِنَّ في ناظِرَيكَ أَيَّ سِهامٍ

    هِيَ في حَوزِها القُلوبَ سِهامُ

    Indeed, what arrows lie in your two eyes!

    In their possession of hearts, they are shares.

  16. مُسقِمٌ طَرَفَهُ بِأَوَّلِ لَحظِ

    لَو تَثَنَّى لَزالَ عَنّي السَقامُ

    His gaze sickens me at its first glance;

    if it were repeated, my sickness would leave me.

  17. لا تُغالِط عَنِ الشِفاءِ جِراحي

    ما شِفاءُ الجِراحِ إِلّا السِهامُ

    Do not mislead my wounds away from their cure;

    the only cure for wounds is arrows.

  18. وَجهُكَ البَدرُ وَالغَلائِلُ سُحبٌ

    وَاللَمى الأُثْرُ وَالصَقالُ اِبتِسامُ

    Your face is the full moon, and the gauzy garments are clouds;

    your lips' dark hue is a blade's pattern, its polish a smile.

  19. وَعَلى كُلِّ حالَةٍ ما يُساوي

    بَينَ بَدري وَبَدرِكَ الأَقوامُ

    And in any case, people do not equate

    my full moon with yours.

  20. بِتُّ أَشكو إِلى الظَلامِ هَواهُ

    فَيُريني البَدرَ الَّذي لا يُسامُ

    I spent the night lamenting my love for him to the darkness;

    so it shows me the full moon that cannot be bargained for.

  21. وَجَرى بَينَ ناظِري وَدُجاهُ

    وَدُموعي اللاتي جَرَينَ كَلامُ

    And between my eye, its darkness,

    and my streaming tears, a conversation flowed.

  22. أَنتَ قِسمي وَلَيسَ لي مِنكَ قِسمٌ

    وَكَذا الحُبُّ وَالقِلى أَقسامُ

    You are my lot, yet I have no share of you;

    and so love and aversion are apportioned lots.