1. قرعت على ليلى الشريفة بابها

    وأرخيت عنها سترها وحجابها

    I knocked at noble Layla's door,

    And lowered her covering and veil away from her.

  2. وضممت عطفيها إلي معانقاً

    وقبلتها لما أملت نقابها

    And drew her two sides to me, embracing her,

    And kissed her when I tilted her face-veil aside.

  3. حصان ولا عارٌ إذا ما تبرجت

    عليها إذا ألقت جهاراً ثيابها

    Chaste—no disgrace, when she displays her beauty,

    Falls upon her when she openly casts off her clothes.

  4. فما منعت عن عاشق رشف ظلمها

    ولم يرتشف إلى الجسور رضابها

    She never denied a lover a sip of her teeth's dew,

    And none but the bold has sipped her saliva.

  5. وما الشم في التقبيل والضم للحشا

    حراماً ولا عيباً معاباً عابها

    Nor is smelling her while kissing and clasping her to the breast

    Forbidden, or a shameful fault that dishonors her.

  6. يقبلها بين الورى كل قانت

    ومن صحن خديها يسف خضابها

    Every devout worshipper among humankind kisses her,

    And swallows her dye from the expanse of her cheeks.

  7. فتاة ولم تبرح مدى الدهر كاعباً

    ولم تبل أحداث الليالي شبابها

    A maiden, she has remained round-breasted throughout the ages;

    And the nights' vicissitudes have not worn away her youth.

  8. لها هيبة العظماء من دون لثمها

    إذا ما رآها ضو المهابة هابها

    Hers is the majesty of the great, apart from being kissed;

    When a man of majesty sees her, he stands in awe of her.

  9. وما نظرتها مقلة غير ما بكت

    وما خطرت في القلب إلى أجابها

    No eye has gazed upon her without weeping,

    And she never crossed the heart without its answering her.

  10. تحيرت العشاق فيها لحسنها

    إذا هي ألقت عن سواها جلابها

    Lovers were bewildered by her beauty,

    When she cast her coverings away from all else [wording uncertain].

  11. سنا الحسن مغنيها لباساً عن الحلى

    كأن الحلى لو زان كان سبابها

    Beauty's radiance clothes her, dispensing with jewels,

    As though jewels, were they to adorn her, would insult her.

  12. ألا أنها عن ملبس الحسن أغنيت

    لكن سحاب العفو أمسى سحابها

    Indeed, she has no need of beauty's raiment,

    Yet the cloud of pardon has become her cloud.

  13. يحن إليها كل من ذكرت له

    ويعنقها من رام منها ثوابها

    Everyone to whom she is mentioned longs for her,

    And whoever seeks her reward embraces her.

  14. إذا ما أتاها المذنبون بذنبهم

    تروح الذنوب المثقلات هبابها

    When sinners come to her bearing their sins,

    The burdensome sins drift away as her dust.

  15. وركب طوت سجل الزيازي لوصلها

    حدت بمديحي أو نسيبي ركابها

    And a caravan that folded up the scroll of the wastes to reach her

    Urged its camels onward with my praise or my love-song.

  16. بأرض فلم يؤمن بها الذيب نفسه

    على نفسه لرحيله أرابها

    Through a land where the wolf could not trust itself

    With its own life, for its journey had made it uneasy.

  17. مهالكٌ لا تلقى بها سرع موردٍ

    سوى الشمس قد مجت عليها لعابها

    Deadly wastes, where no quick access to a watering place is found,

    Save the sun, which has spewed its saliva upon them.

  18. تظن على ثيرانها في هجيرها

    أتى لغوادي الساريات شرابها

    Above its bulls, in its midday heat, you would think

    The morning, night-traveling clouds' drink had arrived.

  19. ترى من الاجتهار منها طوالعاً

    وفيها منال الكف عنها اعترابها

    Through its dazzling glare you see shapes rising from it,

    Yet there, as the hand reaches, they recede beyond it [reading uncertain].

  20. كأن السما بالأرض مقلة ناعس

    طليح وقد ألقى عليها هدابها

    As though the sky against the earth were the eye of a drowsy man,

    Exhausted, who has let its lashes fall upon the earth.

  21. كأن مطا الربداء للعيس كاغد

    تحد حفاف اليعملات كتابها

    As though the back of the ash-gray earth were paper for pale camels,

    The sturdy she-camels' hoof-edges trace its script.

  22. وتسمع فيها الجن تعزف بالدجى

    وقد ملأت منها الشعبو شعابها

    And there you hear the jinn making music in the darkness,

    And tribes of them have filled its ravines.