1. يا رَب صَل عَلى مُحَمد

    المُصطَفى زاكي الجُدود

    O Lord, bless Muhammad,

    the Chosen One, of pure ancestry.

  2. يا جيرة خيموا المصلى

    لا تنقضوا سادَتي عُهودي

    O neighbors who camped at al-Musalla,

    do not break my covenants, my lords.

  3. سَكَنتُم في سَواد قَلبي

    فَصرت مِن جُملة العَبيد

    You dwelt in the dark core of my heart,

    so I became one of the slaves.

  4. ما أَومض البَرق في حِماكُم

    إِلا وَقَد شَب في جُلودي

    Never did lightning flash within your sanctuary

    without already blazing within my skin.

  5. وَلا سَرى راكب إِلَيكُم

    إِلا سَرى الوَجد في وجودي

    Nor did a rider travel by night toward you

    without yearning coursing through my being.

  6. بِنتُم فَبانَ الهُجود عَني

    فَظَل طَرفي بِلا هجود

    You departed, and sleep departed from me;

    so my eye remained without sleep.

  7. يا نسمة الريح خَبريهم

    عَن قصتي في الهَوى وَعودي

    O breath of wind, tell them

    of my tale of love, and return.

  8. وَحَدثينا حَديث نَجد

    وَجيرة البان مِن زرود

    And tell us the tale of Najd

    and the neighbors by the ben trees of Zarud.

  9. وَكَرري ذكرهم لِسَمعي

    وَخَبري عَنهُم وَزيدي

    And repeat their mention for my ears,

    and tell of them, and tell me more.

  10. للّه ظَبي بِذات سلع

    يَميد كَالغُصن في صَعيد

    How wondrous the gazelle at Dhat Salʿ,

    swaying like a branch on open ground.

  11. مهفهف القَد ما تَثنى

    إِلا وَأَرزى بِكُل عود

    Slender of form, he never swayed

    without putting every bough to shame.

  12. وَلا بَدَت وَجنَتاه إِلا

    فاقَت عَلى سائر الوُرود

    Nor did his cheeks appear without

    outshining all the roses.

  13. ولا رَنَت مُقلَتاه إِلا

    جَرَت دُموعي عَلى خُدودي

    Nor did his eyes gaze without

    my tears streaming down my cheeks.

  14. وَلا رَأَيناه في التفات

    إِلا وَأَزرى الظبا بجيد

    Nor did we see him turn

    without his neck putting the gazelles to shame.

  15. نَظرته نَظرة أَراقَت

    دَمي وَقَد قَطَعَت وَريدي

    I gazed at him with a glance that spilled

    my blood and severed my jugular vein.

  16. ما ضر لَو رَد لي حَياتي

    بَريقه الطيب الوُرود

    What harm if he restored my life to me

    with his saliva, so sweet to drink?

  17. آها عَلى وَصله وَآهاً

    كَم أَعقَب الوَصل مِن صُدود

    Ah for union with him, and ah!

    How much estrangement union has brought in its wake!

  18. يا عاذِلي بِالغَرام جَهلاً

    أَقصر عَن الواله العَميد

    O you who ignorantly reproach me for love,

    leave the distraught, love-stricken one alone.

  19. لَو شمت ملك الغَرام يَوماً

    لَكُنت مِن أَول الجُنود

    Had you beheld the king of love one day,

    you would surely have been among the first soldiers.

  20. وَلَو تَرى آدم المَعالي

    هَويت في الحال بِالسُجود

    And if you saw the Adam of lofty virtues,

    you would fall at once in prostration.