1. قسماً بحسن قوامك المَمشوق

    وَبِطيب عَنبر خالك المَعشوق

    I swear by the beauty of your slender form,

    And by the ambergris fragrance of your beloved mole,

  2. وَشَقيق نُعمان بِخَدك قَد زَها

    فَسَما عَلى الإكليل وَالعيوق

    And by Nuʿmān’s anemone, which has bloomed on your cheek,

    And risen above the Crown and Capella;

  3. وَلَهيب وَجنتك الَّتي قَد أَشعلَت

    نار الهَوى بِفُؤادي المَحروق

    And by the blaze of your cheek, which has kindled

    Passion’s fire within my scorched heart;

  4. وَعَقيق ثَغرك وَالرضاب وَما بِهِ

    مِن خَمرة في ذَلِكَ الراووق

    And by your mouth’s carnelian, its nectar, and what it holds

    Of wine within that strainer;

  5. وَبِناظر يَرنو بِمُقلة ربرب

    فَيصيد قَلب المغرم المَوثوق

    And by an eye that gazes with an antelope’s look,

    And snares the fettered lover’s heart:

  6. ما نسمت ريح الصبا مِن حاجر

    إِلا اكتست مِن طيبك المَنشوق

    Never has the east wind breathed from Ḥājir

    Without clothing itself in your sweet perfume.

  7. كَلا وَلا أَطلَعت فَرقاً واضِحاً

    إِلا وَهمت بِسلطك المَفروق

    No—nor have you revealed a bright parting

    Without my being enraptured by your parted locks [uncertain reading].

  8. يا أَيُّها البَدر المُنير لِناظِري

    فَغَدا صَبوحي في الوَرى وَغبوقي

    O full moon that shines before my eyes,

    And has become my morning and evening draught among mortals:

  9. أَجريت جفني مُذ أَذَبت حشاشَتي

    فَتَقَطرَت مِن ذَلِكَ الانبيق

    You set my eyelid streaming when you melted my life’s essence,

    And it dripped from that alembic.

  10. فَانظر باكسير الجمال لِينثَني

    صفري بِهِ شَمساً عَلى التَحقيق

    So gaze with beauty’s elixir, to transmute

    My brass thereby into a sun, in very truth.

  11. وَاعطف علي بِنَظرة مِن نَرجس

    وَبِرَشفة مِن جَوهر وَعَقيق

    And turn to me tenderly, with a glance from narcissus,

    And with a sip from pearl and carnelian.

  12. وَتَلاف اتلافي فَقَد حلت عُرى

    صَبري وَلاحَت في سَماك بروقي

    And avert my ruin, for loosened are the bonds

    Of my patience, and my lightnings have flashed in your sky.