1. هَذِي القَصَائِدُ مَاعَادَتْ تُوَاسِينِى

     الجُرْحُ أَعْمَقُ هَلْ يَاأَنْتِ تُشْفِينِي

    These poems no longer console me.

    The wound is deeper—will you heal me, O you?

  2. أَمْ أَنَّ حُبَّكِ مِثْلَ السَّوْطِ يَجْلِدُنِي 

    شَوْقًا إِلَيكِ وَهَلْ لِلْبَحْرِ تُدْنِينِي 

    Or is your love like a whip that lashes me

    with longing for you—and will you draw me near the sea?

  3. ثُورِي إِذًا حَطِّمِي الأَحزان عَنْ وطن

    بُوحِي بِسِرٍّ وَهَلْ فِي القَلْبِ تُخْفِينِي

    Rise up, then; shatter a homeland's sorrows.

    Reveal a secret—and do you hide me in your heart?

  4. بُوحِي بِسِرٍ أَيَا لَيْلايَ واقْتَرِبِي 

    كَيْ نُطْفِئَ الحرْقَةَ الكُبْرَى بِقَلْبَين

    Reveal a secret, O my Layla, and draw near,

    so we may quench the great burning anguish with two hearts.

  5. ثُورِي إِذًا مَزِّقِى الأَغْلالَ عَنْ جَسَدٍ

    لا تَحْرُمِينِي إِذَا مَاجِئْتُ هَاتِيني 

    Rise up, then; tear the shackles off a body.

    Do not deprive me when I come; bring me to you.

  6. إِنِّي أُحِبُّ جمَاَلَ الله في وَطَنٍ

    لَيْلَى تُخَبِّئُهُ وَيْحَ المسَاكِين

    Indeed, I love God's beauty in a homeland

    that Layla conceals—alas for the wretched!

  7. هَذِي الأَنَامِلُ كَمْ تَشْتَاقُ في لَهَفٍ 

    قَيْدًا تُحَرِّرُهُ مِنْ قَيْدِ الفَاسَتِين

    These fingertips—how they yearn with eager longing

    for a shackle they would free from the bondage of dresses.

  8. كَمْ تَشْتَهِي أَنْ تَمُرَّ الآنَ عَنْ وَطَنٍ

    كَيْ تَزْرَعَ الدِّفْءَ كَيْ يَحْيَا وَيُحْيِّني 

    How they long to pass now by a homeland,

    so they may sow warmth, so it may live and give me life.

  9. إِنِّي القَتِيلُ أَيَا لَيْلَي فَلَا خَجَلٌ 

    إِنْ رُحْتُ أَعْبَثُ أَيَا لَيْلَى بِقَلْبَين

    Indeed, I am the slain one, O my Layla, so there is no shame

    if I set about toying, O Layla, with two hearts.

  10. مِثْلَ الرَّضِيعِ أَنَا مَازَالَ بِي شَغَفٌ 

    إِذْ مَا بَكَيْتُ أَيَا لَيْلَايَ نَاغِيني 

    Like an infant, I still have passion within me.

    Whenever I weep, O my Layla, coo to me.

  11. لا تَخْجَلِى فَأَنَا حُلْمٌ وَأُغْنِيَةٌ 

    نَامَتْ عَلَى عَجَلٍ مِنْ قَبْلِ تَشْرِين

    Do not be shy, for I am a dream and a song

    that fell asleep in haste before Tishrin.

  12. إِنِّـي أَرَاكِ أَيَا لَيْلاي مُتَّكَئًا

    إِذْ مَا ضَمَمْتُكِ يَا لَيْلاي ضُمِّيني

    Indeed, I see you, O my Layla, as a resting place.

    Whenever I embrace you, O my Layla, embrace me.

  13. أَنْتِ التَّهَجُّدُ أَنْتِ الحُلْمُ وَالأَزَلُ

    أَنْتِ البَقَاُء وَأَنْتِ النَّارُ تَكْوِيني

    You are night prayer; you are the dream and eternity.

    You are permanence, and you are the fire that sears me.

  14. لَيْلَى التَّبَصُّرُ لَيْلَى النُّورُ والأمَلُ

    لَيْلَى الدَّوَاءُ إِذْ جَاءَتْ تُدَاوِيني

    Layla is insight; Layla is light and hope.

    Layla is the remedy, for she came to heal me.

  15. لَيْلَى التَّفَلْسَفُ لَيْلَى البَحْرُ يَاوَجَعِي

    لَيْلَى القَصِيدَةُ إِنْ هَاجَتْ شَيَاطِيني

    Layla is philosophical reflection; Layla is the sea—O my pain!

    Layla is the poem if my demons rage.

  16. والثَّغْرُ مَجْمَرَةٌ رَاحَتْ تُحَذِّرُنِي

    إِيَّاكَ يَا أَنْتَ أَنْ تُكْوَى وَتَكْوِيني

    And the mouth is a brazier that began to warn me:

    Beware, O you, lest you be seared and sear me.

  17. عَينَاهَا مَذْبَحَةٌ كَالبَحْرِ وَاسِعَةٌ

    إِنِّي الغَرِيقُ إِذًا مِنْ قَبْلُ تَكْوِيني

    Her eyes are a massacre, vast as the sea.

    Indeed, I am the drowned one, then, before you sear me.

  18. يَكْفِي مِنَ البعد يَا أَنْتِ يُعَذِّبُني

    يَكْفِيكِ يَا أَنْتِ بَلْ يَا أَنْتِ يَكْفِيني 

    Enough of distance, O you—it torments me.

    Enough for you, O you—rather, O you, enough for me.