1. Who mounted the full moon in the chest of the gazelle
And disguised magic in the edge of the curved blade,

2. And brought down the bright star to revolve
In a circuit through the dense black night?

3. A glance that pierces, or a sharp arrow let loose,
A naked blade, or plaited locks?

4. Lightning laughing, or lightning smiling
That flashes through a gap between soft cheeks?

5. Woe to him, death to the knight with the slaughtering sword
With languid movements, a lion of valiant onslaught,

6. Whose gaze reveals what is hidden in his soul
So that he never misses his target.

7. He made me his slave after glory, for passion
Will forever enslave the lion to the delicate fawn.

8. If not for the night of his cheek, my wish
Would not have yoked the steeds of death with hopes.

9. Beauty took cover in his perfect face
Like the timid black-eyed gazelle among the does.

10. By the gazelle’s dangling curls that tease and entice
On his erect, slender, sapling-like form!

11. By his pomegranate-red lips and the pure
Clear wine, the sweet saliva of his mouth!

12. If the full moon were asked, “Whom do you envy
When you rise?” it would say: the son of so-and-so!

13. He surpasses me in every aspect of his beauty,
Both visible and imagined.

14. The chivalry of a Persian prince, the softness of a Shami,
The culture of an Iraqi, the diction of a Hijazi!

15. Witty repartee is no more entertaining than
The eloquence of nomads in Turkish phrases.

16. I thought him a full moon, but he
Has the superior nature, morals, and garb.

17. Where can I get a flame that flows over gold
In a white bowl of pure, gleaming silver,

18. And a garden never touched by the hand of a withdrawal
Or a cheek complaining of blame and slander,

19. Surrounded by lilies so new they flirt
With narcissi, in the magic of eve?

20. Who can save me or protect me from the passion
Of one who gives legal opinions and conquers like Amr ibn Ma’di?

21. Time loves nothing but the tale of battle,
Plunging into ruin, or an Indian sword stroke;

22. It speaks of nothing but his musical talents
For difficult, sublime, and skilful modulations;

23. The pure-toned lute players and the dress
Of singers and drinking of singers and disturbing songs.

24. I long for these more than for cool shade on a sultry day,
On an ailing spirit, and the warbling of a gambler;

25. More than yoking steeds on days of combat and marching
Infantrymen to the stabbing of men.

26. And urging on a hunting falcon, my joy marred
By him, and a coat of mail whose rust vexes me;

27. Than a boy with limbs like boughs of acacia that bears
Sand dunes on sheltered, tender body parts,

28. Walking proudly robed, so you’d think them
A meadow in spring over mounds of white adahh.

29. The mocking, mocking sorcerer glides among them
Like a sun whose lights outshine planets.

30. Smooth of forehead and cheek, most strange in beauty
As a slip of the tongue in a Najdi phrase.

31. He distracts me from books narrated and helping
A jurist of Shafi’i or Hanifi doctrine.

32. The bending staff and the crooked crookedness are nurtured
In the caves, and poetry in wind-blown verse

33. Softening the heart of the love-sick, wandering poet
More than a bite in the diction of Najd.

34. If you saw him listening as I recited,
You'd say the composer sings to a chaste heart,

35. Or the hunter of humans who has laid his snares
And at night has snared wild game.

36. After the caravan moved on, he tempted me
With the melody and airs of Surayj.

37. So he is more obedient to me than to his own wish
And I am better known to him as his beloved.