1. عَجباً يا للرِجالِ

    فاسمعُوا شرحاً لحالي

    What a marvel! O men!

    So hear an account of my plight.

  2. رُبَّ يومٍ درتُ فيه

    خلفَ حتفي باحتيالي

    Many a day I wandered,

    pursuing my doom through my own wiles.

  3. ظَلتُ ممنوّاً بظبيٍ

    يرتعِي روضَ الدّلالِ

    I remained afflicted by a gazelle

    grazing in the meadow of coquetry.

  4. يتهادى بقوامٍ

    كمُنيفاتِ العوالي

    He sways gracefully with a stature

    like towering lances.

  5. يَنثني عُجباً بجيدٍ

    عاطلٍ بالحسنِ حالي

    He bends in self-admiration, with a neck

    bare of jewels, yet adorned with beauty.

  6. ناظرٌ نحوي بِطرفٍ

    فاعلٌ فعلَ النِّصالِ

    He looks toward me with an eye

    that does the work of arrowheads.

  7. فرماني عن سقيمٍ

    بصحيحاتِ النِّبالِ

    So he shot at me from a languid eye

    with sound arrows.

  8. فاعجبُوا من ذي سقامٍ

    صَحَّ في وقتِ النِّضالِ

    So marvel at one afflicted with sickness,

    grown sound at the hour of archery!

  9. رمتهُ عندي قنيصاً

    راسفاً في قيدِ مالي

    I wanted him beside me as captive prey,

    shuffling in the fetters of my wealth.

  10. دمتُ في أعمالِ فكري

    ساعةً حتى أتى لي

    I kept my mind at work

    for a while, until it came to me.

  11. وتحرّيتُ بسؤلي

    وقتَ ادراكِ سُؤالِ

    And for my wish I carefully sought

    the moment for a request's fulfillment.

  12. ثم بادرتُ اليهِ

    باحتيالٍ واعتمالِ

    Then I hurried to him

    with cunning and effort,

  13. حابلاً يرمي حِبالاً

    فرماني في الجِبالِ

    as a trapper casting snares,

    but he flung me into the mountains.

  14. ثمَّ ناجاني بقولٍ

    من فصيحات المقالِ

    Then he whispered to me words

    of eloquent speech:

  15. كيفَ يصطادُ غزالاً

    من غدا صيدَ غزالِ

    How can a gazelle be hunted

    by one who has become a gazelle's prey?