1. أيعلمُ فرنندُ ان الهوى

    كوى من جنستا صميم الحشا

    Does Fernand know that love

    has seared the very core of Genesta's heart,

  2. وأني اصبحتُ في حبهِ

    اسيرةَ سُهدٍ واخت ضنى

    and that, in loving him, I have become

    a captive of sleeplessness and a sister to wasting illness?

  3. أُعاني الهمومَ وأرعى النجومَ

    وأُجري الدموعَ كسيل هما

    I suffer cares and keep watch over the stars,

    and let tears flow like a pouring torrent.

  4. وأي حبيبٍ إذا ما بدا

    تقول مليكٌ رفيع اللوا

    And what a beloved! Whenever he appears,

    you would say: a king whose banner flies high.

  5. له طلعةٌ ان رأتها النساء

    خلعنَ العذارَ وبعنَ الحيا

    His countenance is such that, if women behold it,

    they cast off the bridle and sell their modesty.

  6. وعزة نفس تودُّ الملوك

    لو أن لها مثلها في الورى

    And a dignity of soul that kings wish

    they had the like of among humankind;

  7. ولطفُ حديثٍ كأَنَّ النسيمَ

    بليلاً بمنطقهِ قد سرى

    and a gentleness of speech, as though the breeze,

    cool and moist, had drifted through his words.

  8. فيا ربّ هل مثل هذه الصفات

    يحوز أثيمٌ أليف الشقا

    So, O Lord, can such qualities as these

    be possessed by a sinner, a companion of misery?

  9. إِذا كان فرنندُ لِصاً فلِم

    وهبتَ لهُ خلق اهل العُلى

    If Fernand is a thief, then why

    have You bestowed on him the character of the noble?

  10. أَتجمعُ بين الهدى والضلال

    وبين الثريَّا وبين الثرى

    Do You unite right guidance with error,

    and the Pleiades with the dust?

  11. أَلا جلَّ شأنك عن ذي الأمور

    ونُزِهَتَ عن مثل هذا الهوى

    Indeed, Your majesty is exalted above such things,

    and You are free of such caprice.

  12. ففرنندُ ليس بلص ولكن

    هنالك سرٌّ شديد الخفا

    So Fernand is no thief; but

    there is a deeply hidden secret.

  13. ولا بد من كشفهِ عن قريب

    ليكشفَ عني هذا العنا

    And it must be revealed before long,

    to lift this anguish from me,

  14. وأعلم أني لم أتبع

    بحبَّيهِ الا طريق الهدى

    and so I may know that I have not followed,

    in my love for him, any path but that of right guidance.

  15. وبعد علامَ الذهولُ تُرى

    أَليس لفرنند شبهٌ هنا

    And after all, why this bewilderment, I wonder?

    Does Fernand not have a counterpart here?

  16. أما انا منذُ صبايَ اعيش

    بهذي الفلاة كبعض المها

    As for me, since my childhood I have lived

    in this wilderness, like one of the oryx.

  17. يقولون راعيةٌ كلما

    رأوني وما علموا من أنا

    They say, "A shepherdess," whenever

    they see me, yet do not know who I am.

  18. فنحنُ اذن في الحياة سواءٌ

    كلانا شريدٌ بهذي الدنا

    So we are equals, then, in life:

    both of us are outcasts in these earthly realms.

  19. وقد جمع الحظُّ ما بيننا

    فلِم لا نكون كذا في الهوى

    And fortune has brought us together;

    so why should we not be likewise joined in love?