1. قبّل فدَيتُكَ مبسمي دَع جيدي

    وإلى اللقاءِ صباح يوم العيد

    Kiss my smiling lips—I would give my life for you; leave my neck alone.

    And until we meet again on the morning of Eid.

  2. لم لا وأهلي ويحَ أهلي وبالغوا

    باللومِ والتعنيفِ والتهديدِ

    Why not, when my family—woe to my family!—have gone too far

    with blame, harsh rebukes, and threats.

  3. لا تقتَرِب من دارِنا هم اقسموا

    أن يقطعوا إن جئتَ حبلَ وريدي

    Do not approach our house; they have sworn

    to cut, if you come, the cord of my jugular vein.

  4. يا ليتَ شعري هل أثارَ شكوكَهُم

    حولي قيامي بالدجى وقعودي

    If only I knew: were their suspicions aroused

    about me by my rising and sitting in the darkness,

  5. وتأفّفي وتلَهّفي وتبَرّمي

    بهم وهذا ديدَنُ المفؤودِ

    my fretful sighs, my yearning, my vexation

    with them? Such is the habit of the heartsick.

  6. يا للحماقةِ والرعونَةِ فرّقوا

    بيني وبين الوامقِ المعمودِ

    Oh, what folly and recklessness! They have parted

    me from the devoted, love-stricken lover.

  7. يا للتّعاسةِ من يواسيني ويسل

    يني بأيّام الفراقِ السود

    Oh, misery! Who will comfort me and soothe

    me in the black days of separation?

  8. أكثيرةَ الشكوى حنانيكِ أهدأي

    وترفّقي بالشاعر المنكودِ

    O you who complain so much, have mercy; calm down,

    and be gentle with the ill-fated poet.

  9. الصبحُ لم يُسفِر وأهلُكِ نوّمٌ

    قومي معي نحسو المدام وعودي

    Dawn has not yet broken, and your family are asleep;

    rise with me; let us sip the wine; then go back.

  10. فترَدَّدت وتمَلمَلَت وتنهَّدَت

    وبكت وطوَّقَ ساعِداها جيدي

    Then she hesitated, fidgeted, and sighed,

    and wept; her two forearms encircled my neck.

  11. فنظَمتُ من وحيِ الدموعِ قصيدةً

    وعرائسُ الإلهامِ دمعُ الغيدِ

    So I composed a poem inspired by the tears,

    and the brides of inspiration are graceful women's tears.

  12. وسجدتُ إجلالاً وتعظيماً لها

    واستعبَرَت روحي وطال سجودي

    And I prostrated myself in reverence and veneration before her,

    and my soul wept, and my prostration lasted long.

  13. فتأوّهَت واستسلمَت واغرَورَقَت

    عينايَ رغمَ تجلّدي وصمودي

    Then she moaned and yielded, and tears filled

    my eyes, despite my fortitude and steadfastness.

  14. قالت هلُمَّ إلى الشُوَيطيءِقلتُ لا

    فهُناكَ كل مفَنِّدٍ وحسودِ

    She said, “Come to the little shore.” I said, “No.”

    For every faultfinder and envious soul is there.

  15. وهنا الأمانُ وها هنا ما شئتِ من

    بنتِ النخيلِ أو ابنَةِ العنقودِ

    And here is safety; behold, here is whatever you wish of

    the daughter of the date palms or the daughter of the grape-cluster.

  16. فسقَيتُها وحسَوتُها من ثغرِها

    يا مَن حساها من ثغورِ الخودِ

    So I gave her wine and sipped it from her lips.

    O you who have sipped it from fair maidens' lips—

  17. بيضاءَ من خمرِ العراقِ تُثيرُ

    روحَ العزمِ والإقدامِ بالرَعديدِ

    a white wine from Iraq, stirring

    the spirit of resolve and daring in the coward!

  18. ما أن أقولُ لها خذي معبودَتي إلا

    وقالت هات يا معبودي

    No sooner do I say to her, “Take it, my adored one,” than

    she says, “Give it here, O my adored one!”

  19. هاتِ اسقنيها لا تُعَكّر صفوَها

    دعها بلا مزجٍ ولا تبريدِ

    Give it here; give it to me to drink; do not cloud its clarity.

    Leave it unmixed and unchilled.

  20. دعها لتَخرُجَ بي إلى دنيا المنى

    من عالمِ الأطماعِ والتنكيد

    Let it carry me into the world of wishes,

    from the world of greed and vexation.

  21. واصدَع بنَشوَتِها وفَرطِ سرورِ

    ها شملَ الضنى والهمّ والتسهيد

    And shatter, with its rapture and its overflowing joy,

    the union of wasting sickness, worry, and sleeplessness.

  22. فضّيةُ أحلامُها ذهبيّةٌ

    كم رفّهت عن خاطري المكدود

    It is silvery; its dreams are golden.

    How often it has relieved my weary mind!

  23. ولكم أثارَت غافِيَ الإحساسِ بي

    وكم اعتَرَفتُ أمامها بوجودي

    And how often it has stirred the feeling sleeping within me,

    and how often, before it, I have acknowledged my existence!

  24. دعنا نفضّ معا بكارَتها على

    همسِ الصبا سحراً وشدوِ العودِ

    Let us together deflower it, to

    the east wind's whisper before dawn and the oud's song.

  25. أشجاكِ منذُ هُنَيهَةٍ نوحي

    وأشجاني نواحُكِ فاسمَعي تغريدي

    My lament saddened you a little while ago,

    and your lament saddened me; so hear my warbling.

  26. لم لا وقد دبّ الدبيبُ وحلّقَت

    روحي بأفقٍ للخيالِ بعيدِ

    Why not, now that the creeping stir has spread, and aloft has soared

    my soul across imagination's distant horizon?