1. هذي العيون وهذه الحَدَقُ

    فليَدنُ من بفؤاده يَثِقُ

    These are the eyes, and these the pupils.

    So let whoever trusts his heart draw near.

  2. لو أنهم عَشِقوا لما عذلوا

    لكنهم عذلوا وما عشقوا

    Had they loved, they would not have reproached me.

    But they reproached me, and had not loved.

  3. عنفوا عليَّ بلومهم سفهاً

    لو جُرِّعوا كأس الهوى رفقوا

    Foolishly, they assailed me with their blame.

    Had they been made to drink love's cup, they would have been gentle.

  4. ما الحبُّ إلاّ مسلك خَطِرٌ

    عَسِرُ النجاة وموطىءٌ زَلِقُ

    Love is nothing but a perilous path,

    where escape is hard and the footing slippery.

  5. من أجل هذا ظلّ يقنص ليثَ

    الغاب فيه الشادنُ الخرق

    For this reason, he kept hunting the lion

    of the forest, on that path—the bashful young gazelle.

  6. ومسربل بالخز معتجرٍ

    منه باكمله ومنتطقُ

    And one robed in silk, turbaned

    wholly in the same silk, and girdled too.

  7. عجبي لجبهته وطرته

    وضح الصباح وما انجلى الغسَقُ

    I marvel at his forehead and forelock:

    morning has brightened, yet dusk has not cleared.

  8. يا ليلةً نادمتُ كوكبها

    في حيث اطلعَه لي الأفقُ

    O night whose star I drank with,

    where the horizon made him rise for me.

  9. لو لم أعاجل كاسَه بجنى

    فيهِ البَرُودِ لكنتُ أحترقُ

    Had I not swiftly countered his cup with the fruit

    of his cool mouth, I would have burned.

  10. حتى إذا صرعتهُ سورتها

    قمراً عليه الشُهب تأتلقُ

    At last, when its force had laid him low—

    a moon with bright stars glittering upon him—

  11. قبلت وجنته وقد ظهرت

    في صحنها من قلبي الحرق

    I kissed his cheek, where there had appeared

    across its surface the fires from my heart.

  12. وجسرتُ ثم جبنتُ عن فمه

    يُعطي الغرام ويُمنع الفَرِقُ

    And I grew bold, then shied away from his mouth:

    passion gives, while the fearful one is denied.

  13. ما كنت أدري قبل ضمّته

    إن الجوانح كلها تمقُ

    I did not know, before his embrace,

    that all the ribs could love.

  14. قد كانت الآمالُ ذاويةً

    ظمأى مكدّر شربها رَنَق

    Hopes had withered,

    thirsty, their drink muddied by sediment,

  15. حتى أتيح لها أبو حَسَنٍ

    فنمت وعَمَّ غصونها الورقُ

    until Abu Hasan was granted to them;

    so they grew, and leaves covered all their branches.

  16. يستصغر الدنيا فاهون ما

    تُعطى يداهُ العينُ والوَرِقُ

    He deems the world small, so the least of what

    his hands give is gold and silver.

  17. في صورة جُمعَ الكمال لها

    والإحسنان الخلَق والخُلق

    In a form for which perfection was gathered,

    and the two beauties: appearance and character.

  18. وتخرق في الجود يُعظمُه

    فيكاد يُحسَبُ أنه خرق

    And his extravagance in giving exalts him,

    so that he is almost taken for a fool.