1. الصّبْرُ إلا في هواكَ حَميدُ

    الخَطْبُ صعْبٌ والمَرامُ بَعيدُ

    Patience is praiseworthy, save in love for you.

    The plight is hard, and the goal far away.

  2. يا أيُّها القَمَرُ الحِجازيُّ الذي

    تُجْلى بغُرَّتِهِ الدّياجي السّودُ

    O you, the moon of the Hijaz, whose

    radiant brow dispels the pitch-black nights.

  3. وحّدْتُ شخْصَكَ في الفؤادِ لعلّهُ

    يُنْجِيهِ منْ نارِ الجَوى التّوحيدُ

    I affirmed your oneness in my heart, hoping that

    this affirmation of oneness might save it from yearning's fire.

  4. وجَعَلْتُ حُبَّكَ مَذهَباً وشَريعَةً

    قلَّدْتُهُ يا حَبّذا التّقْليدُ

    And I made love for you a doctrine and a sacred law;

    I followed it—oh, how excellent such following is!

  5. إنْ نالَتِ الشُّهَداءُ جَنّاتِ العُلى

    ولهُمْ نَعيمٌ عنْدَها وخُلودُ

    If martyrs have gained the gardens on high,

    and in them have bliss and immortality,

  6. فلقَدْ شَهِدْتُ بأنّ قُرْبَكَ جنّةٌ

    حقّاً وأنّي بالغرام شهيدُ

    then I have borne witness that nearness to you is paradise,

    in truth, and that I am a martyr to passionate love.

  7. يا مَنْ تَشابَهَ منْهُ في ضُعْفِ القُوَى

    خَصْرٌ وطَرْفٌ ساحِرٌ وعُهودُ

    O you, in whom these are alike in weakness:

    a waist, a bewitching gaze, and vows.

  8. جِسْمي ولَحْظُكَ في السَّقامِ تَشارَكا

    واللّهُ يعْلَمُ أيُّنا المَفْؤودُ

    My body and your gaze have shared in sickness;

    and God knows which of us is stricken at heart.

  9. إنْ كُنْتَ تُنْكِرُ ما أُلاقِي في الهَوى

    فالوَجْدُ قاضٍ والدّموعُ شُهودُ

    If you deny what I endure in love,

    then longing is the judge, and tears the witnesses.

  10. أصْبَحْتُ في شُغْلٍ بحُبِّكَ شاغِل

    لا العَدْلُ يَنْهاني ولا التّفْنيدُ

    I have become absorbed in an all-consuming love for you;

    neither justice restrains me nor reproach.

  11. تهْفو الصَّبا سَحَراً فأسْتَجْفي الصَّبا

    وأغَصُّ بالسَّلْسالِ وهْوَ بَرودُ

    The east wind wafts before dawn, yet I find the east wind unkind;

    and I choke on limpid water, though it is cool.

  12. وأمِيلُ عنْ ظِلِّ الأراكَةِ ضاحِياً

    ورِواقُها رَحْبُ الجَنابِ مَديدُ

    And I turn from the arak tree's shade into the sun,

    though its canopy is spacious and far-reaching.

  13. يا عَهْدَ عيْنِ الدّمْعِ كمْ منْ لُؤلُؤٍ

    للدّمْعِ جُدْتَ بهِ عَساكَ تَعودُ

    O days at ‘Ayn al-Dam‘, the Spring of Tears—how many pearls

    of tears you bestowed! May you return!

  14. تسْري نَواسِمُكِ اللِّدانُ بَلِيلَةً

    فيَهُزُّني شوْقٌ إلَيْكِ شَديدُ

    Your soft breezes drift by night, cool and moist,

    and fierce longing for you shakes me.

  15. كم ساعةٍ للأُنْسِ فيكِ قَضيْتُها

    مَنْ نالَها ما فاتَهُ مَقْصودُ

    How many hours of companionship I spent in your midst!

    Whoever gained such an hour missed nothing he sought.

  16. ومُجاذِبٍ ثِنْيَ الذّوابَةِ عابِثٍ

    تهْفو بخُطوطَتهِ الصَّبا فيَميدُ

    And many a playful one tugging at a folded tress,

    the east wind flutters against his [unclear word], and he sways.

  17. السُّقْمُ مبْثوثٌ على لَحَظاتِهِ

    والسِّحْرُ في أجْفانِهِ معْقودُ

    Languor is spread across his glances,

    and magic is knotted within his eyelids.

  18. نادَمْتُهُ وشرِبْتُ فَضْلَ مُدامِهِ

    واللّحْظُ منْ أكْواسِهِ معْدودُ

    I drank with him and drank what remained of his wine;

    and his gaze was numbered among his goblets.

  19. ولقَدْ هَمَمْتُ بأنْ أرَوّيَ غُلّةً

    لجَحيمِها بيْنَ الضّلوعِ وَقودُ

    And indeed I meant to quench a burning thirst,

    whose inferno has fuel between my ribs,

  20. وأبُثُّ سِرّاً في فؤادِيَ دونَهُ

    للكَتْمِ بابٌ مُرْتَجٌ مَسْدودُ

    and divulge a secret in my heart, before which stands

    a door of concealment, locked and barred.

  21. كمْ لُؤلُؤٍ نَثَرَ الحَديثُ عُقودَهُ

    نُظِمَتْ لشَمْلِ الوُدِّ منْهُ عُقودُ

    How many pearl necklaces conversation scattered,

    from which necklaces were strung to bind affection together!

  22. ولَئِنْ تَحامانَا الرّقيبُ فلَمْ يرُمْ

    عنّا رَقيبٌ للعَفافِ عَتيدُ

    And though the watcher kept away from us, there never departed

    from us a guardian of chastity, ever present.

  23. لوْلا هَواكَ أيا أبا الشّرَفِ الرِّضى

    ما كانَ عنْدي للوُجودِ وُجودُ

    Were it not for love of you, O Abu al-Sharaf al-Rida,

    existence would have no existence for me.

  24. إيهٍ عَميدَ الحيِّ غيْرَ مُدافَعٍ

    قَلْبي بِما يلْقاهُ منْكَ عَميدُ

    Speak on, undisputed chief of the clan:

    my heart is stricken by what it suffers from you.

  25. إن بِنْتَ فاسْمَحْ لي برَجعِ تحيّةٍ

    أو غِبْتَ فابْعَثْ بالخَيالِ يَعودُ

    If you depart, grant me a greeting in return,

    or if you are absent, send your phantom back to me.

  26. يا ابْنَ الكِرامِ الهاشِميِّينَ الأُلى

    البأسُ طوْعُ بَنانِهِمْ والجُودُ

    O son of the noble Hashimites, whose

    might and generosity obey their fingertips.

  27. رِفْقاً على مُهَجٍ تملّكَها الهَوى

    فالرِّفْقُ منْ أخْلاقِكُمْ مَعْدودُ

    Be gentle with hearts that love has possessed,

    for gentleness is counted among your virtues.

  28. وَلاّكَ سُلْطانُ الجَمالِ نُفوسَنا

    فاحْكُمْ بِما تَرْضى فنَحْنُ عَبيدُ

    Beauty's sultan has made you ruler over our souls;

    so rule as you please, for we are slaves.