1. أَما وَالهَوى حِلفاً وَلَستُ بحانِث

    لما أَنا لِلعَهدِ القَديم بناكِثِ

    Indeed, by love I swear, and I am no oath-breaker:

    I am certainly no betrayer of the old covenant.

  2. يحدِّثُها الواشي بأَنّي سَلوتُها

    لَقَد حدَّثَ الواشي بأَعظم حادثِ

    The slanderer tells her that I have forgotten her;

    Indeed, the slanderer has reported a most momentous event.

  3. وَما عَلِمت أَنّي تفرَّدتُ في الهَوى

    فأَنّى لها مِثلي بثانٍ وَثالثِ

    And she did not know that I am unrivaled in love;

    So how could she find a second and a third like me?

  4. بُليتُ بفَدمٍ لَيسَ يَعرِفُ ما الهَوى

    وآخرَ عن سِرِّ المَحَبَّة باحثِ

    I have been afflicted with a dullard who does not know what love is,

    And another who searches for the secret of love.

  5. يسائلُني هَل للصَبابة باعِثٌ

    فَقُلتُ نعم عِندي لها أَلفُ باعِثِ

    He asks me whether passionate longing has a cause;

    So I said, 'Yes—for me, it has a thousand causes.'

  6. توزَّعَ قَلبي بين خَدٍّ مُضرَّجٍ

    وَجَفنٍ كَليلِ الطَرفِ بالسِحر نافِثِ

    My heart was divided between a crimson cheek,

    And an eyelid, languid in its gaze, breathing magic,

  7. وَخمرةِ حُبٍّ عُتِّقت قَبلَ آدمٍ

    فَكانَ حَديثاً عندَها عَهدُ يافِثِ

    And the wine of love, aged before Adam;

    So Japheth's age was recent beside it.

  8. سَكِرتُ بها فاِرتحتُ من فَرطِ نَشوَتي

    لخَفقِ المَثاني واِصطِكاكِ المَثالِثِ

    I grew drunk on it, and in my overflowing rapture I thrilled

    To the throbbing of the second strings and the clashing of the third.

  9. وَبنت كِرامٍ رحتُ منتشياً بها

    إِذا ما اِنتَشى غَيري بأمِّ الخَبائِثِ

    And I grew intoxicated with a daughter of noble folk,

    Whenever another grew drunk on the mother of evils.

  10. كلِفتُ بها وَالعمر مُقتبلُ الصِبا

    وَلَم تَنتَهِب شَملي صَروفُ الحَوادِثِ

    I became enamored of her while my life was in youth's first bloom,

    And the turns of events had not yet plundered my union.

  11. حججتُ الى داعي الغَرام مُلبِّياً

    وَلَم أَكُ في حجّي إليه برافِثِ

    I made a pilgrimage to love's summoner, answering the call,

    And on my pilgrimage to him I indulged in no lewdness.

  12. ولَم أَكتَرِث في الحُبِّ من لوم لائِمٍ

    وَلكن سَماعُ اللوم إِحدى الكَوارِثِ

    And in love I paid no heed to a faultfinder's blame,

    But hearing blame is one of the calamities.

  13. وَلِلَّه عَهدٌ فرَّقَ البَينُ شَملَه

    وَعاثَت به أَيدي اللَيالي العوابثِ

    And, O God, what a time—parting scattered its union,

    And the hands of meddling nights wreaked havoc upon it.

  14. فأَصبَحَ صَبري راحِلاً عن مَقَرِّه

    وَقَد كُنتُ أَدري أَنَّه غَيرُ لابِثِ

    So my patience departed from its dwelling,

    And I had already known that it would not stay.

  15. فَقُلتُ لِقَلبي كَيفَ حالُكَ قال لي

    دَعِ القَولَ إِنّي بعدهم غيرُ ماكِثِ

    So I said to my heart, 'How are you?' It said to me:

    'Leave off talking; after them, I will not remain.'