1. مَن عَمَّ طلعَتك الغَرّاءَ بالبلَج

    وخصَّ مَبسِمَك الدُريَّ بالفَلَجِ

    Who suffused your radiant countenance with light,

    And graced your pearl-like smile with a gap between its teeth,

  2. وَموَّهَ السِحرَ في جَفنَيكَ فاِتَّفَقا

    عَلى اِستلاب النُهى بالغُنج والدَعَجِ

    And disguised enchantment in your two eyelids, so they conspired

    To steal away reason with coyness and the deep black of your eyes;

  3. وَضاعفَ الوَردَ في خَدَّيكَ حين بَدا

    رَيحانُ عارِضكَ المِسكيِّ بالضَرَجِ

    And doubled the roses in your cheeks when there appeared

    The basil of your musk-scented cheek, with a crimson flush;

  4. وأَكسبَ الوردَ من ريّاك طيبَ شذاً

    حتّى روى مُسنداً عن نَشركَ الأَرجِ

    And gave the rose sweet fragrance from your own scent,

    Till it recounted it, citing your fragrant scent as its source?

  5. وَكَم لحُسنكَ مَعنىً قد خُصِصتَ به

    ما بين مُنفردٍ منه ومُزدَوجِ

    And how many a grace of beauty has been bestowed on you alone,

    Some standing singly, others coupled in pairs!

  6. ما كُلُّ ذي بَهجَة راقَت محاسنُهُ

    يَحوي محاسنَ هَذا المنظَرِ البهجِ

    Not every radiant one whose charms delight

    Possesses the charms of this delightful sight.

  7. من رامَ حُسنَك لم ينظر إِلى حَسَنٍ

    وفي سَنى الشَمس ما يُغني عَن السُرُجِ

    Whoever seeks your beauty looks at no other fair one;

    And the sun's radiance leaves no need for lamps.

  8. قَد كادَ يَحكيكَ لَولا الفرقُ لاحَ لنا

    بدرُ التَمام وَشَمسُ الأفق في البَلَجِ

    They would almost have matched you, but for the difference we saw—

    The moon at its full, and the sun on the horizon at daybreak.

  9. فَلَم يقَع منكَ ذو حُسنٍ على شَبهٍ

    سِوى الهِلالِ على ما فيهِ من عِوَجِ

    So no beautiful thing was found to resemble you,

    Save the crescent moon, for all its curvature.

  10. كَيفَ النَجاةُ لمن ولّاكَ مهجتَه

    وَسَيفُ لحظِكَ لا يُبقي على المُهَجِ

    How can one escape who has entrusted his life to you,

    While the sword of your glance spares no lives?

  11. خذ في التَجنّي وَدَع من ماتَ فيك يَقُل

    أَنا القَتيلُ بلا إِثم ولا حَرَجِ

    Continue your unjust accusations, and let whoever dies for you say:

    “I am the slain one, with neither sin nor blame.”

  12. خَلعتُ فيكَ عِذاري غيرَ مُعتذرٍ

    وَفي عذارِكَ عذري واضحُ الحُجَجِ

    I cast off my bridle for you, making no apology;

    In your cheek-down lies my excuse, its proofs plain.

  13. وَكَيفَ أَصحو غَراماً من هَواكَ وقد

    سَقَيتَني الحبَّ صِرفاً غيرَ مُمتَزجِ

    And how can I sober from my ardent love for you, when

    You have given me love to drink, pure and unmixed?

  14. هامَ المحبُّونَ وجداً فيك فاِنزَعجوا

    وهمتُ فيكَ بِقَلبٍ غير مُنزَعجِ

    Lovers went mad with longing for you and grew distraught;

    And I went mad with love for you, yet with an untroubled heart.

  15. شتّانَ ما بين صَبٍّ راحَ مُكتَئِباً

    وَبين صَبٍّ بجَور الحبِّ مُبتَهجِ

    How far apart are the lover who goes about dejected

    And the lover who rejoices in love's tyranny!

  16. يا لاهِجاً بمَرامي في هوى رشأٍ

    بسَلب أَلباب أَربابِ الهَوى لَهِجِ

    O you who harp on my pursuit of a young gazelle's love,

    One intent on stealing the wits of love's devotees:

  17. إن لم يَلج حسنُه في ناطريكَ فَلي

    سمعٌ وحقِّك فيه العَذلُ لم يَلجِ

    If his beauty has not entered your eyes, I have

    An ear, by your honor, into which no reproach has entered.

  18. حَلَت حلاه لِقَلبي إذُ شُغِفتُ به

    وَالحبُّ أَعذَبُ لي من عَذلكَ السَمِجِ

    His charms grew sweet to my heart when I was smitten with him;

    And love is sweeter to me than your odious reproach.

  19. لي من ذوائبه لَيلٌ دَجا فَسَجا

    فيهِ يَطيبُ السُرى وَهناً لمدَّلجِ

    His locks give me a night that darkens, then falls still;

    There, in the night hours, journeying is sweet to the night traveler.

  20. ومن محيّاهُ صبحٌ إِن أَضاءَ لنا

    جَلا الدُجى بصباحٍ منه مُنبَلجِ

    And from his face I have a dawn that, if it shines for us,

    Dispels the dark with a bright morning breaking from him.

  21. لا غَروَ إِن فتنَت قَلبي نَواظره

    كَم فِتنَةٍ دونَ ذاك الناظِر الغَنِجِ

    No wonder his eyes have bewitched my heart:

    How many an enchantment falls short of that coquettish eye!

  22. ما كُنتُ أَوَّلَ من أَذكت بمهجتِه

    نارُ الصَبابة وَجداً دائمَ الوَهَجِ

    I was not the first whose heart was set aflame

    By the fire of yearning, with a passion forever aglow.

  23. فَقَلبُه من سَعير الوَجدِ ذو حُرَقٍ

    وَجَفنُه من بحار الدَمع في لُجَجِ

    So his heart burns with the blaze of longing,

    And his eyelid is drowned in the depths of seas of tears.

  24. أَهفو إِلى الريح إِن مَرَّت على إِضمٍ

    شَوقاً لمن قَلبُه بالشَوق لم يَهِجِ

    I yearn for the wind if it passes over Iḍam,

    Longing for one whose heart is unstirred by longing.

  25. يا حَبَّذا نسمَةٌ هَبَّت لنا سحراً

    تَختالُ في الجَوِّ من طيبٍ ومن أَرَجِ

    O how welcome the breeze that blew to us before dawn,

    Swaying proudly through the air with perfume and fragrance!

  26. روت أَحاديثَ سُكّان الحِمى وَسَرت

    تَهيجُ كلَّ فؤادٍ بالغَرام شَجِ

    It told tales of the sanctuary's dwellers and traveled on,

    Stirring every heart that aches with love.

  27. فَهَل دَرَت نَسَماتُ الحيِّ حين سَرت

    ماذا أَسَرَّت لعاني الحبِّ من فَرَجِ

    Then did the breezes of the encampment know, as they traveled,

    What relief they secretly brought to love's captive?

  28. وافت مُبَشِّرَةً بالوَصل منشدةً

    لكَ البِشارَةُ مُضنى الحُبِّ فاِبتَهِجِ

    It arrived with glad tidings of union, reciting:

    “Good news is yours, O love-worn one—rejoice!”