1. ضَمانٌ عَلى عَينَيكَ أَنِّيَ عانِ

    صَرَفتُ إِلى أَيدي العَناءِ عِناني

    Your eyes must answer for my captivity;

    I have turned my reins over to the hands of torment.

  2. وَقَد كُنتُ أَرجو الوَصلَ نَيلَ غَنيمَةٍ

    فَحَسبِيَ فيهِ اليَومَ نَيلُ أَمانِ

    And I had hoped to win a prize through union;

    but today, gaining safety in it is enough for me.

  3. أَطَعتُ هَوى طَرفي لِحَتفي لَو أَنَّي

    غَضَضتُ جُفوني ما عَضَضتُ بَناني

    I obeyed my gaze's desire, to my doom; had I

    lowered my eyelids, I would not have bitten my fingertips.

  4. وَمَن لي بِجِسمٍ أَشتَكي مِنهُ بِالضَنى

    وَقَلبٍ فَأَشكو مِنهُ بِالخَفَقانِ

    And who will give me a body whose wasting I may lament,

    and a heart whose palpitations I may lament?

  5. وَما عِشتُ حَتّى الآنَ إِلّا لِأَنَّني

    خَفيتُ فَلَم يَدرِ الحِمامُ مَكاني

    And I have lived until now only because

    I vanished from sight, so Death did not know my whereabouts.

  6. وَلَو أَنَّ عُمري عُمرُ نوحٍ وَبِعتُهُ

    بِساعَةِ وَصلٍ مِنكَ قُلتُ كَفاني

    And even if my lifetime were Noah's lifetime, and I sold it

    for an hour of union with you, I would say, 'That suffices me.'

  7. وَما ماءُ ذاكَ الثَغرِ عِندي غالِياً

    بِماءِ شَبابي وَاِقتِبالِ زَماني

    Nor is the moisture of that mouth too dear to me,

    at the price of my youth's freshness and the prime of my days.

  8. إِذا اليَأسُ ناجى النَفسَ مِنكَ بِلَن وَلا

    أَجابَت ظُنوني رُبَّما وَعَساني

    When despair whispers to the soul about you, 'Never' and 'No,'

    my thoughts reply, 'Perhaps' and 'Maybe I shall.'

  9. خَليلَيَّ عِندي لِلسُلُوِّ بَلادَةٌ

    فَإِن شِئتُما عِلمَ الهَوى فَسَلاني

    My two friends, I am inept at forgetting love;

    so if you wish for knowledge of love, ask me.

  10. خُذا عَدَداً مَن ماتَ مِن أَوَّلِ الهَوى

    فَإِن كانَ فَرداً فَاِحسُباني ثاني

    You two, count those who have died since love began;

    and if there was just one, count me as the second.

  11. فَإِن قالَ شَخصٌ أَينَ أَعشَقُ عاشِقٍ

    تَخَيَّلتُهُ دونَ الأَنامِ عَناني

    And if someone says, 'Where is the most ardent lover?'

    I would fancy he meant me alone among mankind.

  12. مَراضِعُ موسى أَو وِصالُ سَمِيَّهِ

    نَظيرانِ في التَحريمِ يَشتَبِهانِ

    The wet nurses of Moses, or union with his namesake,

    are two counterparts, alike in being forbidden.

  13. أَقولُ وَقَد طالَ السُهادُ بِذِكرِهِ

    وَقَد كَلَّ نَسرُ الشُهبِ بِالطَيَرانِ

    I say, while sleeplessness has lengthened in remembering him,

    and the eagle of the stars has grown weary of flight,

  14. وَقَد خَفَقَ البَرقُ الطَروبُ كَأَنَّهُ

    حُسامُ شُجاعٍ أَو فُؤادُ جَبانِ

    and the rapturous lightning has fluttered as though it were

    a brave man's sword or a coward's heart:

  15. يَشُقُّ حِدادَ اللَيلِ مِنهُ بِراحَةٍ

    مُخَضَّبَةٍ أَو دِرعَهُ بِسِنانِ

    it rends night's mourning robes with a palm of its own,

    henna-dyed—or rends night's armor with a spearhead.

  16. تَراءى لِعَيني خُلَّباً وَاِنتَجَعتُهُ

    فَأَمطَرَني مِن مُقلَتي وَسَقاني

    It appeared to my eye as rainless lightning, and I sought its rain;

    so it rained upon me from my own eye and gave me drink.

  17. أَشارَ تِجاهي بِالسَلامِ فَلَو دَعا

    بِها البَرقُ قَبلي عاشِقاً لَدَعاني

    It gestured toward me in greeting; and had

    the lightning called a lover with it before me, it would have called me.

  18. فَبِتُّ بِأَشواقي قَتيلاً وَإِنَّما

    نَجيعِيَ دَمعي فاضَ أَحمَرَ قانِ

    So I spent the night slain by my longings, though

    my gore was only my tears, flowing red, deep crimson.

  19. كَأَنَّ نُجومَ اللَيلِ حَولي مَآتِمٌ

    غُرابُ الدُجى ما بَينَهُنَّ نَعاني

    As though the stars of night around me were mourning gatherings,

    the raven of darkness among them announced my death.

  20. خَرَرتُ لِذِكراهُ عَلى التُربِ ساجِداً

    فَإِن لاحَ مِن قُربٍ فَكَيفَ تَراني

    I fell prostrate upon the dust at the thought of him;

    so if he appeared close by, how would you see me then?