أَيا شمسِي منكِ أَشرَقُ بهجةً

وإِن حُجِّبت بالعُجْب في سُحُب الحُجْب

My sun from which I shine joyfully

Even if veiled by clouds' wonder in clouds of veils

ويا شهدُ أَحلى منكَ عندي مَذَاقَةً

شرابُ رُضاب في مُقبَّلِها العذْبِ

And O sweetest honey to me in taste

The drink of delight in her sweet kissing

ولِلمِسْكِ نكْبٌ عَنْ مجارَاةِ نَشْرِها

وقُلْ مثْلَ هذا القولِ للمنْدَلِ الرَّطب

And musk is inferior in competing its diffusion

Say the like of this saying to the ripe jujube

فأَقطعُ من حدِّ الحُسَام إِذا مَضى

حُسامٌ لها بين المَحاجرِ والهُدْب

So I surpass the edge of swords when it passes

A sword for her between the skull and neck

وأَخْطَبُ من قُسٍّ وأَفْصَحُ منطِقاً

سكوتٌ لذاك الحِجْلِ أَو ذَلِكَ القَلْبِ

And I speak more eloquently than an archer

A silence for that anklet or that heart

وأَكْتَبُ من خَطِّ الوزيرِ ابنِ مُقْلَةٍ

خطوطٌ لهاتيكَ الذوائبِ في التُّرْبِ

And I write better than the script of the minister Ibn Muqlah

Lines for those locks in the soil

تطلَّعُ من بدر السماءِ إِلى أَخٍ

وتَنْظُر مِنْ رِيمِ الفَلاة إِلى تَرْبِ

Looking from the full moon of the sky to a fellow

And watching from the sand dune of the wilderness to dust

أَحِنُّ لِشعبٍ نازلٍ فيه قومُها

وما قومُها قَوْمِي وما شِعْبُها شِعْبي

I yearn for a tribe whose people descended therein

And her people are not my people nor her tribe my tribe

ويُلحُون نَفْسِي في هَواها وإِنَّها

شقيقَةُ تِلْكَ النفسِ ريحانةُ القلبِ

And they pester my soul in her love and she is

The sister of that soul, the heart's basil

وقد نَقلَتْنِي عَن طِباعٍ كثيرةٍ

وقد قَلَبَت قَلْبي وقد خَلَبَت خَلْبي

She has changed me from many dispositions

She has turned over my heart and stolen my stolen goods

وكم حُمَّ منها من حِمامٍ لذِي الهَوى

وكم من عَذابٍ صُبَّ مِنْها عَلى صَبِّ

And how much anguish was heated from her for the passionate lover

And how much torture was poured from her upon my pouring

تُغِيرُ فَتسْبي باللِّحَاظِ عُقُولَنا

وكم مِنْ شُجَاعٍ قد أَغارَ ولم يَسْب

She changes so enslaves our minds with her glances

And how many courageous men have raided and not taken prisoners