شام بالأبريق برقا اومضا

وامقٌ حنّ بقلب مولع

He beheld lightning flashing at al-Abriq—

A lover yearning with an impassioned heart.

شفَّه فرط التصابي فصبا

لهوى الغيد وايام الصبا

Excessive youthful ardor wasted him, so he longed

For love of lissome beauties and the days of youth.

واذا ما نسمت ريح الصبا

ذكَّرته عهد عصر قد مضى

And whenever the east wind blew gently,

It recalled to him the days of an age gone by,

بالحمى ما بين تلك الأربع

علِّل القلب بعلّ وعسى

In the protected grounds, among those encampments.

Soothe the heart with 'perhaps' and 'maybe';

وبأحشاه هواه عرَّسا

كلما ليل النوى قد عسعسا

And his passion has made camp deep within him.

Whenever the night of separation grew dark,

راح يتلو في ربى سفح الغضا

من لقلبٍ بالنوى منصدع

He would recite on the knolls of the ghada-covered slope:

“Who will help a heart rent by separation?”

ذو فؤاد بالتصابي موثق

يشتكي الوجد ودمعٍ مطلق

With a heart bound fast by youthful passion,

He laments love's anguish, his tears flowing free,

وجفون كحِّلت بالأرق

كم بفيض الدمع منها روّضا

And his eyelids are darkened with the kohl of sleeplessness.

How often, with their flood of tears, he made a meadow

مربع بين اللوى والاجرع

وليالٍ نلت فيهنَّ المنى

Of a spring encampment between al-Liwa and al-Ajraʿ!

And nights when I attained my desires,

سلفت ما بين جمعٍ ومنى

طارحتني الغيد فيها زمنا

Gone by between Jamʿ and Mina,

The lissome beauties exchanged endearments with me there awhile,

وبها قلبي المعنَّى قد قضى

وطراً في وصل ظبيٍ اتلع

And in them my tormented heart had satisfied

Its desire in union with a long-necked gazelle.