1. سَرى جَلَدي حينَ سار الحَبيبُ

    وَفي كَبِدي مِنهُ حَربٌ عَجيبُ

    My fortitude fled by night when the beloved departed.

    And in my liver, because of him, a strange war rages.

  2. غَريبُ الجَمالِ غَريبُ الدِيارِ

    فَلِلَّهِ ذاكَ الغَريبُ الغَريبُ

    Of wondrous beauty, a stranger away from home—

    So, by God, how wondrous that stranger is!

  3. إِذا ما بَدا مُسفِراً باسِماً

    وَقَد مَيَّلَتهُ الصِبا وَالجُنوبُ

    When he appears, radiant and smiling,

    And the east and south winds have set him swaying,

  4. تَجَلّى الصَباحُ وَبانَ الأَقاحُ

    وَماسَ القَضيبُ وَماجَ الكَثيبُ

    Dawn shines forth and the daisies appear,

    And the slender bough sways and the sand dune billows.

  5. وَلي في السَماوَةِ بَدرٌ يَسيرُ

    كَبَدرِ السَماءِ بَعيدٌ قَريبُ

    And in al-Samawah I have a full moon that journeys,

    Like the sky's full moon—distant, yet near.

  6. فَذا قَمَرٌ أَطلَعَتهُ البُروجُ

    وَذا قَمَرٌ أَطلَعَتهُ الجُيوبُ

    For one is a moon made to rise by the zodiac,

    And the other, a moon made to rise by necklines.

  7. لَقَد بَيَّنَ البَينُ وَجدي بِهِ

    وَما راقَبَ اللَهَ فِيَّ الرَقيبُ

    Indeed, separation has revealed my longing for him;

    And the watcher had no regard for God in his dealings with me.

  8. وَما ذاتُ طَوقٍ عَلى أَيكَةٍ

    بِأَفرُخِها وَأَتاها النَحيبُ

    And no ring-necked dove upon a leafy tree,

    With her chicks, when sobbing overtakes her,

  9. بِأَشوَقَ مِنّي وَلَكِن إِذا

    تَناءَت جُسومٌ تَدانَت قُلوبُ

    Yearns more than I; yet when

    Bodies grow distant, hearts draw near.