1. الهوى يا ميُّ صعبُ

    فارحمي من لك يصبو

    Love is hard, O Mayy;

    so pity him who yearns for you.

  2. الأسى والسهد والدم

    ع عَلَى الوامقِ ألبُ

    Sorrow, sleeplessness, and tears

    are allied against the ardent lover.

  3. بين عينيه وبين ال

    نومِ قد أُعلنَ حرب

    Between his eyes and

    sleep, war has been declared.

  4. عينُه للدمعِ وَقفٌ

    قلبُه للحبِ نهب

    His eye is consecrated to tears;

    his heart is prey to love.

  5. كلَّما كشَّف كرباً

    نابه يا ميّ كرب

    Whenever he dispels a grief,

    another grief assails him, O Mayy.

  6. هكذا حالي: إلى

    نارٍ بقلبي ليس تخبو

    Such is my state, along with

    a fire in my heart that never dies down.

  7. أَيها العاذلُ قَدْ

    أَسرفتَ في عذلي فحسب

    O you who reproach me, you have

    gone too far in blaming me—enough!

  8. ليس في التهيام رأْيٌ،

    ما عَلى الهائم عتب

    Reason has no place in love's delirium;

    no blame rests on the lovesick.

  9. كان لي بالأمس لبٌّ

    أَين مني اليوم لب

    Yesterday I had my wits;

    where are my wits today?

  10. هي من قلبي شَغافٌ

    وَهي من كبديَ خِلْب

    She is the sheath of my heart,

    and the membrane of my liver.

  11. صَدَعَ القلبَ هواها

    ما لصدعِ القلبِ شعب

    Love for her has split my heart;

    there is no mending the heart's cleft.

  12. ما لهذا الدمعِ إِمّا

    عاضَ غَرْبٌ فاض غرب

    What ails these tears? Whenever

    one stream ebbs, another overflows.

  13. وَلهذا القلبِ في الصد

    رِ له نزوٌ وَوَثب

    And this heart, within

    the chest, with its leaping and bounding?

  14. ترقصُ الأَضلاعُ مني

    إِنْ حداها منه ضرب

    My ribs dance

    when a beat from it sings them onward.

  15. وَلنارٍ في لهاتي

    وَحيازيمي تشبُّ

    And a fire in my throat

    and breast, blazing up?

  16. وَلأنفاسٍ لقد صُعِّدْ

    نَ أو دمع يصب

    And breaths that have been heaved upward,

    or tears that are poured forth?

  17. وَلهذا المضجعِ الق

    ض وَجنبي عنه ينبو

    And this harsh bed,

    with my side recoiling from it?

  18. تلك أَسرارٌ فهل

    يدركها إلا المحب

    These are mysteries—can

    anyone but a lover grasp them?

  19. يا خليليَّ أَعينا

    ني فعندي جلَّ خطب

    O my two friends, help

    me, for my plight has grown grave.

  20. قاتلَ اللهُ غراباً

    كم له بالبين نعب

    May God smite the raven!

    How often it caws of separation!

  21. أَوقِرا أُذنيَّ عنه

    بفمِ الناعبِ ترب

    Deafen my ears to it, you two;

    dust in the cawer's mouth!

  22. فتنائي الروح عندي

    من تنائيها أُحب

    For my soul's departure, to me,

    is dearer than her departure.

  23. طال هذا الليل جداً

    أَيها النوّام هبّوا

    This night has grown very long;

    O sleepers, wake!

  24. علَّ فيكم من يواسي

    ذا أسىً ما زال يربو

    Perhaps among you is someone to console

    one whose sorrow keeps on growing.

  25. ضلَّ رأْيي كيف أَرجو

    أن يواسي الصبَّ خَبُّ

    My judgment has strayed—how can I hope

    that a knave might console the lovesick?

  26. كم دعاهمْ مغرمٌ قب

    لي وَلكنْ لم يلبُّوا

    How often a lover called to them before

    me, yet they did not answer!

  27. همْ يعبدون عن الحقِّ

    وَللباطل حزب

    They stray from the truth,

    and are a faction for falsehood.

  28. إِنَّما أبكي عَلَى أَنْ

    ليس بين القوم نَدْب

    I weep only because

    there is no gallant man among these people.

  29. وَهمُ لو ظفروا بي

    روَّعَ الآمنَ رعبُ

    And if they got hold of me,

    terror would shake even the secure.