1. إِنّ قَلبي مُستَهامْ

    ذابَ مِن حَرِّ الغَرامْ

    Indeed, my heart is lovestruck;

    It has melted from the heat of passion.

  2. يا عَذولاً لامني

    خَلِّ عَن هَذا المَلام

    O reproacher who has blamed me,

    Leave off this reproach.

  3. لَومُ مِثلي عَتَهٌ

    أَنا مِثلي لا يُلام

    Reproaching one like me is folly;

    I—one like me—am not to be blamed.

  4. أَنا مَولودُ الهَوى

    ما لَهُ عَنهُ فِطام

    I am a child of love,

    For whom there is no weaning from it.

  5. وَالهَوى مُشتَهِرٌ

    فيهِ ما بَينَ الأَنام

    And love is renowned

    In him among all humankind.

  6. فيهِ لَيلي ساهِرٌ

    قَلقٌ لَستُ أَنام

    In it, my night is sleepless;

    Restless, I do not sleep.

  7. أَنا أَهوى غادَةً

    تَزدَري بَدرَ التَّمام

    I love a graceful maiden

    Who disdains the full moon.

  8. وَجهُها شَمسُ البَها

    حُسنهُ زاهٍ وَسام

    Her face is the sun of splendor,

    Its beauty radiant and sublime,

  9. مُخجلٌ شَمسَ الضّحى

    وَهوَ مَستورُ اللّثام

    Putting the midmorning sun to shame,

    Though it is hidden beneath a veil.

  10. لَحظُها في غَمزِهِ

    صارِمٌ عَضبٌ حُسام

    Her glance, with its wink,

    Is a sharp, keen, cutting sword.

  11. حَلَّلَت قَتلي بِهِ

    لا تَرى قَتلي حَرام

    She has made killing me with it lawful;

    She does not deem killing me forbidden.

  12. مَن لَها حَلّلَهُ

    أَيُّ حبرٍ أَو إِمام

    Who made it lawful for her?

    Which scholar or imam?

  13. جَفنُها يَرمي الحَشا

    وَفُؤادي بِالسّهام

    Her eyelid shoots at my breast

    And my heart with arrows.

  14. خَدُّها رَوضٌ زَها

    وَالبها فيهِ أَقام

    Her cheek is a flourishing garden,

    And splendor has made its home there.

  15. يَستَقي ماءَ الحيا

    لَيسَ يَسقيهِ الغَمام

    It drinks the water of modesty;

    Clouds do not water it.

  16. وَردُهُ فيهِ اِزدَهى

    هامَ قَلبي فيهِ هام

    Its rose shines in beauty there;

    My heart is enraptured by it—enraptured.

  17. ثَغرُها حالي اللّمى

    لَثمُهُ يَشفي السّقام

    Her mouth is sweet, with dusky lips;

    Kissing it cures sickness.

  18. خِلتهُ مِن شَفقٍ

    مِنهُ بَرقُ الاِبتِسام

    I thought it made of twilight's red glow;

    From it flashes the lightning of a smile.

  19. ريقُها شَهدٌ حَلا

    وَهوَ خَمرٌ وَمُدام

    Her saliva is sweet honey,

    And it is wine, a vintage wine.

  20. جيدُها جيدُ الظّبى

    جادَ لي فيهِ الهُيام

    Her neck is a gazelle's neck—

    In it, love-madness has been generous to me—

  21. كَعَمودِ الصّبحِ في

    جُنحِ دَيجورِ الظّلام

    Like a pillar of dawn within

    The wing of pitch-black darkness.

  22. قَدُّها الغصنُ أَجلْ

    لَيسَ يَحكيهِ قَوام

    Her figure is a branch—yes indeed;

    No figure can match it.

  23. كَيفَ صَبري وَالهَوى

    في الحَشا زادَ اِضطِرام

    How can I be patient, while love

    Grows fiercer within my breast?

  24. كَيفَ أَسلو حُبَّها

    لَم أَكُن بِاِبن الحَرام

    How could I forget my love for her?

    I am no bastard.

  25. لَستُ أَسلوهُ وَإِن

    ذُقتُ كاساتِ الحِمام

    I shall not forget it, even if

    I taste the cups of death.

  26. وَصْلُها يُحيي الحَشا

    وَالفُؤادَ المُستهام

    Union with her brings life to my breast

    And to my lovestruck heart.

  27. إِنّني لَو شِمتها

    يَقِظاً أَو في المَنام

    Indeed, were I to glimpse her,

    Awake or in a dream,

  28. قُلتُ جودي بِاللّقا

    فَهوَ قَصدي وَالسّلام

    I would say, “Grant me a meeting,

    For that is my wish, and that is all.

  29. وَاِجعَلي تَركَ الجَفا

    في الهَوى حسنَ الخِتام

    And make the forsaking of coldness

    The happy ending in love.”