1. هبلتك أمك والحديث شجون

    ظبيات وادي السير حور عين

    May your mother be bereaved of you—and talk has many byways.

    The gazelles of Wadi al-Sir are dark-eyed, wide-eyed beauties.

  2. وأنا بهن وإن يكن فر الصبا

    وشبابهن متيم مفتون

    And I, though boyhood may have fled, by them

    and their youth am enthralled, bewitched.

  3. سلمى بماحص قد تألق موهنا

    برق وبل ثرى الفحيص هتون

    Salma, at Mahis, late at night there flashed

    lightning, and a downpour drenched the soil of Fuheis.

  4. فإذن ورب الراقصات إلى منى

    لا بد من أن يورق الدحنون

    So then, by the Lord of the camels dancing toward Mina,

    the red anemone must put forth leaves.

  5. ولسوف أبصر في تضرج خده

    خديك يمتقعان يا برفين

    And surely I shall see, in the crimson flush of its cheek,

    your cheeks growing pale, O Berfin.

  6. سقياً لعهدك والشباب قشيبة

    أثوابه وأنا بك المفتون

    May rain bless your days, when youth wore fresh

    robes, and I was bewitched by you.

  7. وذوائبي لم تشتعل شيباً ولم

    تزحف علي وقد كبرت غضون

    And my locks had not blazed with gray, nor had

    wrinkles crept upon me, though I had grown older.

  8. هل تذكرين تدلهي وتولهي

    بك والحياة كما أريد تكون

    Do you remember my lovesick bewilderment and infatuation

    with you, when life was as I wished it to be?

  9. فر الصبا أما الشباب فإنه

    يبكي علي لأَنني مسكين

    Boyhood has fled; as for youth, it

    weeps for me, for I am wretched.

  10. قد بعت في طرد الهوى ريعانه

    وأشحت عنه كأني المغبون

    I sold its prime in the pursuit of love,

    and turned away from it as though I were the one cheated.

  11. وتبعت سلمى إذ مضارب قومها

    أمتاح من نظراتها وأشون

    And I followed Salma, while at her people's tents

    I drew from her glances and stored them up.

  12. إن الخرابيش التي حامت على

    أو حول من يرتادهن ظنون

    Indeed, in the rough tents, where suspicions hovered over

    or around those who frequent them,

  13. في نجعهن وربعهن ودمعهن

    إذا صدقن وإن بكين يقين

    in their encampment, their dwelling, and their tears,

    when they speak truly, even if they weep, there is certainty.

  14. سلمى ولو شرراً إلي تطلعي

    فلقد تنوب عن العيون عيون

    Salma, look toward me, even if your gaze is sparks,

    for eyes may indeed take the place of other eyes.

  15. سلمى ورب الراقصات إلى مني

    بي للصبابة لوعة وحنين

    Salma, by the Lord of the camels dancing toward Mina,

    in me are love's burning anguish and yearning.

  16. وبعاثر الجد الذي خفقاته

    خفقت وران على جواه سكون

    And in this luckless man, whose heartbeats

    have faltered, and stillness has settled over his heartache,

  17. ما زال متسع لبرح جوى عفا

    فدعي هواك على جواي يرين

    there is still room for the torment of a passion that faded;

    so let your love settle over my heartache.