أشمسٌ أضاءت في الحنادس أم ليلى

لأني أرى الحرباءَ في نظرِ ليلا

Is it the sun that shines in the sparrows, or is it Layla?

For I see the gleam in my beloved Layla's eyes.

بلى إنها ليلى تميس ببردها

حذار ففُضَّ الطرف لا تخطف العقلا

Yes, it is Layla smiling with her coldness,

Beware, her glance is unleashed, it takes away reason.

فتاة كأن السمهريُّ قوامها

به أوسعت طعناً فأدّت به نفلا

A girl, as if her slender figure,

With it she inflicted a wound, fulfilling her purpose.

كأنّ مريض الجفن مرهفُ باسل

فقد أثخن الأكباد جرحاً إذا سُلاّ

As if the one with the inflamed eyelid is alert and steadfast,

For he has inflicted the livers with copious wounds whenever asked.

لها شَعَرٌ تصحيفه حلّ مهجتي

كذا قلبه في جثّتي آية تتلى

She has hair whose braiding has melted my inner self,

Just as her heart in my body is a verse being recited.

كحالي مسودٌّ دليليَ طولُه

سل الساق عنه إن جهلت له أصلا

My kohl, like my state, is blackened, its length is my guide,

Ask my leg about it, if you do not know its origin.

وخدٌّ أسيلٌ ماؤه لو تفكُّه

يدا وجنات سال من رقَّةٍ سيلا

A cheek whose water, if it burst forth,

Would flow abundantly from the softness of hands and cheeks.

صبيحةُ وجهٍ لو تراءت لعابدٍ

لأفتنه حُسنٌ فأعدمه شكلا

The radiance of a face, if shown to a worshipper,

Beauty would seduce him, taking away his composure.

بعيدة مهوى القرط أما رضابها

فشهدٌ وأما الكرع منه فما أحلى

Far from the anklet’s range, but her wrists’ tinkling,

Is a witness. And how delicious is its perfume!

أضلَّت بهاديها نُهايَ فلم أزل

لعُدمي النهي بين الورى أصحب الجهلا

With her guidance I lost my way, so I have not ceased

To accompany ignorance, lacking any prohibition.

لقد نطقت خصري بخاتِم خنصري

فيا حبّذا ما كان لو منحت وصلا

My waist has spoken with the seal of my belt,

So excellent it would have been had it granted union!

تدَيّنتُ في العذريّ قِدماً بحبّها

وآليت أن لا أسمع اللوم والعذلا

I have devoted myself to the chaste one with her love,

And decided not to hear blame and reproach.

لذاك تراني لا أصيخ لعاذل

لذلك عن حبي لها لا أرى الفصلا

Thus you see me not complaining about a blamer -

For that reason, about my love for her I see no separation.

أما وعهود هُنَّ بيني وبينها

قديمات عهدٍ لا ترى النقض والفلاّ

Since there are commitments between me and her,

Old covenants that do not see annulment or separation.

لأنّي وإن جارت عليّ بهجرها

فعَن وصل حبل الشوق لا أبتغي العدلا

Although she was unjust to me by her estrangement,

Yet I do not seek fairness by severing the rope of longing.