قِفا بفيافٍ سار فيها فَريقُه

غَزال بنفح المسك فاح عبيقه

She halted her company at a meadow of splendor

An elegant gazelle whose musk breath perfumed the air

وَعوجا عَلى تِلكَ الرِياض لعلني

أَفوزُ بنشر طاب مِنها نشيقه

Meandering through those gardens hoping I might

Gather the pleasant fragrance diffused in the breeze there

وَقولا لحادي الظعن مهلا فَرُبَّما

يُروّح قلب طالَ فيها حَريقَه

Say to the slanderer, "Stop!" Though perhaps

The heart tormented with yearning finds comfort in sighs

سَقى اللَهُ هاتيكَ الدِيارُ وَأَهلَها

بَوا كف غيث لا يكف طَليقَه

May Allah water those lands and their people

With rains unceasing as the outstretched palm’s flow

فَنَم كناس لَو رَأَيتَ ظِباءَهُ

لَعُدت بِشَوق لا يحل وَثيقَه

They slept like ostriches, else had you seen their alertness

You'd return in a longing no pact can outlaw

وَأَصبَحت مِثلي بَين صد وَجفوة

بِروحي شَبابا مال عني وَريقَه

While I, like them, face rejection and disdain

My spirit in youth has spurned me and slipped away

لهجت بِأَسباب الغَرام وَلم أَفُز

بمسكي خال طاب منه شَقيقَه

I prattle of passion yet gain no prize

Of pure musk whose exquisite aroma excels attar

رَميت بسهم من جفون وَمُرهف

يهد الجِبال الشامِخات بَريقه

I unleashed from my eyelids an arrow of want

That crumbles the lofty mountains whene’er it is sparked

فَكَم جبت أَرضا أَقتَفى اِثر راحل

وَدَمعي بسفح البيد يجري عَقيقَه

How often have I crossed a land chasing a rider’s tracks

My tears like carnelian beads strewn over the sands

وَكَم جزت من بحر وَذا خر فكرتي

يَزيد عَلى البَحر الخَضم عَميقَه

How often have I crossed a sea though my thoughts

Surpass the ocean’s unfathomable expanse