أقولُ يا ليتَ ليلَى في يَدَيْ حَنِقٍ

من العداوة من أعدى أعاديها

I say: would that Layla were in the hands of one enraged

by hatred—one of the bitterest of her enemies—

يَعلو بها فوقَ رَعنٍ ثم يُحدرُها

في هُوَّةِ فَتَدهدى يومَها فيها

who would climb with her to the top of a jutting crag, then send her hurtling down

into an abyss, to tumble through it all that day.

أو ليتها في غِمار البحر قد عَصَفتْ

فيه الرياحُ فهاجتْ من أواذيها

Or would that she were amid the depths of the sea, when winds had raged

through it, stirring up its towering waves.

أو ليتها قُرنت يوماً إلى فرسي

قد شدَّ منها إلى هاديه هاديها

Or would that she were tethered one day to my horse,

her neck bound tightly to its neck,

حتى يُرى لحمُها من حُضْرِه زِيماً

وقد أتى القومَ بعد الموتِ ناعيها

until her flesh, from its headlong gallop, could be seen in shreds,

and the herald of her death had reached the people after she died.

فمنْ بكاها فلا جفَّت مدامِعُه

لا أسخن اللهُ إلاّ عينَ باكيها

Then whoever weeps for her—may his tears never dry;

may God set no eye burning but the eye of one who mourns her.