بين فتور المُقلتيْن والكَحَلْ

هوىً له من كلّ قلبٍ ما انتحلْ

Between the languor of my two eyelids and kohl,

He has love from every heart he has charmed,

تَوَقَّ من فتكتها لواحظاً

أَمَا ترى تلك الظُّبا كيف تُسَلْ

He was wary of their deadly glances,

Don't you see how gently those gazelles walk?

يا ويحها نواطِراً سواحِراً

ما عُقِل العقلُ بها إِلاّ اختبلْ

Oh, what a disaster, those alluring gazelles,

No mind remained sane because of them, only crazy,

لو لم تكن بابلُ في أَجفانها

لما بَرَتْ أَسهمَها من المُقَلْ

If Babylon were not in their eyelids,

Their arrows would not have flown from their quiver,

يا رامياً مسمومةً نصالُهُ

عَيناك للقارَةِ قُلْ لي أم ثُعَل

Oh you who shoots poisoned arrows,

Your eyes, are they for the one who looks or the blind?

وعاذلٍ خوّفني من لحظها

إِليك عني سبق السيفُ العَذَل

And you who frightened me with your glance,

Your eyes preceded the sharp sword,

ذك على سَفْك دمي محبّبٌ

أَنا القتيل مُغْرَمٌ بمن قتل

The shedder of my blood is infatuated,

I'm the slain, infatuated with the one who killed me,

لاحظت منه وجنتيْن ما جرى

ماءُ الصِّبا بجمرها إِلاّ اشتعل

I noticed from them two cheeks that flowed,

Like the water of youth set ablaze by their embers,

آه على ظمآنها ضَمانة

لو كفل الخصر لِوَجْدي بالكَفَل

Oh, for their thirsty, guaranteed,

If the waist had guaranteed my love, it would have been tied,

يا صاح حَلِّلْ من أَناشيط الأَسى

إِذا حللت بين هاتيك الحِلَلْ

Oh companion, release from the fetters of sorrow,

When you are released among those ornaments,

سلْ عن رُقادي بالغضا أَين مضى

وعن فؤادي بعدها ماذا فعل

Ask about my sleep deprived by yearning, where did it go?

And about my heart after it, what did it do?

وإِن رأَتْ عيناك ربعاً خالياً

فاسق حَيا طَلِّهما ذاك الطَّللْ

And if your eyes see an empty quarter,

Irrigate their thirst with that rain,

وَعَدِّ عن مَحاجرٍ بحاجرٍ

نظرتُها أَقربُ عهدٍ بأَجلْ

And count eyelid to eyelid,

For their gaze is the closest era to an appointed time,

واجْتَنِ أَثمار الهوى فباللَّوى

غصنُ نقاً يَحملُ نُقّاحَ الخجل

And avoid the forbidden fruits of love,

For the branch of enjoyment bears the picker of shame,

وإِنْ يغب عنك اهتزازُ قدّه

فسل به أَترابه من الأَسَل

And if the swaying of his stature eludes you,

Then ask his peers among the rivals,

كلُّ حَلالٍ عنده مُحَرّمٌ

فليت شعري عن دمي كيف استحل

Everything permitted to him is forbidden,

I wish I knew how he made my blood permissible,

إِيّاك أن تحمِل قتلي ظالماً

فما لخصمي بقبيلي من قِبَل

Beware of seeing my murder as unjust,

For my opponent has no kinship with my tribe,

ترى وَليّ الثأْر إِن أَراده

فهل مُجيرٌ من مُجير الدين هل

You see if the avenger wants revenge,

Is there protection from the Protector of the Faith?