وَمُهَفهَفٍ نادَيتُهُ لَمّا بَدا

مُتَهَلِّلاً بِجَمالِهِ مُتَبَسِّما

When he appeared, radiant in his beauty, smiling,

I called to him, enthralled.

أَمُوَلَّدَ الأَتراكِ إِنَّ مُوَلَّدَ

الأَعرابِ أَضحى في هَواكَ مُتَيَّما

He was born to Turkish nobility - but in your love

He has become an Arab nomad, smitten.

لا تَشرَبَن كَأسَ المُدامَةِ وَاِسقِني

شَفَتاكَ قَد سَقَتاكَ مِن ماءِ اللَمى

Do not drink from the cup of wine - give me

Your lips, which have already intoxicated me.

لَو كانَ قَلبُكَ مِثلَ عَطفِكَ لَيِّناً

ما كانَ حَظّي مِثلُ صُدغِكَ مُظلِما

If your heart were as gentle as your embrace,

My fate would not be as dark as your cheekbone.

وَيلاهُ كَم بِغَرارِ صارِمٍ لَحظِهِ

وَسِنانِ صَعدَةِ قَدِّهِ أَجرى دَما

Alas - how many sharp, unsheathed swords in his glance,

How much blood his proud neck has spilled!

وَكَأَنَّ نَمّاماً بِرَوضَةِ خَدَّهِ

لَمّا رَأَيتُ عَذارَهُ قَد نَمنَما

As if a gossip were whispering in the garden of his cheek

When I saw its blossoms stir and murmur.

قَمَرٌ بِواضِحِ ثَغرِهِ وَجَبينِهِ

غَدَتِ السماءُ الأَرضَ وَالأَرضُ السَما

With his shining lips and brow, the moon

Has made the earth into the sky, the sky into earth.