صَبٌّ بليلىَ ذَرَفَتْ مقلتَاه

بِكا ولم ينْفعْه فيها بُكاه

A lover wept over Layla, his eyes spilling tears

Crying but his weeping did not benefit him

لاَ تعذُلاهُ فهو مُستَهْتِرٌ

بُحِبَّها إيَّاكما تعْذُلاه

Do not blame him, for he is infatuated

With his love for you just as you blame him

كُفّا عَن اللَّوم له قَدْبه

مِنْ حُبِ ليلى عامرٍ ما كفاه

Stop blaming him, for he is filled

With love for Layla that has overwhelmed him

ماداه إلاّ هجرها إنما

في وصلها أنْ واصلته شِفاه

Nothing cures him but her abandonment

While her union would heal him if her lips approached

شفاه ممامسَّه من ضَنىً

تقبيله ما بين تلك الشفاه

Lips that have kissed away his misery

His kissing between those lips

يهوى لِقاهَا وهي قد أعرضت

عن كلِّ مَا يهوى وتأبى لقاه

He yearns to meet her, but she has turned

Away from all he desires and refuses to meet him

يا قومُ مَا أصعبُ مِنْ عَاشقٍ

صَبٍّ لُقْيَاه من لا يشاه

O people, nothing is harder than a lover

Infatuated, whose love does not desire him

فأَهِ للعيش الذي قد مضى

ولم يُفد فيما مضى قولُ آه

So alas for the life now past

And words of lament did not benefit what is past

إياه كنّا بكثيب الحِمى

وخِدرَ ليلى خدرنا من سناه

We were with him at the Kuthayb dunes

While Layla’s absence made us forget him

هيفاء أمّا ردفُها فالنَّقا

تهتزُ من أعلاَه تلك القناه

As for Haifaa, her follow-up is vigilance

Shaking from its peaks, those palm trees

يا بارقا بالغور أمستْ له

سحائبٌ بالودق تسقى رُباه

O you who light up the valley, clouds have gathered

Over it, watering its pasture

كأنما الأنواء منها ندىَ

يمينُ يحيى صَادفته العُفَاه

As if the blessings coming from it are dew

Whose right hand Fate has made successful

يحيى بن إبراهيم محيي النَّدى

بعدَ الفنا يا لكُما من حياه

Yahya ibn Ibrahim, reviver of dew

After death! What a life you have!