قف سائلاً بلوى الكثيبِ الأيمنِ

داراً عفت فكأنَّها لم تُسكنِ

Stand asking the right sand dune the afflictions,

A house whose traces vanished as though never dwelled,

وحذارِ أَحداقَ الظبِّاءِ فَلم تزل

حُمرُ المنايا في سَوادِ الأعيُنِ

And beware the gazelles' bright eyes that still

Have death's redness in the darkness of their pupils,

أعلمتَ كَم كابدتُ يومَ الُمنحنَى

كمداً عليهِ غدت ضُلوعي تنحني

Do you know how on the day of parting I suffered,

Bending over my camel till my ribs bent over?

ظَغنَت ركائبُهم فلا ظِلَّي نَدٍ

من بَعدِ فُرقتِهم ولا عَيشي هني

Their riding beasts departed while no shade of a tent remained for me

Nor a life of ease after their going.

رَحلوا بواضحةِ الجَبينِ إِذا بدت

فلِمُجتلٍ وإِذا انَثنَت فلمُجتني

They traveled, their foreheads shining when unveiled,

So for a guide, and when veiled for a bending twig.

هَيفا القوام يهزُّ من أعطافِها

سُكرُ الشَّبيبةِ غُصنَ قَدِّ ليِّنِ

Slender and fawn-like, shaking from her shoulders

The intoxication of youth like a bending branch,

تُرخي ذوائبَها إِذا خطرت ضحىً

فترَى الصبَّاح يجرُّ ذيلَ الَموهنِ

She lets down her tresses when she walks at dawn,

And you see morning dragging the train of stars.

يا ظبيةً عُشَّاقُها في حُسنها

لا يظفرونَ بغيرٍ حظِّ الألسنِ

Gazelle, whose lovers find in her beauty

Naught but the attainment of their tongues' tips,

أَمَّا الغرامُ كما عهدتِ فإنَّهُ

باقٍ وأمَّا الصَّبرُ عنكِ فَقَد فني

As for love, it remains as you knew it,

But as for patience over you, it is gone.

أرجو خيالَكِ والرُّقادُ مُشرَّدٌ

عنِّي لَقَد أمَّلتُ ما لم يُمكنِ

I long for your image though slumber is denied me,

I hoped for what could not be.

أنا مثلُ خَصركِ من سُلُوي مُقترِ

وكمثلِ ردفِكِ من صَباباتي غَني

I am like your waist from the excess of my leanness,

And like your buttocks from my overflowing riches.