شكوتُ إليها لا شكوتُ صبَابتي

فقالت سقِيمُ الحُبِّ من بات شاكِيا

I complained to her, though I did not complain of my youthfulness,

So she said, “He who spends the night complaining is sick with love.”

فلمّا منعت الشَّكْوَ مِنّي تَجلُّداً

وأدْمَنْتُه حتّى غدا القلبُ سالِيا

When she refused to hear my complaints out of patience,

And I persisted till my heart began to flow,

أَماطتْ عنِ الخدَّيْنِ فضلَ قِناعِها

وقالت أَنِسياناً لنا أم تَناسيَا

She removed the veil from her cheeks,

And said, “Is it intimacy for us or forgetting?”

فقلتُ لها واستعجَلَتْني بوادِرٌ

من الشّوقِ ما أَبْقَتْ عليَّ ولا لِيَا

So I said to her as early signs

Of passion, leaving me no respite, hastened me,

شهادةَ حَقٍّ أُشْهدُ اللهَ أننّي

سَلَوْتُ ولكن قد أَراني بَدَا لِيَا

“I bear witness before God that I have found solace,

But it now appears to me I have found renewal.”