سِرُّ الهَوى في مُهْجَتي انْدَلَعا

وإليْهِ كُلّي مُدْنفًا هُرِعا

The secret of passion blazed in my infatuation,

And I rushed headlong towards it all together.

وكثيرُ عَقْلي فرَّ مُضْطَرِبًا

والقلبُ طَوْعًا لِلهَوى خَضَعا

My abundant reason fled perturbed,

While my heart willingly submitted to passion.

النَّبضُ في أطْنابِهِ خَبَبٌ

الخَفْقُ في مِحْرابهِ خَشَعا

My pulse beats frantically in its vessels,

My throbbing fervently worshipped.

أوْدَعْتُهُ الأصْدافَ تَحْضُنُهُ

صَبًّا طَفِقْتُ أُوَشْوِشُ الوَدَعا

I entrusted it to the ribs to cradle it

Like a child I started to lull it to sleep.

أخْفيْتُ في الوجْدان لُجَّتَهُ

لكِنّهُ يقظٌ وما هَجَعا

I concealed its embers in my innermost being,

But it remained awake and did not sleep.

مُتَبَتِّلًا واريْتُ وَقْدَتَهُ

قِدّيسُهُ مُتوهّجًا سَطَعا

Scorching me, I exposed its fire,

Its saint radiating incandescence beamed.

عِشْقي تَباريحٌ تُراوِدُني

مَوّالُها في روحيَ انْصَدعا

My love is insomnia that keeps me awake,

Its intimate in my soul burst open.

عِشقٌ يدندنهُ الهوى طَـرِبًا

إيقاعهُ في القَلْبِ قد قَرَعا

A love that desire sings feverishly,

Its rhythm in the heart knocked and pounded.

شَوْقي كَمَوْجِ اليَمّ وَثْبَتُهُ

طوفانُهُ قَدْ مادَ وانْدَفَعا

My longing is like the surge of the sea, its leaping,

Its flood tide ebbed and flowed.

شَوْقٌ هتونُ المزنِ مُنْهَمِرٌ

تَرْنيمةٌ تَسْتوْطِنُ السَّمَعا

A languishing longing cascading,

A melody inhabiting the hearing.

غَزَلي أنا تَسْمو سَجيَّتُهُ

مِنْ ثديِ طُهْرِ العِفَّةِ ارْتَضَعا

My poetry‚ its nature is lofty,

Suckled on the breast of the purity of chastity.

غَزَلٌ بأوْرِدةِ الكلام سَرى

في رَوْضِ طُهْرِالحُسْنِ قَدْ رَتَعا

Poetry that roamed in the meadow

Of the beauty of purity‚ there it grazed.

وهَديلُ أغْنِيتي تَلا سَهَري

ورويُّ شِعْري في الهَوى وَلَعَا

The musings of my song lingered through my vigil,

And the wellspring of my poetry in passion blazed.

القدُّ يوقد جَمْرَ أخْيِلَتي

والشَّعْرُ لَيلٌ فاضَ واتّسَعا

Passion kindles the embers of my imagination,

And poetry overflows copiously at night.

العينُ مِن أسْطورةٍ سَلَفَت

والرِّمشُ مَمْشوقًا قَد ارْتَفَعا

The eye flows from a fabled past,

And the eyelash elevated and rose up.

الخَدُّ للْبَلّورِ مُنْتسِبٌ

والوَجْهُ صُبْحٌ في الدَّجى طَلَعا

The cheek associated with crystal,

The face dawn rising in the darkness.

فَتَرَفّقي بالقَلْبِ مُتعِبَتي

حَكَم الهَوَى والقَلْبُ ما ارْتَدَعــا

So be gentle with my troubled heart,

Passion decreed and the heart did not resist.