خَلَيتُ عَيني وَلَذَّةَ النَظَرِ

تَلهو بِحُسنِ الوُجوهِ وَالصُوَرِ

I left my eyes the pleasure of looking

I freed my eyes to seek the pleasure of the gaze,

To revel in the beauty of faces and images

To delight in the beauty of faces and forms;

نَزَّهتُها في مَحاسِنِ الخُرَّدِ ال

غيدِ وَرَوضِ الدَلالِ وَالخَفَرِ

I gave them respite among the charms of pearls

I let them roam amidst the charms of bashful maids,

And the gardens of coquetry and caution

The slender ones, in gardens of coyness and reserve.

لَستُ إِذا ما رَأَيتُ ذا حَوَرٍ

مِن لَحظِ عَيني لَهُ بِمُعتَذِرِ

When I see someone with dark eyes

I am not one, when seeing eyes of striking hue,

I don't apologize for my glance at him

To offer apology for my lingering glance.

أُسَرِّحُ العَينَ تَرتَعي في رِيا

ضِ الحُسنِ أَجلو بِنورِها بَصَري

I let my eyes graze in the meadow of beauty

I send my eye to pasture in the fields of grace,

Illuminating my sight with its light

In beauty's meadows, polishing my sight with light.

فَقَد جَنَيتُ الهُمومَ مِنهُ وَقَد

خَلَّيتُ قَلبي يَعومُ في الفِكَرِ

I have thus avoided worries

Yet I have harvested but cares from this pursuit,

And I have freed my heart to float in thought

And left my heart to swim amidst the waves of thought.

لا أَسعَدُ القَلبَ في هَواهُ وَلا

يَطمَعُ في عِزَّتي وَلا خَوَري

Not making my heart happy with its love

I do not grant the heart the happiness it seeks,

Nor ambitious for my honor or lowly

Nor may it hope to breach my honor or my strength.

عَفٌّ ضَميري وَطَيِّبٌ خَبَري

وَلَذَّتي في الحَديثِ وَالنَظَرِ

My conscience is chaste and my news is good

Chaste is my secret soul, and spotless is my name,

And my pleasure is in talking and looking

My pleasure lies in converse and the gaze alone.