عِتابٌ لَيسَ يَنصَرِمُ

وَحُبٌّ لَيسَ يَنكَتِمُ

Reproach that does not cease,

A reproach that does not cease,

And love that cannot be concealed,

And a love that is not concealed,

وَجارِيَةٍ بُليتُ بِها

كَأَنَّ بَنانَها عَنَمُ

And a maid I suffer for,

And a maiden with whom I am afflicted,

As if her fingers were bees with sting,

As if her fingertips were crimson branches,

مُخَنَّثَةٌ مُؤَنَّثَةٌ

بِها أَلَمٌ وَبي أَلَمُ

Effeminate, made womanly,

Languid in nature, purely feminine,

In her is pain, and in me pain,

She bears a pain, and I bear a pain,

تُجَرِّرُ ذَيلَ مِئزَرِها

وَفارِسُ أُذنِها قَلَمُ

She trails the train of her skirt,

She drags the train of her skirt behind,

While the knight of her ear is a pen.

And the knight of her ear is a pen.