أَغرى المَدامع بِالبُكا

وَنَهى الجُفون عَن الغُموض

Tears are enticed to weep,

And eyelids deterred from gloom.

بَرق سَريع خَفقهُ

فَكَأَنَّهُ نَبض المَريض

A swift lightning flickered,

As if it were the pulse of an ailing man.

أَسرى فَأَذكَرَني لَيا

لي الوَصل بِالرَوض الأَريض

He journeyed, so reminded me of past nights,

When union in the gentle garden was mine.

فَأَطار قَلبي ذكرَهُن

وَما قَدرت عَلى النُهوض

Thoughts of him made my heart take flight,

And I could not rise up.

هَلا أَستَحي مِن ثَغر مَن

أَهوى وَمَن ذاكَ الوَميض

Should I not be shy of the mouth I love

And he who was that fleeting vision?

أَهدى إِلى جسمي الضَنا

مِن جِفنِهِ الدَنف الغَضيض

He brought exhaustion to my body

With his tender, delicate glance.

ظَبيٌ رَخيم حَديثِهِ

يَلهيك عَن لَحن القَريض

A gentle, well-spoken gazelle,

Who distracts you from the song of the lute.

قَد رَقَّ در تَغَزُلي

في خَدِهِ الفُضي البَضيض

The pot of my love for him boiled over

On his smooth, shining cheek.

حَتّى لَقَد كادَت قَوا

فيهِ تَسيل مِن العُروض

My poems were nearly pouring

Their metre from this ode.

فَكَأَنَّ نَظمي مِن دُمو

عي أَو دُموعي مِن قَريضي

So it’s as if my rhymed verse

Were my tears or the blood of my heart.