أَلا لَيتَ شِعرِيَ وَالتَلَهُّفُ ضَلَّةٌ

بِما ضَرَبَت كَفُّ الفَتاةِ هَجينَها

Alas! Would that I knew, though bewilderment is an aberration,

What the palm of the maiden struck to kindle her passion!

وَلَو عَلِمَت قُعسوسُ أَنسابَ وَالِدي

وَوالِدِها ظَلَّت تَقَاصَرُ دونَها

Had the snub-nosed minx but known the lineage of my sire

And mother, she would have humbled herself lower before me.

أَبي اِبنُ خِيارِ الحُجر بَيتاً وَمَنصِباً

وَأُمّي اِبنَةُ الأحرَارِ لَو تَعرِفينَها

My father is the son of the best stock of the tribe in rank and abode,

And my mother the daughter of free nobles, didst thou but know her!

إِذا قُلتُ بَعضَ القَولِ بَيني وبَينَها

تَؤُمُّ بَياضَ الوَجهِ مِنِّي يَمينَها

When I speak any words to her, in talk between me and her,

The whiteness of her face seconds me from her right hand.