واهاً لِجائِلَةِ الوِشاحِ سَرَتْ

وَنَواشِيءُ الظَّلْماءِ تَعْتَرِضُ

Alas for the tribe whose tattered shawl has passed,

And the dark shadows that bar my path.

وَمَلَأْتُ مَسْحَبَ ذَيْلِها قُبَلاً

وَلَدَيَّ حَقُّ الزَّوْرِ مُفْتَرَضُ

With trailing hems I filled their drinking bowls,

Yet still on me they falsely blame.

فَنَأَتْ وَثَغْرُ الصُّبْحِ مُبْتَسِمٌ

وَدَنَتْ وَطَرْفُ النَّجْمِ مُغْتَمِضُ

Dawn broke, smiling, rose-lipped,

And still the star's eye blinked and closed.

وَالجِسْمُ مِنّي مُشْعِرٌ مَرَضاً

مُذْ دَبَّ في أَلْحاظِها المَرَضُ

My body ached from their diseased glances

Since in their eyes first gleamed disease's glow.

وَسِهامُها نَحْوي مُفَوَّقَةٌ

أُرْمَى بِها وَفُؤادِيَ الغَرَضُ

Their arrows at me all came winged with skill;

My heart their butt, though blameless of their woes.