هيَ الجَرعاءُ صاديَةٌ رُباها

فَزُرها يا هُذَيمُ أَما تَراها

She is the shapely doe her upbringing refined

So visit her, O Huthaym, do you not see her there?

وَخَلِّ بِها دموعَكَ واكِفاتٍ

وَكِيفَ السُّحْبِ واهيَةً كُلاها

And with her shed your tears though they suffice her not

Like scattered clouds made faint, all lacking rain

وَلا تَذعَر بِها أَدماءَ تُزجِي

بِرَوْقَيها عَلى لَغَبٍ طَلاها

Let not her feet alarm you, treading blood they spurn

With their brightness on a meadow where the dew's outpoured

أَتَنسى قَولَ صَحبِكَ إِذ تَراءَتْ

هيَ ابنَةُ وائِلٍ لَولا شَواها

Can you forget your companion's words when she appeared?

She is Wa'il's daughter, were it not for modesty

فَأَنتَ تَخالُها ظَمياءَ تَمشي

عَلى خَفَرٍ وَقَد فَقَدَت حُلاها

Yet you imagine her a towering woman walking

On thin slippers, she who's lost her shoes somewhere

وَما فَتخاءُ تَنفُضُ كُلَّ أَرضٍ

بِعَينٍ إِن رَنَتْ بَلَغَتْ مَداها

Not boastful, though she shakes the ground, every bit of it

With a glance, did she want she'd reach the farthest span

جَريمَةُ ناهِضٍ يَشكو طَواهُ

إِلَيها وَهْيَ شاكيَةٌ طَواها

A lover's crime whose love he tells her of

While she complains of love's caprice and pain

فَطارَت وَالفؤادُ لَهُ التِفاتٌ

إِلَيهِ وَقَد عَناهُ ما عَناها

So she flew away, though her heart glanced his way

And forgot him though he never forgot her

تَصيدُ وَلا تَحيدُ وَلَو تَمَطَّى

بِها ما حاوَلَتهُ إِلى رَداها

She hunts though strays not, even if she pretended

She'd not desire him, or wish to be rid of him

فَيُسِّرَ نُجحُها وَلِكُلِّ نَفسٍ

مِنَ الطَلَبِ المَنيَّةُ أَو مُناها

So may her hunting prosper! For each soul

Death or rest from seeking is the hoped for end

وَعادَتْ تَبتَغيهِ وَلَم تَجِدهُ

وَكادَ يُذيبُ مُهجَتَها جَواها

She looked for him again but did not find him

And her passion almost melted her insides

وَباتَت وَهي تَنشُدُهُ بِعَينٍ

مُؤرَّقَةٍ يُصارِمُها كَراها

She spent the night speaking of him with sleepless

Eyes that mixed her tears with her abhorrence

بِأَبرَحِ مِن أَخيكَ أَسىً وَوَجداً

إِذا الحَسناء شَطَّ بِها نَواها

With more profound sadness and passion than you

When the lovely one is carried away by her passion

نَبيلَةُ ما تواري الأُزرُ مِنها

صَموتٌ حَجلُها خَفِقٌ حَشاها

A noble lady whose hidden charms provoke

Rapture though veiled, so fiercely they entice

لَها بَيتٌ رَفيعُ السَّمكِ ضَخمٌ

بِهِ تُزهى إِذا اِنتَسَبَتْ أَباها

She has a lofty, capacious house which she boasts of

When she claims descent from her distinguished forebears

أَظُنُّ الخَمرَ ريقَتَها وَظَنِّي

تُحَقِّقُهُ إِذا قَبَّلتُ فاها

I think she savored wine, and my notion

Is confirmed when I kiss her mouth directly

مَتى اِبتَسَمَت تَكَشَّفَ عَن أَقاحٍ

تُقَرِّطُهُنَّ ساريَةٌ نَداها

When she smiles her teeth gleam

Like a pendant amidst her dark tresses

أُحِبُّ لِحُبِّها تَلَعاتِ نَجدٍ

وَما شَغَفي بِها لَولا هَواها

For love of her I love the waists of Nejd

And but for passion I'd never have loved her

أَما وَالرَّاقِصاتِ تُقِلُّ رَكْباً

كَأَنَّهُمُ الصُّقورُ عَلى مَطاها

By the dancers barely moving their hips

Like hawks standing atop their perches!

لَتَرتَميَنَّ بي وَاللَّيلُ داجٍ

إِليها العيسُ مائِلَةً طُلاها

She will throw herself at me when night falls dark

The Pleiades inclining, their faces veiled

فَإِنَّ بِها أَوانِسَ ناضَلَتْنِي

بِأَلحاظٍ تَغيظُ بِها مَهاها

For with her are intimates who challenged me

With glances that provoked my jealousy

وَمُرتَبَعاً بِهِ الغُدرانُ تَخدي

إِلَيها الناجياتُ عَلى وَجاها

And with them the curls entice

The whisperers to lean towards their cheeks

وَتَلصِقُ صِحَّةً بِالدَّاءِ مِنها

إِذا اِعتَنَقَتْ كَلاكِلُها ثَراها

And health clings to disease from her

When her trinkets embrace her neck's nape