وَمَا زَالَ مِن قَلبِي لسَودَةَ ناصِرٌ

يَكونُ عَلَى نَفسِي لَها وَوَزيرُ

The helper in my heart for Sauda is unceasing,

He advises my soul regarding her affairs.

فَما مُزنَةٌ بَحرِيَّةٌ لاحَ بَرقُها

تَهَلَّلَ فِي غمٍّ لَهُن صَبيرُ

No flashing lightning lit up the dark clouds,

Nor did patience illuminate the gloom.

وَلا الشَّمسُ فِي يَومِ الدُّجُنَّةِ أَشرَقَت

وَلا البَدرُ فِي المِيساقِ حين يُنيرُ

Neither did the sun shine on the gloomy day,

Nor the full moon radiate its light in the darkness.

وَلا شادِنٌ تَرنُو بِهِ أُم شادِنٍ

بِجَوٍّ أَنيقِ النبتِ وَهوَ خَضيرُ

Neither did the mother of chicks warble for her chicks,

In pleasant weather when the vegetation is green.

بِأَحسَنَ مِن سُعدَى غَداةَ بَدَت لَنا

بِوَجهٍ عَلَيهِ نَضرةٌ وَسُرورُ

More beautiful than Sauda on the morning she appeared,

With a face of radiance and joy.

لَعَمرك أَنِّي حين أكنِي بِغَيرِها

وَأتركُ إِعلاناً بِها لَصَبورُ

By your life! When I pine for another,

And refrain from professing love for her, I have patience.

أَغارُ عَلَيها أَن تُقَبِّلَ بَعلَها

لَعمرُ أَبِيها إِنَّني لَغَيورُ

I am jealous that she kisses her husband,

By the life of her father, I am jealous indeed!

أَقولُ لِعَمرٍ وَهوَ يَلحَى عَلَى الصِّبا

وَنَحنُ بِأَعلَى السَيِّرَينِ نَسيرُ

I say to Amr as he insists on youth,

While we walk the highest path.

عَشِيَّةَ لا حِلمٌ يَردُّ عَنِ الصّبا

وَلا صَاحِبي فِيما لقيت عَذورُ

In the evening, neither reason holds back youth,

Nor do my friends excuse what I have encountered.

لَقَد مَنَعَت مَعروفَها أُمُّ جَعفَرٍ

فَإِنِّي إِلَى مَعروفِها لَفَقيرُ

The kindness of Um Jafar was denied me,

Yet for her kindness I am ever in need.

وَقَد جَعَلت مِما لقِيتُ مِن الَّذي

وَجَدت بيَ الأَرضَ الفَضاءَ تَمورُ

I have made what I endured from her who

On earth I found to be perfidious and treacherous,

أَطاعَت بِنا مَن قَد قَطَعتُ مِن اجلِها

ثَلاثاً تِباعاً أنها لكفورُ

She who obeyed the one whose love

Made me walk three steps for her sake, yet she is ungrateful.

فَلا تَلحَيَن بَعدِي مُحِبّاً وَلا تُعِن

عَلى لَومِه إِنَّ المُحِبَّ ضَريرُ

So do not insist, after me, on a lover,

And do not support blaming him, for a lover is deceived.

أَزورُ بُيُوتاً لاصِقاتٍ بِبَيتِها

وَنَفسِي فِي البَيتِ الَّذِي لا أَزورُ

I visit houses adjacent to her house,

While my soul remains in the house I do not visit.

أَدورُ وَلَولا أَن أرَ أُمَّ جَعفَرٍ

بِأَبياتِكُم ما دُرتُ حَيثُ أَدورُ

I wander, and were it not that I see Um Jafar,

In your homes, I would not wander where I wander.