أَوائِلُ حُبٍّ ما لَهُنّ أَواخِرُ

خَواطِرُ لا تَنْفكُّ عَنْهَا الخَواطِرُ

Beginnings of love have no endings

Thoughts that do not cease to recur

فَفِي الحُبّ مَعْنىً يَنْثَني عَنْكَ فِكْرهُ

وفِي القلبِ مَأْوىً يَلْتَوِي عَنْكَ نَاظِرُ

In love there is meaning that evades your thinking

In the heart there is refuge that turns from your gaze

فَقلْبيَ في بَحْرِ الصَّبابةِ وَاقعٌ

غَرِيقٌ ولُبِّي في فَضَا الوَجْدِ طائِرُ

So my heart lies sunk in the sea of passion

Drowning while my essence flies free in the sky of desire

وَلي نَفَسٌ مِنْ لَوْعَتي مُتَصاعِدٌ

وَدَمْعي على شَطّ النَّوَى مُتَحادِرُ

My breath rises from my burning pain

My tears flow down the banks of my longing

وَمُعْتَدِلٍ قَدْ أَنْصَفَ الحُسْنُ خَلْقَهُ

ولكنَّهُ في مَذْهَبِ الحُبِّ جائِرُ

Balanced, perfection itself made beauty

But when it comes to love, it is biased

يُبرّدُ قلبي خَدُّه وهُوَ جَمْرَةٌ

ويَحْرِقُ قَلْبي طَرْفُهُ وهُوَ فَاتِرُ

His cheek cools my heart though it's fiery embers

His glance burns my heart though it's chilled

أَبُوحُ وأُخْفِي هكذا سُنَّةُ الهَوَى

ولِلصَّبِّ في الشَّكْوَى عَذُولٌ وعَاذِرُ

I confess and conceal, such is the way of passion

For yearning has one who chides and one who refuses

وَلِلْوَجْدِ ما أَنْشَا لِسَاني ومَدْمَعِي

وَلِلْودِّ ما ضمَّت عليه السَّرائِرُ

My tongue and tears vent all that fervor brings

My innermost self conceals all that affection contains