أَذاتَ الطَوقِ لَم أُقرِضكِ قَلبي

عَلى ضَنّي بِهِ لِيَضيعَ دَيني

Afraid for my faith, I did not lend you my heart

Though you adorn yourself with necklaces bright and serene

كَفاكِ حُلِيُّ جيدِكِ أَن تَحَلَّي

بِأَطواقِ النُضارِ أَو اللُجَينِ

It suffices that your neck is graced by your beauty

With fresh blossoms or necklaces of pearl

سَكَنتِ القَلبَ حَيثُ خُلِقتِ مِنهُ

فَأَنتِ مِنَ الحَشى وَالناظِرَينِ

You dwell in my heart where you were created

So you are of my inner self and my sight

أُحِبُّكَ أَن لَونَكِ لَونُ قَلبي

وَإِن أُلبِستِ لَوناً غَيرَ لَوني

I love you for your color is my heart’s hue

And if dressed in any other hue than mine

عِديني وَاِمطُلي وَعدي فَحَسبي

وِصالاً أَن أَراكِ وَأَن تَرَيني

Promise me and keep me waiting, and waiting is enough

That I see you and you see me, for that is connection

وَلا تَستَهلِكي بِيَدَيكِ قَلبي

فَإِنَّ القَلبَ بَينَكُمُ وَبَيني

Consume not my heart with your hands

For the heart is between you and I

سَمِعتُ لَها حِواراً كانَ فيهِ

رُجوعُ بَلابِلي وَدُنُوُّ حَيني

I heard her speak words in which

Were my nightingale’s return and my time drawing near

فَيا لَكَ مَنطِقاً لَو كانَ هُجراً

لِسامِعِهِ تُلُقِّيَ بِاليَدَينِ

Oh you who speak as though it were estrangement

Casting it away with both hands to the hearer

كَأَنَّ الظِبيَةَ الأَدماءَ حارَت

إِلَيَّ بِناعِمِ العَذَباتِ لَينِ

As if the roe, softer than fresh date wine,

Yearned toward me with pleasant gift so gentle

نَظَرتُكِ نَظرَةً لَمّا التَقَينا

عَلى وَجلَينِ مِن هَجرٍ وَبَينِ

I looked at you a look when we met

Both of us uneasy from estrangement and in between

كَأَنّي قَد نَظَرتُ سَوادَ قَلبي

بِوَجهِكِ ظاهِراً لِسَوادِ عَيني

As if I looked upon my heart’s blackness

Openly shown in the blackness of your eyes