لَم يَطُل لَيلي وَلَكِن لَم أَنَم

وَنَفى عَنّي الكَرى طَيفٌ أَلَم

My night was not long, yet I did not sleep

And a painful specter kept sorrow from me

وَإِذا قُلتُ لَها جودي لَنا

خَرَجَت بِالصَمتِ عَن لا وَنَعَم

When I say "Be kind to us,"

She answers with silence, neither yes nor no

نَفِّسي يا عَبدَ عَنّي وَاِعلَمي

أَنَّني يا عَبدَ مِن لَحمٍ وَدَم

Sigh for me, o slave, and know

That I, o slave, am made of flesh and blood

إِنَّ في بُردَيَّ جِسماً ناحِلا

لَو تَوَكَّأتِ عَلَيهِ لَاِنهَدَم

In my thin body there is a frail frame

Were you to lean on it, it would collapse

خَتَمَ الحُبُّ لَها في عُنُقي

مَوضِعَ الخاتَمِ مِن أَهلِ الذِمَم

Love has sealed her neck with me

In the place of a seal ring of the indebted

فَاِهجُرِ الشَوقَ إِلى رُؤيَتِها

أَيُّها المَهجورُ إِلّا في الحُلُم

So abandon yearning to see her

O you who are abandoned except in dreams

حَدِّثيني عَن كِتابٍ جاءَني

مِنكِ بِالذَمِّ وَما كُنتُ أُذَم

Tell me of a book that came to me

From you, blaming me though I did no wrong