نَسِيَت عَهدي فَلَمّا جِئتُها

زَعَمَت أَنّي تَناسَيتُ العُهود

I forgot our pact, so when I came to her

She forgot my covenant, and when I came to her,

She claimed I had forgotten our vows

She claimed that I was the one who had feigned forgetting our vows.

وَاِدَّعَت أَنّي خَلِيٌّ زاهِدٌ

أَنا لَو كُنتُ كَذا كُنتُ سَعيد

And pretended I was aloof and ascetic

And she alleged that I am heart-free and indifferent;

If I were so, I would have been happy

Ah, were I truly so, I would be happy indeed.

رَغِبَت في الصَدِّ عَنّي بَعدَما

بِتُّ لا يُحزِنُني مِثلُ الصُدو

She was eager to repel me, after

She desired to turn away from me, only after

I had spent nights sleepless from her rejection

I had reached a state where nothing grieves me quite like rejection.

مِثلَما أَنكَرَ ثَغري خَدُّها

أَنكَرَت فاتِنَتي تِلكَ الوُعود

Just as her cheek denied knowing my kiss

Just as her cheek denied the touch of my mouth,

Her beauty denied knowing those vows

So too did my enchantress deny those promises.

يا شُهودي عِندَما كُنّا مَعاً

ذَكِّروها أَينَ أَنتُم يا شُهود

Oh, my witnesses when we were together

O my witnesses to the time when we were together,

Remind her, where are you my witnesses?

Remind her! But where have you gone, O witnesses?

سَكَتَ البَدرُ الَّذي راقَبَنا

وَذَوَت في الرَوضِ هاتيكَ الوُرود

The moon that watched us has fallen silent

The full moon that once watched over us fell silent,

And the roses in the garden have withered

And those roses in the garden withered away.

وَمَشَت ريحُ الصَبا حائِرَةً

في المَغاني حَيرَةَ الصَبِّ العَميد

The morning breeze wanders lost

And the gentle East Wind wandered in bewilderment

In songs, the confusion of the lovesick youth

Through the dwellings, lost like a lovesick heart.

يا هَواها قُل مَتى تَترُكُني

قالَ أَو تَصفَرَّ هاتيكَ الخُدود

Oh, her passion, tell me when will you leave me?

O passion for her, tell me: when will you leave me?

It said: when those cheeks turn sallow

It replied: 'Not until those cheeks turn pale.'

أَنا لا أَدعو عَلَيها بِالضَنى

أَتَّقي أَن يَشمَتَ الحَسود

I will not curse her with malice

I do not pray for her to suffer wasting illness,

Fearing the gloating of enviers

I only fear the gloating of the envious eye.