اِسأَلوها أَو فَاِسأَلوا مَضناها

أَيُّ شَيءٍ قالَت لَهُ عَيناها

Ask her, or ask the one lovesick for her,

What it is that her eyes said to him.

فَهوَ في نَشوَةٍ وَما ذاقَ خَمراً

نَشوةُ الحُبِّ هَذِهِ إِيّاها

For he is in ecstasy, though he tasted no wine;

This is the very ecstasy of love.

ذاهِلُ الطَرفِ شارِدُ الفِكرِ لا يَل

مَحُ حُسناً في الأَرضِ إِلّا رَآها

Distracted of gaze, wandering of thought, he does not

Glimpse beauty on earth but that he sees her.

السَواقي لِكَي تُحَدِّثَ عَنها

وَالأَقاحي لكَي تُذيعَ شَذاها

The brooks flow only to speak of her,

And the daisies to broadcast her fragrance.

وَحَفيفُ النَسيمِ في مَسمَعِ

الأَوراقِ نَجوى تَبُثُّها شَفَتاها

And the rustle of the breeze in the hearing of

The leaves is a secret whisper her lips convey.

يُحسَبُ الفَجرُ قَبسَةً مِن سَناها

وَنُجومُ السَماءِ بَعضَ حَلها

The dawn is deemed a spark from her brilliance,

And the stars of the sky a fragment of her jewels.

وَكَذاكَ الهَوى إِذا حَلَّ في الأَر

واحِ سارَت في مَوكِبٍ مِن رُؤاها

And thus is passion, when it settles in the

Spirits, they march in a procession of her visions.

كانَ يَنهى عَنِ الهَوى نَفسَهُ الظَم

أى فَأَمسى يَلومُ مَن يَنهاها

He used to forbid passion to his thirsting soul,

But now blames the one who would forbid it.

لَمَسَ الحُبُّ قَلبَهُ فَهوَ نارٌ

تَتَلَظّى وَيَستَلِذُّ لَظاها

Love touched his heart, so it is a fire

Raging, yet he finds pleasure in its flames.

كُلُّ نَفسٍ لَم يُشرِقِ الحُبُّ فيها

هِيَ نَفسٌ لَم تَدرِ ما مَعناها

Every soul wherein love has not dawned

Is a soul that knows not its own meaning.