وَلَقَد عَلِقتُ مِنَ الحِسانِ مَليحَةً

تَحكي الهِلالَ بِحاجِبٍ وَجَبينِ

Truly, among the fair, I have become enamored with a beauty,

Who mimics the crescent moon in her brow and forehead.

كَلَفَت بِها نَفسي وَدونَ وُصولِها

وَصلُ المَنونِ وَثَمَّ لَيثُ عَرينِ

My soul is consumed by her, yet standing before her union

Is the touch of death, and there awaits the lion of the den.

حَسناءُ أَضحى كُلُّ حُسنٍ دونَها

وَلِذاكَ عُشّاقُ المَحاسِنِ دوني

A beauty beneath whom all other beauty pales,

And for this, all lovers of beauty rank beneath me.

قَد رَوِّعَت حَتّى لَتَخشى بُردَها

مِن أَن يَبوحَ بِسِرِّها المَكنونِ

She is so timid she fears even her own robe,

Lest it betray her deeply guarded secret.

وَتُريبُها أَنفاسُها وَيُخيفُها

عِندَ اللِقاءِ تَنَهُّدُ المَحزونِ

Her own breaths arouse her suspicion, and she is frightened

At the moment of meeting, by the sigh of the sorrowful.

هَجَرَت فَكُلُّ دَقيقَةٍ مِن هَجرِها

عِندي تُعَدُّ بِأَشهُرٍ وَسِنينِ

She has departed, and every minute of her desertion

Is reckoned by me as months and years.

يا هَذِهِ لا تَجحَدي حَقِّ فَقَد

أَصلَيتِ قَلبي بَِلنَوى فَصِليني

O you, do not deny my due, for truly

You have seared my heart with distance, so grant me union.

أَطلَقتِ دَمعاً كانَ قَبلُ مُقَيَّداً

وَسَجَنتِ قَلباً كانَ غَيرَ سَجينِ

You have set loose a tear that was once in chains,

And imprisoned a heart that was never a captive.

أَشبَهتِ لَيلى العامِرِيَّةَ فَاِكتُمي

خَبَرَ الَّذي قَد صارَ كَالمَجنونِ

You resemble Layla of the Banu 'Amir, so conceal

The story of the one who has become like the Madman.