مَشت كالغُصن يَثنِيه النسيمُ

ويعدُوه النسيم فيستقيمُ

She walked like a branch bent by the breeze

She walked like a branch bent by the breeze,

And the breeze straightened her and made her at ease

And when the breeze departs, it stands straight again.

لها رِدفٌ تعلّق في لطيفٍ

وذاك الردفُ لي ولها ظلومُ

She has a chaperone attached to her grace

She possesses heavy hips upon a slender waist,

And that chaperone tyrannizes her and me

And those hips are a tyrant to me and to her alike.

يعذّبني إذا فكّرتُ فيه

ويُتعبُها إذا راحَت تقومُ

It tortures me when I think of it

They torment me whenever I think of them,

And tires her when she tries to stand

And they weary her whenever she moves to stand.

وما حُبِّي لها إلّا عذاب

عليه من نضارتها نعيمُ

My love for her is but agony

My love for her is nothing but torment,

Despite the bliss of her vitality

Yet within it, from her radiance, lies bliss.

أعيذُكِ يا سُلَيمى من سُلَيمٍ

قتلتِ فَتاهُم وهو الكريمُ

I seek refuge for you O Suleima from Suleim

I seek God's protection for you, O Sulayma, from the slayer's guilt,

Who killed their youths despite his esteem

For you have killed their young man, though he is noble.

بلى أنت الغَزالةُ في سَنَاها

فَرامِيها بعيدٌ ما يَرُومُ

Yes you are the gazelle in her prime

Nay, you are the sun in its rising brilliance;

So distance yourself from those who scheme

He who aims for it seeks what cannot be reached.

وما لَكِ طالبٌ بتراتِ نفسي

إذا قتل الغرامُ فلا غَريمُ

Why would you seek my soul’s destruction

None shall demand vengeance from you for my soul,

When passion itself is the crime

For when passion kills, there is no debt to claim.

فُؤادي سار نحوكِ عن ضلوع

بها يا رِيمُ حبُّك ما يريمُ

My heart floated toward you from my ribs

My heart has journeyed toward you, leaving my ribs behind,

With it, O Umayma, love will not redeem

Wherein, O gazelle, your love never ceases to dwell.

وِدادُك صحَّ في قلبٍ سقيمٍ

كطَرفِك صحَّ ناظرهُ السقيمُ

Your love revived a sickly heart

Your love is sound within a sickly heart,

Like your glance revived his sickly beam

Just as the languid weakness is perfect within your gaze.

إذا أعرضتِ تَسودُّ الأماني

وإن أقبلتِ تبيَضُّ الهمومُ

When you turn away, wishes darken

If you turn away, my hopes turn pitch black,

And when you come close, sorrows gleam

And if you draw near, my sorrows turn white.