إِنِّي لأبْسُطُ للقَبولِ إذا سَرَتْ

خَدّي وَأَلقاها بِتَقبيلِ اليَدِ

I offer my cheek for a kiss when she is pleased,

And cast it to her to be kissed by her hand.

وَأَضُمُّ أَحنائي على أَنفاسِها

كَيمَا تُبَرّدَ حَرّ قلبٍ مُكْمَدِ

And I fold my arms about her breaths

That the heat of an extinguished heart may be cooled.

مَسَحَتْ كراقيةٍ عليّ بكفّها

ونقابُها ندٌّ من الزّهَرِ النّدي

She touched me with her palm in a gentle caress

And her veil is a spray of tender jasmine.

وعَرَفتُ في الأَرواحِ مَسراها كَما

عَرَفَ المريضُ طبيبَهُ في العُوّدِ

And I knew in her spirit the joy that she felt

As a patient knows his healing in the physician.

ما لي أطيلُ عنِ الدّيارِ تَغرّباً

أَفبِالتَّغرُّبِ كانَ طالعُ مَولدي

Why should I dwell far from my home in exile?

Did my star decree that I roam to be born ?

أَبَداً أُبَدِّدُ بِالنَّوى عَزمي إِلى

أَمَلٍ بِأَطرافِ البِلادِ مُبَدَّدِ

I will ever annihilate despair by the assurance

Of hope, in the breasts of the mountains embosomed.

كَم مِن فَلاةٍ جُبْتُها بِنَجيبَةٍ

عَن مِنسَمٍ دامٍ وخَطْمٍ مزبدِ

I roamed the wide world in weariness unredeeming,

I bore my sorrows in secret beyond the last bounds.

أَبقى الجَزيلُ لها جَميلَ ثَنائِهِ

في العيسِ مَوصولاً بِقَطعِ الفَدفَدِ

Strange is she who accrues to my love the sweet pleasure

Of joy when her voice fills my heart with its sound.

ضَرَبَتْ مَعَ الأَعناقِ أَعناقَ الفَلا

بِحُسامِ ماءٍ في حَشاها مُغمَدِ

She caused me to rend the robust mount asunder

With a cascade of tears cataracting violently.