يا نَسيمَ الصَبا مَتىَ جُزتَ نَجدا

فَلَقَد هِجتَ لي غَراماً وَوَجدا

O breeze of the morning, when did you pass through Nejd,

For you have stirred in me passions and torment.

عَمرَكَ اللَه هَل مَرَرتَ سُحيراً

بزرودٍ فزدتَ طيباً وَبَردا

May God prolong your life! Did you pass a waking lover

By the sands, and blow gently, perfumed and cool?

أَم بِلَيلى عَرَّجتَ لَيلاً فَقَبَّل

تَ ثُغَيراً منها وَعانقتَ قَدّا

Or did you pass by Layla at night and kiss

Her bracelet and embrace her slender form?

أَم تنسَّمتَ نَفحَةً من ثَراها

حيث جرَّت مُختالَةٌ فيه بُردا

Or did you inhale a breath from her necklace

Where it draped gracefully over her cool skin?

إنَّ عَهدي بِغيدِ وَجرةَ يسحب

نَ بُروداً تَضوعُ مسكاً وَندّا

Truly, my pact with love and passion draws out

A coolness that pours musk and tenderness.

كُلُّ غَرّاءَ لا تَرى البَدرَ مثلاً

لسَناها ولا الغَزالَةَ نِدّا

No coquette can see the full moon as a match

For her splendor, or the gazelle her equal in grace.

نشرَت من دُجى الغياهِبِ فَرعاً

وَتَحَلَّت زُهرَ الكواكِب عِقدا

She revealed from the gloom of tents a bough

And donned a necklace of stars like beads.

يا رَعى اللَهُ بالحِمى عصرَ أنسٍ

عشتُ فيه حيناً من الدَهر رَغدا

O may God protect the time of bliss I lived,

When for an age I lived in ease and plenty,

حيث رَوضُ الشَباب غضٌّ نَضيرٌ

وَغصونُ الصِبا ترفُّ وَتَندى

Where the meadows of youth are fresh and verdant

And the branches of youth flutter and bend.

وَزَماني ذاك الزَمانُ المُهَنّى

وَحَبيبي ذاكَ الحَبيبُ المُفَدّى

That time was my time, now lost,

And my love was that love, now ransomed.