فُؤَادِي بسهم المقلتينِ رماهُ

وقَلْبي بِنار الوَجْنتيْنِ كَوَاهُ

My heart he struck with the arrows of his glancing eyes,

And my heart with the fire of his rose-cheeked beauty he inflamed.

فقال الحشا أَهلاً به حين زارَه

وقال الْهَوى لَبَّيْك حِين دَعَاهُ

So my passion welcomed him when he came visiting,

And my love answered "Here I am!" when he called out.

فَبَلَّغْتُ نفسِي من غَرامِي مَرامَها

وآتيتُ قَلبي في هُوَاهُ هُدَاهُ

I made my soul attain the object of its desire,

And I guided my heart in its love to find its way.

وعزَّ على قلبِ العذولِ لَجَاجَتي

وعزَّ على قلبي اللَّجوجِ عَمَاهُ

Yet to the censuring heart my constancy was burdensome,

And to my own heart the censor's blindness was grievous.

يقولُ عَذَولِي في هَوَاهُ لِعلَّةٍ

فقُلْتُ وهَلْ في العَالمِين سِوَاهُ

My censurer says of my love "It is caused by some defect,"

But I say "In all the world is there aught but Him?"

بنفسِي حبيبٌ أَخجَل المِسْك مِسْكُهُ

وإِن سأَلونِي عنه فَهْو لَمَاهُ

By my life, a beloved who shames the sweetest musk in fragrance,

And if they ask of him, he is the full moon's perfection.

حبيبٌ تولَّى حسنُه كبْت عُذَّلي

عليهِ وعُذَّالُ المحبِّ عِدَاهُ

The beauty of my beloved subdues my chiding,

And the chiding of a lover - how painful for the chided!

إِذا غاب أَلهانِي الحُلِيُّ لأَنَّني

أَرى في حُلِيّ الغانياتِ حُلاَهُ

When he is absent, my ear-rings make me wistful,

For in my ear-rings I see the tokens of his beauty.

يهيمُ بِه بدرُ التَّمَام محبَّةً

وغيرُ عجيبٍ أَن يُحبَّ أَخاهُ

The full moon is distraught with love for him,

And why should it be strange if a brother loves his brother?

تزيدُ بتقبِيلي لَهُ نارُ لَوْعَتي

فما سرَّني أَن لا أُقبِّل فاهُ

My kisses only increase the burning anguish of my passion,

Yet I have no joy in not kissing that mouth.

وأُرضيه جُهْدِي والتجني يصدُّه

وكم مُستجنٍّ لا يُطاقُ رضَاهُ

I strive to please him, yet disdain keeps him aloof,

And how many who strive to please are intolerable!

أَما تستحي يا جاحِدَ الصبّ سُقْمَهُ

تقول له هَذا وأَنْت تَرَاهُ

Why, denier of my passion, do you impugn my sickness?

Can you say this, when you see him there?

فحاضِرُ سقمِ الجسم منه كما ترى

وغائبُ وَجْدِ القلْبِ مِنْه كمَا هُو

So the sickness of my body in his presence is evident,

While the love-madness of my heart in his absence is concealed.

رَعى خُضرةً في عارضيه بطرفهِ

وباللَّثم حَيَّا وردَه وَسَقاهُ

With a glance from his eye he gave verdure to the cheek,

And with his kiss he revived the rose and watered it.

كفرْتُ الهوى إِن كنتُ خنتُك ساعةً

فإِن لهَوي للعاشِقين إِلهُ

I renounce my passion if for an hour I was unfaithful,

For the passion of lovers has a god for them.