ظبْيٌ بمصرَ نسيتُ منـ

ـهُ عِنَاقَ غِزْلانِ العِراقُ

A gazelle in Egypt, I forgot

The embrace of the fawns of Iraq.

ورشفْتُ راح رُضابِهِ

فوجدته حُلْوَ المَذاقْ

And I sipped the scent of its cheek,

Finding it sweetly delicious.

فإِذا أَتاني عاطِلاً

حلَّيْتُهُ درَّ المآقْ

When he comes to me barren,

I adorn him with necklaces.

وإِذا تأَطَّرَ قدُّهُ

فأَنا المُثقَّفُ بالعِناقْ

And when his nape is perfumed,

I am the one made elegant by embrace.

يا حُسْن أَيَّامي بِهِ

لوْ أَنَّ أَيَّامِي بَوَاقْ

O beauty of my days through him!

If only my days would last!

باللهِ يا قمرَ الوَرَى

مَنْ خصَّ خصْرَك بالمحَاقْ

By God, O moon of the land,

Who tightened your waist with pregnancy?

وعلام يَغْلِظُ سِلْكُ خُلْ

قِك مَعْ حَواشِيك الرِّقاقْ

And why does the thread of your smooth neck

Coarsen with your delicate temples?

كم يَعْذِلُون على انْخِلا

عِي في وِصَالِك وانْهِرَاقْ

How they blame me for my inclination

Toward your affection and outpouring desire!

ودواءُ ما تصْبُو إِليْ

هِ النَّفْسُ تعْجيلُ الفِرَاقْ

And the remedy for what my soul aspires

To is to hasten the separation.