يقولون لِمْ خلَّى هواهُ فلانه

فقلت سلوا عن ذاك وجهَ فلانِ

They ask why so-and-so is infatuated with her

I said, ask about that face, ask about so-and-so

هو الوجهُ ساقَ النَّاسَ بالسيف لا العصا

وذلك سيفٌ للِّحاظ يماني

That face led people with a sword, not a stick

And that is a Yemeni sword, when unsheathed

إِذا ما تجلَّى ضلّ من كَانَ هادياً

وقد زلَّ من كانَتْ له قَدَمَان

When it appears, it bewilders even a guide

And trips someone who has two legs

تعرّضْ له يا عاذِلي متأَملاً

لعَيْنَيه تُصْبحْ عاشقاً بِضَمَانِ

Go closer to it, blamer, and contemplate

Its eyes will make you a lover, I guarantee

يقول لنا يا لَيْتَني ما رأَيتُه

ويا ليتَه ما كان قَطُّ رآني

It says to us, oh I wish I never saw it

And oh I wish it never saw me

أَيا واحداً ديني عبادةُ واحدٍ

كَفَرْتُ بما بي إِنْ كفَرْتُ بثَانِ

My religion is the worship of the One

I disbelieve in anything else, if I disbelieve in the Second

طَلَبْتُ أَماناً من هواهُ فجاءَني

كتابُ أَمَانِي لا كتَابُ أَمَانِ

I sought safety from its love, but what came to me

Was the writ of my wishes, not the writ of safety

أَزَلْتُ وقَارِي في هواهُ صَبابةً

وأَنْزَلْتُ نُسْكي مِنْه دَارَ هَوَانِ

I lost my dignity in its love out of youthfulness

And lowered my devotion from it to the abode of disgrace

ولي عند ذكراهُ خيولٌ سوابقٌ

من الدَّمع ما هَيَّجتُها بِحِرَانِ

When I remember it, I have racing horses

That my tears have stirred up out of love-sickness

إِذا لَمْ يضِنَّ الصدرُ عنك بقَلْبه

فكيف تضنُّ العين بالهَملاَن

If the chest cannot refrain from you in its heart

How can the eye refrain from tears?

وما لي يدٌ بالصبرِ عنك تأَسّفاً

عليك ولي عند العناق يَدَانِ

I have no patience in staying away from you

For missing you, and I have two hands for embracing