طرفي عن وَجْهِك لم يَطْرِفِ

والقلبُ عن حُبِّك لم يُصْرَف

My eye has never blinked away from your face,

nor has my heart been turned away from loving you.

وَلي كما شاءَ الهَوَى صبوةٌ

مُسْرِفةٌ في حُسْنِكَ المُسْرفِ

As passion willed, I harbor an infatuation—

lavish before your lavish beauty.

حَمَّلْتَ قَلْبِيَ فَوْقَ مقدَارِهِ

فَخَفْ على قَلْبِيَ أَو خَفِّفِ

You loaded my heart beyond its capacity;

so take care with my heart—or lighten its load.

في خَدِّهِ جَمْرةُ نَارِ الحَشَا

أَضعافُ ما في وَرْدَةِ المُضْعَفِ

In his cheek glows an ember of the fire in my breast,

many times brighter than the rose-flush of one laid low.

أَثَّرَ تَقْبِيلي على خَدِّهِ

فهل رأَيت العَشْرَ في المُصْحَفِ

My kisses left their mark upon his cheek;

have you ever seen the “ten” mark in a Qur’an codex?

يا مُخْجِلاً يوسفَ في حُسْنِهِ

قل لي أَما تخجلُ من يُوسُفِ

O you who put Joseph’s beauty itself to shame,

tell me: are you not ashamed before Joseph?