يا لَخديكِ ناعمينِ

يَضِجّانِ بالسنا

O your soft cheeks

Seething with radiance

ولجفْنَيكِ ناعسينِ

مشى فيهما الوَنى

And your sleepy eyelids

Where love has trodden

يا شِفائي .. ويا ضنى

حبَّذا أنتِ من مُنى

O my remedy .. and my yearning

How worthy you are from Muna

حبَّذا أنتِ في الهوى

من عقابيلَ تُقتنى

How worthy you are in passion

To be acquired from maidens

بأبي أنت لا أبي

لكِ كفوٌ .. ولا أنا

By my father you are incomparable

You match me.. and I do not

من مُميتٍ إذا نأى

ومُخيفٍ إذا دنا

From a lethal beloved when distant

And a frightening one when close

أختشي فقدَهُ هنا

كَ وهجرانَه هُنا

I fear losing him here

As I fear his estrangement here

أرقبُ الصبحَ مَوْهناً

ودجى الليلِ مَوْهنا

I await the dawn, weakened

And the darkness of night, weakened

لا صدى هاتفٍ يَرِنُّ

ولا الجرسُ مؤذنا

No echoing telephone rings

Nor does the bell ring as a summoner

وأُصالي على الطريق

وجوهاً .. وأعينا

And I greet the passersby

Faces .. and eyes

ظَنَّةً أن تكون أنتِ

وحسبي تظننا

Suspecting that you might be

And it suffices me to suspect

إنما الحبّ جنّةٌ

كفوها مَنْ ( تجنّنا )

Love is but madness

Endured by those (who are mad)

وإذا ما انتهى الهوى

فتنة كان أفتنا

And when passion ends

Temptation was what tempted us

أنتِ يا مُرّة الطبا

ع ويا حلوةَ الجَنى

You, O bitter remedy

And O sweetness of bliss

كم تَوَدِّينَ لو خنقت

صدى الحبِّ بيننا

How you wish you could strangle

The echo of our love

وتحيّنت قبره

وهو حيٌّ ليُدفنا

And prepare its grave

While it's still alive to bury

أنتِ يا من تركتنِي

بالجِراحات مُثْخَنا

You, O she who left me

Wounded with gashes

لا وعينيكِ لم أَجِدْ

فيكِ للطعن مَطْعَنا

No, and in your eyes I did not find

In you a place to stab

لا جناحٌ .. وإنْ مشى

الضرّ بي منكِ والعنا

No wings, even if grief

Walked to me from you, so we blamed

كلُّ شوكٍ زرعتِه

ثمرٌ منكِ يُجتنى

Every thorn you planted

Is fruit from you to be gathered

أنا ، ما خفتُ ، واجدٌ

بين نَهديكِ مأمَنا

I, fearless, can find

Between your breasts a refuge

بالذي صاغ واعتنى

وبنى منكِ ما بنى

By Him who molded and took care

And built of you what He built

وتبنّاكِ "مقطعاً"

مستعاداً فأحسنا

And adopted you "a segment"

Retrieving thus He perfected

والذي شاء أن يكو

ن لكِ القتلُ ديدنا

And He who willed killing

To be your habit

فتفداكِ بالضحا

يا فرادى .. وبالثُّنى

So I ransom you with victims

Individually.. and in pairs

والذي لم يدنكِ إذْ

دان كُلاًّ بما جنى

And He who did not spare you when

Everyone was damned for what he reaped

حلفةَ الصابرِ ارتضى

ما يُلاقي فأذعنا

The oath of the patient He approved

What he encounters so we complied

لو تتوجتُ بالدُّنَى

لم يكن عَنكِ لي غنى

If I were crowned with baseness

I would have no alternative but you

خلق الوجد والأسى

ليكونا كما أنا

He created fervor and longing

To be as I am