ألا إن لَيلى العامِرِيَّة أصبَحَت

عَلى النَأي مِنّي ذَنب غَيري تَنِقمُ

Behold, my Layla al-Amiriya has come

To resent me from afar for another’s guilt,

وَما ذاكَ من شَيء أَكون اِجتَرَمتَهُ

اِلَيها فَتَجزيني بِهِ حَيثُ أَعلَم

Yet nothing I have done that she

Could punish me for where I know.

وَلكِن اِنساناً اِذا مَلَّ صاحِبا

وَحاوَل صُرماً لَم يَزل يَتجرم

Rather, when a man tires of a companion

And schemes against a bosom friend,

وَما زالَ بي ما يحدث النَأي وَالَّذي

اعالج حَتّى كِدت بِالعَيشِ ابرم

He persists in causing estrangement. I have struggled

With what has caused this estrangement until I nearly despaired of life.

وَما زالَ بي الكِتمانُ حَتّى كَأَنَّني

برجع جَواب السائِلي عَنكَ أَعجَم

I have kept my silence until it is as though

I returned questioning suitors’ inquiries about you mute.

لِأَسلَم مِن قَول الوُشاةِ وَتَسلَمي

سَلِمت وَهل حيّ من الناسِ يَسلَم

I did so to protect myself from the gossips and you,

Yet no living soul is safe.

وَما زِلت اِستَصفي لَكَ الود اِبتَغي

مَحاسِنُه حَتّى كَأَنّي مُجرِم

I have continued to purify my love for you,

Seeking out its beauties until it is as though I were a criminal.

فَلا تَصرِميني حينَ لا لي مَرجِع

وَرائي وَلا لي عَنكُم مُتَقَدَّم

So do not spurn me when I have no recourse

Or advance behind me and no precedent with you.

حريب اِضاع المال مِن بَعد ثَروَة

لَدَيهِ فَاِضحى وَهوَ أَسوانُ مُعدِم

A free spendthrift who frittered away his wealth

After prosperity has made himself destitute and miserable.