تَقولُ وَليدَتي لَمّا رَأَتني

طَرِبتُ وَكُنتُ قَد أَقصَرتُ حينا

My beloved says when she saw me

I was disturbed, though for a while I resisted

أَراكَ اليَومَ قَد أَحدَثتَ شَوقاً

وَهاجَ لَكَ الهَوى داءً دَفينا

Today I see you’ve stirred up longing

And passion for you rages, a hidden malady

وَكُنتَ زَعَمتَ أَنَّكَ ذو عَزاءٍ

إِذا ما شِئتَ فارَقتَ القَرينا

You claimed to easily part from a companion

If you wished, leaving your fellow

بِرَبِّكَ هَل أَتاكَ لَها رَسولٌ

فَشاقَكَ أَم لَقيتَ لَها خَدينا

By your Lord, did a messenger come to you from her

Distressing you, or did you meet her alluring cheeks?

فَقُلتُ شَكا إِلَيَّ أَخٌ مُحِبٌّ

كَبَعضِ زَمانِنا إِذ تَعلَمينا

So I said a loving brother complained to me

Of a time of ours when you were learning

فَقَصَّ عَلَيَّ ما يَلقى بِهِندٍ

فَذَكَّرَ بَعدَ ما كُنّا نَسينا

And he recounted to me Hind’s suffering

Reminding me of what we had forgotten

وَذو الشَوقِ القَديمِ وَإِن تَعَزّى

مَشوقٌ حينَ يَلقى العاشِقينا

He who longs, though he controls himself

Yearns when he meets the ardent lover

وَكَم مِن خُلَّةٍ أَعرَضتُ عَنها

لِغَيرِ قِلىً وَكُنتُ بِها ضَنينا

And many a gorgeous woman have I ignored

Preferring others, though she delighted me

أَرَدتُ فِراقَها وَصَبَرتُ عَنها

وَلَو جُنَّ الفُؤادُ بِها جُنونا

I wanted to leave her and had patience to do so

Even if my heart was maddened with passion for her