أَناسِيَةٌ عفراءُ ذكريَ بَعْدَما

تركتُ لها ذِكْراً بِكُلِّ مَكانِ

A forgetful brown beauty, after

I left memories of her in every place

ألا لَعَنَ اللهُ الوُشاةُ وقَوْلَهُمْ

فُلانَةُ أَمْسَتْ خُلَّةً لِفُلانِ

Alas, may Allah curse the slanderers and their words

"So-and-so has become the lover of so-and-so"

فَوَيْحَكُما يا واشِيَيْ أُمِّ هَيْثَمٍ

فَفِيمَ إِلى مَنْ جِئتُما تَشيانِ

Woe to you two, O slanderers, mother of lies

Why then did you come to slander me?

أَلا أَيُّها الواشي بِعفراءَ عندنا

عَدِمْتُكَ مِنْ واشٍ أَلِسْتَ تراني

O slanderer of the brown beauty, know that

I have denied you as a slanderer, do you not see me?

أَلَسْتَ ترى لِلْحُبِّ كيف تخَلَّلَتْ

عَناجيجُهُ جسمي وكيف بَراني

Do you not see how the pangs of love have pierced

My body, and how love has overwhelmed me?

لَوَ أَنَّ طبيبَ الإنْسِ والجِنِّ داويا

الذي بيَ من عفراءَ ما شَفياني

If the doctor of mankind and jinn were to cure me

Of love for the brown beauty, he could not heal me

إذا ما جَلَسْنا مَجْلِساً نَسْتَلِذُّهُ

تَواشَوا بِنا حتى أَمَلَّ مكاني

Whenever we sit happily together

The slanderers whisper about us until they spoil the occasion

تَكَنَّفَني الواشُونَ مِنْ كلِّ جانِبٍ

وَلَوْ كانَ واشٍ واحدٍ لَكَفاني

The slanderers surround me from every side

Even one slanderer would have sufficed against me

وَلَوْ كانَ واشٍ بِالْيَمامَةِ دارُهُ

وداري بِأَعْلى حَضْرَمَوْتَ أَتاني

Even if the slanderer's home was in Yamama

And mine was in Hazramawt, he would still reach me

فَيَا حَبَّذا مَنْ دونَهُ تَعْذِلونَني

وَمَنْ حَلِيَتْ عيني به ولساني

So may you treat me with justice, unlike him

Whom my eyes and tongue delight in

ومَنْ لَوْ أَراهُ في العَدُوْ أَتَيْتُهُ

ومَنْ لو رآني في العَدُوِّ أَتاني

The one I would visit if I saw him among foes

And the one who would visit me if he saw me among foes

ومَنْ لَوْ أَراهُ صادِياً لَسَقِيتُهُ

ومَنْ لو يَراني صادِياً لَسَقاني

The one I would water if I saw him thirsty

And the one who would water me if he saw me thirsty

ومَنْ لو أَراهُ عانيِاً لَكَفَيْتُهُ

ومَنْ لَوْ يَراني عانياً لَكَفاني

The one I would aid if I saw him suffering

And the one who would aid me if he saw me suffering

ومَنْ هابَني في كلِّ أَمْرٍ وهِبْتُهُ

ولَوْ كُنْتُ أَمْضي من شَباةِ سِنانِ

The one I obeyed in everything, and who obeyed me

Even if I walked faster than a lively colt

يُكَلِّفُني عَمِّي ثمانين بَكْرَةً

ومالي يا عفراءُ غيرُ ثمانِ

My uncle demands eighty she-camels from me

When all I have, O brown beauty, is eight

ثَمانٍ يُقَطِّعْنَ الأَزِمَّةَ بالبُرى

ويَقْطَعْنَ عرْضَ البيدِ بالوَخَدانِ

Eight that can cross the valley in the meadows

And cross the expanse of the desert in pairs