مُحيّاً ما أَرَى أَم بَدرُ دَجنِ

وَبارِقُ مَبسمٍ أَم بَرقُ مُزنِ

Glowing, do I see a full moon rising or the bright smile of a crescent moon?

Lips or a ruby or ripe fruit,

وثَغرٌ أَم لآلٍ أَم أَقاحٍ

وَريقٌ أَم رِحيقٌ بِنتُ دَنِّ

Saliva or honey of a bashful maiden?

A glance or white pearls strung

وَلَحظٌ أَم سِنانٌ ركَّبُوهُ

بأَسمَرَ مِن نَباتِ الخَطِّ لَدنِ

Upon a dark twig grown in the sand.

Where are the gazes of a doe beside the double-glancing eyes

وأَينَ مِنَ الظِّبا أَلحاظُ ظَبيٍ

ثَنانِي عن سُلُوِّي بالتّثَنِّي

That turn me from my firmness with their glancing to and fro?

When he is bored of blame, his beauty intercedes for him.

إِذا جاءَ الملالُ لَهُ بِجُرمٍ

مَحاهُ وَجهُهُ بِشَفيعِ حُسنِ

So O you who my heart is aflame for and my eyes are in the gardens of Eden for,

Your love from me is pure affection, aloof from flirtation and coy glances.

فيا مَن مِنهُ قَلبي في سَعيرٍ

وَعَيني مِنهُ فِي جنّاتِ عَدنِ

And none before you has possessed my love

Nor would my soul allow itself to be possessed by coquetry.

حَباكَ هَوايَ منِّي مَحضَ وُدٍّ

تَنَزَّهَ عن مُداجَاةٍ وضِغنِ

When you enchanted me and possessed my heart,

You made my privacy as public as a highway.

وقَبْلَكَ ما تَملَّكَهُ حَبيبٌ

وَلا سَمَحَتْ بهِ نَفْسِي لِخِدْنِ

So why, before my love clings to my heart

And before my pledge is locked within you,

أَحينَ خَلَبتَني ومَلَكتَ قلبي

قَلبتَ لخُلَّتي ظَهرَ المِجَنِّ

Do my concerns weary me into weakness

And make every limb of mine weak?

فَهَلاّ قَبلَ يَعلَقُ في فُؤادي

هَواكَ وقبلَ يَغلَقُ فيكَ رَهْنِي

Did not my estrangement from you suffice

And the torment my heart feels from being denied your company?

تُساوِرُني هُمومِي بعدَ وَهْنٍ

فَترمِي كلَّ جَارِحَةٍ بَوَهْنِ

Whenever I think of spending my life

Wasted in passion for you, I strike my teeth.

أَلَم يكْفِ العواذلَ مِنكَ هجري

وقلبَكَ ما يُجنُّ مِنَ التّجنّي

I grieve over how my affection has been broken

And grieve over how my hopes in you were unfulfilled.

إِذا فكَّرتُ في إِنفاقِ عُمري

ضَياعاً في هَواكَ قَرعتُ سِنّي

Most painful of what the nights have brought me

Is which of their horrors did not afflict me?

وآسَفُ كيفَ أَخْلَقَ عَهدُ وُدِّي

وآسَى كَيفَ أَخلفَ فيكَ ظَنّي

The fickleness of one whose heart is my home

And the aloofness of one whose eyes I've shut mine upon.

وأَوجَعُ ما لَقيتُ مِنَ الليالِي

وأَيُّ فِعالِها بي لم يَسُؤني

تَقلُّبُ قَلبِ مَن مَثواهُ قَلبِي

وَجفوةُ مَن طَبَقْتُ عَليهِ جَفْنِي