أَلا يا غُرابَ البَينِ ما لَكَ كُلَّما

تَذَكَّرتُ لَيلى طِرتَ لي عَن شَمالِيا

Alas, O raven of separation, why is it

Whenever I remember Layla you fly to my left?

أَعِندَكَ عِلمُ الغَيبِ أَم أَنتَ مُخبِري

عَنِ الحَيِّ إِلّا بِالَّذي قَد بَدا لِيا

Do you have knowledge of the unseen, or are you informing me

Of the living through what has already appeared to me?

فَلا حَمَلَت رِجلاكَ عُشّاً لِبَيضَةٍ

وَلا زالَ عَظمٌ مِن جَناحَكَ واهِيا

Your legs have not carried a nest for eggs,

Nor has any bone in your wings weakened.

أُحِبُّ مِنَ الأَسماءِ ما وافَقَ اِسمَها

أَوَ اَشبَهَهُ أَو كانَ مِنهُ مُدانِيا

Of names, I love those that resemble hers,

Or are derived from it, or are closely associated with it.

وَما ذُكِرَت عِندي لَها مِن سُمَيَّةٍ

مِنَ الناسِ إِلّا بَلَّ دَمعي رِدائِيا

Whenever she is mentioned before me

My tears wet my cloak.

سَلي الناسَ هَل خَبَّرتُ سِرَّكِ مِنهُمُ

أَخا ثِقَةٍ أَو ظاهِرَ الغِشِّ بادِيا

Ask people, have I confided my secret in them -

A trusted brother or one openly displaying deception?

وَأَخرُجُ مِن بَينِ البُيوتِ لَعَلَّني

أُحَدِّثُ عَنكِ النَفسَ في السِرِّ خالِيا

And I go out from among the houses, perhaps

I may talk to myself about her in private.

وَإِنّي لَأَستَغشي وَما بِيَ نَعسَةٌ

لَعَلَّ خَيالاً مِنكِ يَلقى خَيالِيا

And I doze though no drowsiness is upon me,

Hoping an apparition of her meets my apparition.

أَقولُ إِذا نَفسي مِنَ الوَجدِ أَصعَدَت

بِها زَفرَةٌ تَعتادُها هِيَ ما هِيا

I say, when my soul rises in passion,

A sigh it is accustomed to escapes it.

أَشَوقاً وَلَمّا يَمضِ لي غَيرُ لَيلَةٍ

رُوَيدَ الهَوى حَتّى تَغِبَّ لَيالِيا

Yearning - and not a night passes for me

Except love subsides until the nights depart.

تَمُرُّ اللَيالي وَالشُهورُ وَلا أَرى

غَرامي لَكُم يَزدادُ إِلّا تَمادِيا

Nights and months pass and I do not see

My passion for you all but increasingly intensified.

وَقَد يَجمَعِ اللَهُ الشَتيتَينِ بَعدَ ما

يَظُنّانِ كُلَّ الظَنِّ أَلّا تَلاقِيا

And God may bring together the separated ones after

They had lost all hope of meeting.

تَساقَطُ نَفسي حينَ أَلقاكِ أَنفُساً

يَرِدنَ فَما يَصدُرنَ إِلّا صَوادِيا

My soul drops when I meet you -

They come out only to return unsuccessful.

فَإِن أَحيَ أَو أَهلِك فَلَستُ بِزائِلٍ

لَكُم حافِظاً ما بَلَّ ريقٌ لِسانِيا

If I live or perish, I shall not refrain

From protecting you all as long as my tongue can move.