أَلا حُجِبَت لَيلى وَآلى أَميرُها

أَلا حُجِبَت لَيلى وَآلى أَميرُها

عَلَيَّ يَميناً جاهِداً لا أَزورُها

عَلَيَّ يَميناً جاهِداً لا أَزورُها

Lo, Layla has been secluded, and her guardian has sworn

Alas! Layla is veiled from me and her lord is averse,

A solemn oath against me: I must not visit her.

Swearing to me never to let me visit her.

وَأَوعَدَني فيها رِجالٌ أَبَرَّهُم

وَأَوعَدَني فيها رِجالٌ أَبَرَّهُم

أَبي وَأَبوها خُشِّنَت لي صُدورُها

أَبي وَأَبوها خُشِّنَت لي صُدورُها

And men have threatened me over her—the kindest among them

Yet I was promised her by men of high repute,

Are my father and her father, their breasts hardened against me,

Her father and mine, though their hearts have since hardened.

عَلى غَيرِ شَيءٍ غَيرَ أَنّي أُحِبُّها

عَلى غَيرِ شَيءٍ غَيرَ أَنّي أُحِبُّها

وَأَنَّ فُؤادي عِندَ لَيلى أَسيرُها

وَأَنَّ فُؤادي عِندَ لَيلى أَسيرُها

For no reason except that I love her,

For no reason but that I love her,

And that my heart, with Layla, is her captive,

And my heart is captive to Layla.

وَأَنّي إِذا حَنَّت إِلى الإِلفِ إِلفُها

وَأَنّي إِذا حَنَّت إِلى الإِلفِ إِلفُها

هَفا بِفُؤادي حَيثُ حَنَّت سُحورُها

هَفا بِفُؤادي حَيثُ حَنَّت سُحورُها

And that, when she yearns for her beloved, I am her beloved;

When she inclines to intimacy, my heart inclines to her charm,

My heart is swept away wherever her bosom yearns.

Following wherever her beauty leads.