1. حَمامَةُ بَلِّغي عَنّي سَلاما

    حَبيباً لا أُطيقُ لَهُ كَلاما

    Dove, convey greetings from me

    To a beloved whom I cannot address.

  2. وَقولي لِلَّتي غَضِبَت عَلَينا

    عَلامَ وَفيمَ يا سَكينُ عَلاما

    And tell her who grew angry with us:

    Why, and for what, O Sakin—why?

  3. أَفي هِجران بَينَكِ تَصرِميني

    وَما رُمنا لِصَرمِكُمُ صِراما

    Do you forsake me in the estrangement of your parting,

    Though we never sought a severance from you?

  4. وَلَم أَهجُركِ مَقلِيَّةً وَلَكِن

    حَلَلتُ عِراقَكُم وَحَلَلتِ شاما

    I did not leave you out of hatred; rather,

    I settled in your Iraq, while you settled in al-Sham.

  5. عِديني أَن أَزورَكِ إِنَّ داري

    وَدارُكِ لا أَرى لَهُما التِيَاما

    Promise me that I may visit you; for my home

    And your home—I see no union between them.

  6. وَإِنَّ جَميعَ أَهلكِ عَنَّفوني

    وَلاموني وَلَم أُطِق المَلاما

    And all your family rebuked me harshly,

    And blamed me, and I could not bear the blame.

  7. كِرامُ الناسِ قَبلي قَد أَحَبّوا

    كَرامَهُم وَأَحبَبنَ الكِراما

    Noble people before me have loved

    Their noble women, and those women loved noble men.

  8. جَميلٌ وَالكُثَيِّرُ قَد أَحَبّا

    وَعُروَةُ مِن هَوىً لاقى حِماما

    Jamil and Kuthayyir have both loved,

    And Urwa met his death through love.

  9. هُمُ سَنّوا الهَوى وَالحُبَّ قَبلي

    وَما أَلفي لَهُم في الناسِ ذاما

    They established the ways of passion and love before me,

    And I find no one among people who censures them.

  10. فَيا غَنّامُ يا بَصَري وَسَمعي

    رَسيسُ هَواكِ سَقاما

    So, O Ghannam, O my sight and hearing,

    The deep-seated trace of love for you—a sickness.

  11. لَقَد اِقصَدتِ حينَ رَمَيتِ قَلبي

    بِسَهمِ الحُبِّ إِنَّ لَهُ سِهاما

    Indeed, you dealt a mortal blow when you shot my heart

    With an arrow of love—for love has arrows.

  12. زَجَرتُ القَلبَ عَنكِ فَلَم يُطِعني

    وَيَأبى في الهَوى إِلّا اِعتِزاما

    I warned my heart away from you, but it would not obey me,

    And in love it will have nothing but firm resolve.

  13. إِذا ما قُلتُ اِصِر وَأَسلُ عَنها

    أَبى من صَرمِكُم إِلّا اِنهِزاما

    Whenever I say, 'Stand firm and forget her,'

    It will only retreat from breaking with you.

  14. فِتنَتي بِكِ فَاِعلَميها

    إِذاً صَلّى رَبيعَةُ ثُمَّ صاما

    My infatuation with you—know it.

    Then Rabi'a prayed and then fasted.

  15. أَقامَ الحُبُّ حُبُّكِ في فُؤادي

    وَحُبّي في فُؤادِكِ قَد أَقاما

    Love—love for you—has settled in my heart,

    And love for me has settled in your heart.

  16. كِلانا وَامِقٌ كَلِفٌ مُعَنّى

    بِصاحِبِهِ وَما يَبغي حَراما

    Each of us is loving, besotted, tormented

    By the other, and seeks nothing forbidden.

  17. أُحِبُّ حَديثَها وَتُحِبُّ قُربي

    وَما إِن نَلتَقي إِلّا لِماما

    I love her conversation, and she loves my nearness,

    Yet we meet only rarely.

  18. فَيا لَيتَ النَهارَ يَزينُ لَيلاً

    وَلَيتَ الصُبحَ لا يَجلو الظَلاما

    Oh, if only the day would adorn the night,

    And if only dawn would not dispel the darkness.

  19. وَيا لَيتَ الحَمامَ مُسَخَّراتٌ

    لِنُرسِلَ في رَسائِلَنا الحَماما

    And oh, if only the doves were at our command,

    So we might send doves with our letters.

  20. لَعَلَّ حَمامَةً تُهدي إِلَينا

    كِتاباً مِنكِ نَجعَلُهُ إِماما

    Perhaps a dove would bring us

    A letter from you that we would make our guide,

  21. وَتُبلِغُكَ المَحَبَّةَ عَن مُحِبٍّ

    أَحَبَّكَ قَلبُهُ يَفَعاً غُلاما

    And convey love to you from a lover

    Whose heart loved you when he was an adolescent boy.

  22. وَما ذَنبي وَحُبُّكَ هاجَ هَذا

    وَلَو تُرِكَ القَطا لَغَفا وَناما

    And what is my fault, when love for you stirred this up?

    And had the sandgrouse been left alone, it would have dozed and slept.

  23. وَلَو أَبصَرتَ غَنمَةً ذاتَ يَومٍ

    وَقَد سَفَرَت وَأَحدَرَت اللِثاما

    And if you had seen Ghanma one day,

    When she had unveiled her face and lowered her veil—

  24. يَنوطُ وِشاحُها بِقَضيبٍ بان

    وَيَكسو مِرطَها عَصاً رُكاما

    Her sash hangs from a branch of the ban tree,

    And her mantle clothes a staff, a heaped-up mass.

  25. إِذا اِبتَسَمَت حَسِبتَ الثَغرَ مِنها

    تَأَلَّقَ بارِقٍ يَجلو الظَلاما

    When she smiles, you think her mouth

    Gleams like lightning that dispels the darkness.

  26. جَلَت بِبَشامَةٍ بَرَداً عِذاباً

    كَأَنَّ عَلَيهِ مِسكاً أَو مُداما

    She polished sweet hailstones with a balsam twig,

    As though musk or wine lay upon them.

  27. فَلَم تَزِدِ البَشامَةُ فاكِ طيباً

    وَلَكِن أَنتِ طَيِّبَتِ البَشاما

    So the balsam twig added no fragrance to your mouth;

    Rather, you made the balsam fragrant.

  28. وَما أَدماءُ جُؤذَرَها تُراعي

    وَتَدنو حينَ يُسمِعُها بُغاما

    No pale antelope watching over her calf

    And drawing near when he lets her hear his lowing

  29. بِأَحسَنَ مِنكَ يَومَ رَحَلتِ عَنّا

    وَقَد بَلَّت مَجامِعُكِ اللَثاما

    Is lovelier than you on the day you left us,

    And your 'gathering-points' had soaked the veil,

  30. وَتَحتَكِ بَغلَةٌ زينَت بِرَحل

    مُواشِكَةً تُنازِعُكِ اللِجاما

    And beneath you was a she-mule adorned with a saddle,

    Hurrying, tugging against you at the bridle.

  31. وَكُلُّ الحُبِّ لَغوٌ غَيرَ حُبّي

    فَقَد أَردى الحَشا وَبَرى العِظاما

    And all love is idle talk except my love,

    For it has destroyed my innards and worn my bones away.