1. قَتلي بِناظِرِ طَرفِهِ الوَسنانِ

    وَبِعَامِلٍ من قَدِّهِ وَسِنَانِ

    My slaying by the gaze of his drowsy eye,

    And by his stature's spear-shaft and spearhead,

  2. أَحلى إِلى قَلبي وَقَد عزَّ العَزا

    من ذِلَّتي ومَرارةٍ الهِجرانِ

    Is sweeter to my heart, though solace is hard to find,

    Than my abasement and the bitterness of separation.

  3. يا صاحِ إِن رُمتَ الُمرورَ بِرامةٍ

    حَذِراً عَلَيَّ مراتِعَ الغِزلانِ

    O friend, if you intend to pass through Ramah,

    Beware, for my sake, of the gazelles' grazing grounds.

  4. فيها تَعلَّقتُ الهَوَى وَعَرفتُ من

    بالصَّدِّ والهَجرِ الطَّويلِ رَماني

    There I fell in love and came to know the one

    Who assailed me with rejection and long estrangement.

  5. سِر بي إلى سِربي بِمنُعرَجِ اللِّوى

    فَلَعلَّ تُروَى غُلَّةُ الظَّمآنِ

    Take me to my herd at the bend of al-Liwa,

    So perhaps the thirsty one's burning thirst may be quenched.

  6. وَعَليكَ بالغُصُنِ الرَّطيبِ فَفَيهِ ما

    في الروَّضِ من زَهرٍ وفي البُستانِ

    And cleave to the tender bough, for it holds what

    The meadow and the garden hold of blossoms.

  7. لولا اخضِرارُ عِذارِهِ ما كُنتُ في

    كَلَفي أَهيمُ بِخُضرةِ الرَّيحانِ

    Were it not for his cheek-down's greening, I would not, in

    My infatuation, be enthralled by the greenness of basil.

  8. كَلاَّ وَلَولا عامِلٌ من قَدَّهِ

    ما ملِتُ من كَلَفي إِلى الأَغصانِ

    Nay, and were it not for the spear-shaft of his stature,

    I would not, out of infatuation, have inclined toward boughs.

  9. ما ضَرَّ مَعسولَ القَوامِ رَشيقَهُ

    لَو زانَ مِنهُ الحُسنَ بالإِحسانِ

    What harm would it do him, honey-sweet and slender of figure,

    If he adorned his beauty with kindness?

  10. أُنسيتُه وحُرِمتُ خمرةَ ريقِهِ

    إن حلَّ قَطُّ سِواهُ في إِنساني

    May I be made to forget him and denied the wine of his saliva,

    If anyone but him ever dwells in my eye's pupil.

  11. لا ذَنبَ إلاَّ للعُيونِ فَإِنَّها

    قَد حَسَّنَت من عِطفِ غُصنِ البانِ

    The fault is the eyes' alone, for they

    Have gained beauty from the flank of a ban-tree's bough.

  12. سَرَقَت نِصابَ الحُسنِ مِنهُ فَنالَها

    قَطعُ الرُّقادِ وذاكَ حَقُّ الجَاني

    They stole a full measure of beauty from him, and so suffered

    The severing of slumber—and that is the offender's rightful due.