مَرَرنا عَلى سِربِ الظّباءِ عَشيّةً

مَرَرنا عَلى سِربِ الظّباءِ عَشيّةً

فَلَم يَعدُنا حَتّى تَقنّصنا السِّربُ

فَلَم يَعدُنا حَتّى تَقنّصنا السِّربُ

We passed by a herd of gazelles one evening.

We passed some gazelles at evening

But the herd did not pass us by until it had ensnared us.

Before they spied and fled us through the glen.

وَكُنّا نَظنُّ القربُ يَشفي سَقامنا

وَكُنّا نَظنُّ القربُ يَشفي سَقامنا

فَلم يَكُ إِلّا كلُّ أَدوائنا القُربُ

فَلم يَكُ إِلّا كلُّ أَدوائنا القُربُ

And we thought nearness would cure our sickness.

We thought our nearness might assuage our pain;

Yet nearness was nothing but the sum of all our ills.

But nearness to them only hurt again.

وَقالوا أَلَمّا تَنْهَ قلبك عَن هوىً

وَقالوا أَلَمّا تَنْهَ قلبك عَن هوىً

فَقلتُ وَهَل لي بَعدِ بَينِهِمُ قلبُ

فَقلتُ وَهَل لي بَعدِ بَينِهِمُ قلبُ

And they said, 'Have you not yet restrained your heart from love?'

"Does not your heart now cease its passion?" they cried.

So I said, 'And do I have a heart after their departure?'

I said "My heart? Nay, while they live, it will not."