1. عَوَّذْتُهَا بِالْمُرْسَلاَتِ دُمُوعي

    وَحَجَبْتُهَا بالْمُورِيَاتِ ضُلُوعي

    I invoked protection for her with my tears, sent forth,

    and screened her with my ribs, kindlers of fire.

  2. وَعَلمْتُ مَا ألْقَاهُ سَاحرُ طَرْفهَا

    وَجَهِلْتُ مَا ألْقَاهُ منْ تَفْجِيعِي

    And I knew what the sorcerer of her gaze had cast,

    yet knew not what heartbreak I would suffer.

  3. وَرَوَيْتُ عَنْ لِينِ المَعَاطِفِ مُسْنَداً

    صَيَّرْتُهُ عِنْدَ اللقَاءِ شَفِيعِي

    And I narrated, from supple curves, a chain-supported report,

    which I made my intercessor when we met.

  4. فَمَتَى يُسَاعِدُنِي الزَّمَانُ وَمَا مَضَى

    هيْهَاتَ لَمْ يَسْمَحْ لنا برُجوعِ

    When, then, will time favor me? As for what has passed—

    alas, it has allowed us no return.

  5. يَا صَاحبيَّ قِفَا بِسَلْعٍ وَاسْألا

    عَنْ شَمْسِهِ هَلْ آذَنَتْ بطُلوعِ

    O my two companions, halt at Salʿ and ask

    about its sun: has she announced her rising?

  6. وَاسْتَنْشِداَ جَمْرَ الغَضَا ومِيَاهَهُ

    عَنْ َبْرِد سلواني وحَرّ ضُلُوعِي

    And ask the ghaḍā's embers and its waters to recite

    of the coolness of my solace and the heat of my ribs.

  7. واسْتَعْطِفَا بَانَ الحِمَى وَظِبَاءَهُ

    لِحَشَا الكَئيبِ وَمُهْجَةِ المَفْجوعِ

    And implore the preserve's bān trees and its gazelles

    for the sorrowful one's heart and the grief-stricken one's soul.

  8. وَاسْتَعْطفَا فِي عتبِ مَنْ لَوْ آنَسَتْ

    مَا اسْتَأنَسَ المَهْجُورُ بِالتَّرْوِيعِ

    And plead for tenderness in reproaching her who, had she comforted,

    the forsaken would not have found comfort in terror.

  9. وَدَّعْتُهَا وَالصَّبْرُ يَهْجُرُ مُهْجَتِي

    مَا كَانَ أغنَانِي عَنِ التَّوْدِيعِ

    I bade her farewell while patience deserted my soul.

    How well I could have done without farewell!

  10. وَوَجَدْتُ بَعْدَ شَهِيِّ بَاردِ وَصْلِهَا

    حَرَّ الفِطَامِ عَلَى فُؤادِ رضِيعِ

    And after the delicious coolness of union with her, I felt

    the burning of weaning upon a suckling's heart.

  11. شُغِلَ الرقيبُ وَسَاعَدَتْنِي خلوة

    في بَثّ شَوْقِي وَاجْتِلاَءِ هُلُوعِي

    The watcher was distracted, and solitude aided me

    in pouring out my longing and laying bare my anguish.

  12. فَضَمَمْتُ صَدْرَ رِكَابِهَا فَعَسَاهُ أنْ

    تَعْدِيهِ رِقَّةُ قَلْبِيَ المَوْجُوعِ

    So I embraced the breast of her mount, hoping that

    the tenderness of my wounded heart might spread to it.

  13. وَإذَا الغَمَائِمُ قَدْ نَثَرْنَ جَوَاهِراً

    فَعَلَى مَحَلٍّ بِالْعَقِيقِ رَفِيعِ

    And when the clouds have scattered jewels,

    they fall upon a lofty abode at al-ʿAqīq.

  14. سَابَقْتُ أشْهَبَ مُزْنِهَا في أفْقِهِ

    بِكُمَيْتِ دَمْعٍ فِي الخُدُودِ سَرِيع

    I raced her raincloud's gray steed across its horizon,

    with a swift chestnut steed of tears upon my cheeks.

  15. حَيْثُ الحَمَائِمُ فَوْقَ بَانَاتِ الحِمَى

    تُشْجِيكَ بِالتَّغْرِيدِ وَالتَّسْجِيع

    Where the doves above the preserve's bān trees

    sadden you with their warbling and rhythmic cooing.

  16. تَشْدُو فَيُعْرِبُ لَحْنُهَا مَا أعْجَمَتْ

    هُ القُضْبُ بِالتَّرْدِيدِ وَالتَّرْجِيعِ

    They sing, and their melody makes plain what was left obscure

    by the boughs, through repetition and refrain.

  17. يَا أيُّهَا اللُّوَّامُ كُفُّوا إنَّمَا

    نَاديتٌمُ يَا بُكْمُ غَيْرَ سَمِيعِ

    O you reproachers, desist! You have only

    called, O mute ones, to one who does not hear.

  18. مَا العَذْلُ نُصْحٌ لاَ وَلاَ أنَا جُلْمَدٌ

    فَأظلُّ مِنْهُ كَخَاشِع مَصْدُوعِ

    Reproach is not counsel—no! Nor am I a boulder,

    to be left by it like a humbled, shattered rock.

  19. مَهْلاً فَإنَّ القَلْبَ لَيْسَ بِقَالِبٍ

    وَتَرَفُّقًا فَالصَّبْرُ غَيْرُ مُطِيعِ

    Gently, for the heart is not a mold,

    and be tender, for patience will not obey.

  20. يَوْمي عَلىَ الْمَحْبُوبِ عَامٌ كَامِلٌ

    الصيفُ قَلْبِي وَالشتَاءُ ضُلُوعِي

    My day of longing for the beloved is a whole year:

    summer is my heart, and winter my ribs.

  21. لاَ أنْثَنِي عَنْ حُبّ خوْدٍ خَدُّهَا

    نُعْمَانُهُ يَرْوِي عَنِ ابْنِ مَنِيعِ

    I will not turn from loving a tender maiden whose cheek's

    anemone, Nuʿmān, narrates on the authority of Ibn Manīʿ.

  22. صَحَّ الغَرَامُ بِوَسْطِ قَلْبٍ قَطَّعَتْ

    أرَأيْتَ شَيْئاً صَحَّ بِالتَّقْطِيعِ

    Passion proved sound within a heart she cut apart;

    have you seen anything made sound by being cut apart?

  23. وَلَوَتْ سَوَالِفَهَا عَلَى وجَنَاتِهَا

    كَرطيبِ آسٍ للشقيقِ ضَجِيعِ

    And she curled her tresses over her cheeks,

    like fresh myrtle, bedfellow to the anemone.

  24. أسْكَنْتُهَا قَلْبِي الصَّرِيعَ فَيَا تُرَى

    رَضِيَتْ بِسُكْنَاهُ مَعَ التَّصْرِيعِ

    I lodged her in my stricken heart; I wonder—

    was she content to dwell in it, though it lay felled?

  25. وَهَوَيْتُهَا كَالرَّوضِ يُظْهِرُ حُسْنُهَا

    مَا شَاءَهُ فِي كَثْرَةِ التَّوْدِيعِ

    And I loved her, garden-like; her beauty reveals

    whatever it wills amid repeated farewells.

  26. وأَبَحْتُهَا رُوحي بِلاَ شَطَطٍ وَهَلْ

    يَا رَوْضُ تَشْرِينِي بِفَصْلِ رَبيِع

    And I offered her my soul without excess; will you,

    O garden, buy me for a season of spring?