1. مَا سُلَّ فِي الجَفْنِ سَيْفُ النَّاظَرِ الشَّاكي

    إلاَّ وَصَالَ بِبَتَّارٍ وفَتَّاكِ

    No sooner was the armed gaze's sword drawn within the eyelid

    than it charged with a cleaving, deadly blade.

  2. أبَتْ لِحَاظُكِ إلاَّ أنْ تُرِيقَ دَمِي

    فَعَنْ إرَاقَتِهِ مَا كَانَ أغنَاكِ

    Your glances refused anything but spilling my blood.

    Yet how little need you had to spill it!

  3. وَلَيْسَ ثَأرِي عَلَى عَيْنَيْكِ إنْ فَتَكَتْ

    بَلْ يَهْنِنِي أنَّنِي مِنْ بَعْضِ قَتْلاَكِ

    I seek no vengeance against your eyes if they slay;

    rather, it gladdens me to be among your slain.

  4. فِي كُلّ حَيّ صَرِيعٌ فِي هَوَاكِ فَلِمْ

    أكْثَرْتِ يَا هند فِي الأحْيَاءِ صَرْعَاكِ

    In every clan lies someone slain by love of you; why, then,

    have you, Hind, multiplied your victims among the clans?

  5. خَرَجْتِ بَيْتَ فُؤَادٍ قَدْ ثَوَيْتِ بِهِ

    هَلاَّ عَمَرْتِ عَدَاكِ اللَّوْمُ مَثْوَاكِ

    You left a heart's house in which you had dwelt;

    why not make your dwelling flourish—may blame spare you?

  6. وَرُمْتِ إبْعَادَ مَرْمَى سَهْمِ مُقْلَتِكِ ال

    وَسْنَى فَمَا ضَرَّ لَوْ قَرَّبْتِ مَرْمَاكِ

    And you sought to put far off the target of your eye's arrow—

    the drowsy one; what harm if you brought your target near?

  7. وَقَدْ قَضَيْتِ بِمُرّ الصَّدّ عَنْ غَرَضٍ

    وَشَاهِدُ الحُسْنِ بِالإحْسَانِ حَلاَّكِ

    You decreed bitter rejection, with a purpose,

    yet beauty's witness has adorned you with kindness.

  8. فِي فِيكِ رَاحٌ وَشَهْدٌ ألْهَبَا كَبِدِي

    واحرَّ قَلْبَاهُ إنْ لَمْ أرْتَشِفْ فَاكِ

    In your mouth are wine and honey that set my liver aflame.

    Oh, how my heart burns if I do not sip your mouth!

  9. وَفِي الجُفُونِ ظُبَاتٌ وَالعُيُونِ ظِبًا

    وَاحَيْرَتِي بَيْنَ فَتَّانٍ وَفَتَّاكِ

    In the eyelids are blade-points, and in the eyes, gazelles.

    Oh, my bewilderment between a seducer and a killer!

  10. حَذَّرْتُ نَاظِرَكِ المُغْرِي بِسَفْكِ دَمِي

    لِمَا اقْتَضَى الحَالُ مِنْ تَحْذِيرِ إغْرَاكِ

    I warned your gaze, which incites the spilling of my blood,

    as the situation required a warning against your enticement.

  11. فَنَكَّرَ الهَجْرُ تَمْيِيزِي بِمَعْرِفَةٍ

    وَأعْرَبَ الوَجْدُ أفْعَالِي بِأسْمَاكِ

    So estrangement made my discernment indefinite through familiarity,

    and longing gave my deeds expression through your names.

  12. كَيْفَ السُّلُوُّ وَدَاعِي مُقْلَتَيْكِ دَعَا

    وَقْدَ الغَرَامِ بِقَلْبِي حِينَ لَبَّاكِ

    How can I forget, when the summons of your eyes called forth

    passion's blaze in my heart when it answered your call?

  13. يَا كَعْبَةً حَجَّهَا قَلْبِي وَطَافَ بِهَا

    هَلاَّ جَعَلْتِ صَفَا خَدَّيَّ مَسْعَاكِ

    O Kaaba, to which my heart made pilgrimage and around which it circled,

    why not make the Safa of my cheeks your course?

  14. وَفِي مَحَارِيبِ صُدْغَيْكِ التِي انْعَقَدَتْ

    أمْسَى تَهَجُّدُ طَرْفِي الخَاشِعِ البَاكِي

    And in the prayer niches of your temple-locks, curled into knots,

    my humble, weeping gaze has begun its night prayers.

  15. أنْهِي إلَى خَصْرِكِ الوَاهِي ضَنَى جَسَدِي

    عَسَى بِرِقَّتِهِ يَرْثِي لِمُضْنَاكِ

    I report my body's wasting to your frail waist;

    perhaps, through its delicacy, it may pity the one you have wasted.

  16. وَأرْتَجِي أنْ تَجُودِي لِي وَلَوْ بِكَرًى

    لِيَشْهَدَ الطَّرْفُ في الأحْلاَمِ مَرْآكِ

    And I hope you will be generous to me, even with sleep,

    so my gaze may behold you in dreams.

  17. زُورِي اكْتِتَاماً بِلَيْلِ الشَّعْرِ وَاسْتَتِرِي

    كَيْ لاَ يُبِينَ صَبَاحُ الثَّغْرِ مَسْرَاكِ

    Visit secretly in the night of your hair, and conceal yourself,

    lest the dawn of your mouth reveal your night journey.

  18. وَإنْ دَهَاكِ ظَلاَمُ الشَّعْرِ فَارْتَقِبِي

    بُزُوغَ أنْوَارِ صُبْح مِنْ ثَنَايَاكِ

    And if the darkness of your hair overwhelms you, await

    the rising lights of dawn from your front teeth.

  19. وَلاَ يَرُوعُكِ وَسْوَاسُ الحُلِيّ إذا

    أخْفَيْتِ عَنْ وَحْيِهِ آثَارَ مَمْشَاكِ

    And let the whisper of jewelry not frighten you, if

    you hide the traces of your steps from its whisper.

  20. وَلاَ يَهُولُكِ نَمَّامُ العَبِيرِ فَمَا

    أخْفَاهُ مَسْرَاكِ إلا كَتْمُ لُقْيَاكِ

    And let the tale-telling perfume not alarm you, for nothing

    has hidden your night journey but the secrecy of meeting you.

  21. فَمَا أضَا الصُّبْحُ لَوْلاَكِ ابْتَسَمْتِ لَهُ

    وَلا دَجَا اللَّيْلُ حَتَّى جَنَّ صُدْغَاكِ

    For dawn would not have shone had you not smiled upon it,

    nor did night grow dark until your temple-locks darkened.

  22. ولا وشَى بِاللقَا وحْيُ الحُلِيّ سِوى

    أنَّ الحُلِيّ حَكَى تَرْجِيع مَغْنَاكِ

    Nor did the jewelry's whisper betray the meeting, except

    that the jewelry echoed the refrain of your song.

  23. ولا روَى عَنْبَرِيُّ الصُّدْغِ مُسْنَدهُ

    إلا لِيَنْقُلَهُ عَنْ طِيبِ رَيَّاكِ

    Nor did the amber-scented temple-lock relate its attested report,

    except to transmit it from your sweet fragrance.

  24. وَعَاذِلٍ رَامَ تَشْبِيهًا فَأفْحَمَهُ

    دَلِيلُ حُسْنٍ أقَامَاهُ دَلِيلاَكِ

    And a reproacher sought a comparison, but was silenced

    by a proof of beauty established by your two guides.

  25. وَقُلْتَ تَرْجو شَبِيهًا وَهْوَ مُمْتَنِعٌ

    وَلَوْ تُصَوِّرَ حُسْنٌ مَا تَعَدَّاكِ

    And you spoke in hope of a likeness, though it is impossible;

    even if beauty could take form, it would not go beyond you.

  26. فَإنْ حَكَى البَدْرُ زَاهِي وَجْنَتَيْكِ سَنًى

    فَالْحُسْنُ يَشْهَدُ لِلْمَحْكِيَ لاَ الحاكِي

    So if the full moon copies your cheeks' blooming radiance,

    beauty bears witness for the original, not the imitator.

  27. وَإنْ رَنَا الظَّبْيُ عَنْ جَفْنَيْكِ مُلْتَفِتًا

    فَالسِّحْرُ يُوهِمُ أنَّ الظَّبْيَ جَفْنَاكِ

    And if the gazelle turns, borrowing its gaze from your eyelids,

    enchantment makes one think that the gazelle is your eyelids.

  28. مِنْ أيْنَ لِلظَّبْيِ أصْدَاغٌ مُعَقْرَبَةٌ

    تَحْمِي الشَّقِيقَ الَّذِي أبْدَاهُ خَدَّاكِ

    Where could a gazelle get scorpion-curled temple-locks

    to guard the anemone your cheeks reveal?

  29. وَكَيْفَ لِلظَّبْيِ أحْدَاقٌ مُلَوَّزَةٌ

    تَعْلُو الوَشِيجَ الذِي هَزَّتْهُ عِطْفَاكِ

    And how could a gazelle have almond-shaped eyes

    above the spear-shaft swayed by your two sides?

  30. مَا البدرُ مَا الشَّمْسُ ما الظَّبْيُ الغَرِيرُ ومَا

    زَهْرُ الرُّبَى وَغُصُونُ البَانِ لَوْلاَكِ

    What are the full moon, the sun, the guileless gazelle, and

    the flowers of the hills and ban-tree boughs without you?

  31. وَهَلْ سُعَادٌ وَسَلْمَى والرَّبَابُ إذَا

    عُدَّتْ مَحَاسِنُ حُسْنَاهُنَّ إلاَكِ

    And among Su'ad, Salma, and al-Rabab, when

    charms are counted, is their fairest anyone but you?

  32. تيهِي عَلَى الغِيدِ وَاسْبِي الزَّهْرَ بَهْجَتَهُ

    فَالْغِيدُ وَالزَّهْرُ مِنْ أسْرَارِ مَغْنَاكِ

    Pride yourself above graceful maidens, and rob flowers of their splendor;

    for graceful maidens and flowers are among the secrets of your abode.

  33. أعِيذُ بِالنَّجْمِ صَادَ اللَّحْظِ مِنْكِ كمَا

    بِالنُّورِ وَالْفَجْرِ عَوَّذْنَا مُحَيَّاكِ

    I invoke protection by the Star for the Ṣād of your glance, just as

    by the Light and the Dawn we invoked protection for your face.

  34. نَبَّتْ يَدَا زُمَرِ الْعُذَّالِ فِي قَمَرٍ

    كَالشَّمْسِ مَا ضَرَّهَا خَنَّاسُ أفَّاكِ

    The hands of the reproaching bands sprang up against a moon,

    like the sun, which no skulking liar has harmed.

  35. تُرْكِيَّةُ اللَّحْظِ لَوْلاَ عُرْبُ مَنْطِقِهَا

    مَا هِمْتُ وَجْداً بِأعْرَابٍ وَأتْرَاكِ

    Turkish of gaze—were it not for her Arabic speech,

    I would not have been love-mad for Bedouins and Turks.

  36. هَارُوتُ أجْفَانِهَا ألْقَى حَبَائِلَهُ

    فَأوْقَعَ الْقَلْبَ فِي مَهْوَاةِ أشْرَاكِ

    The Harut of her eyelids cast his snares,

    and cast the heart into an abyss of traps.

  37. شَكَوْتُ سُقْمِي لِشَاكِي لَحْظِهَا فَرَنَا

    شَزْراً وَقَالَ أنَا الْمَشْكُوُّ لاَ الشَّاكِي

    I complained of my sickness to her armed glance; it gazed

    askance and said, 'I am the one complained of, not the complainer.'

  38. وَصَالَ إذْ سَلَّ فِي الأجْفَانِ نَاظِرُهُ

    مُهَنَّداً لِفُؤَادِي غَيْرَ تَرَّاكِ

    And it charged when its gaze unsheathed, within the eyelids,

    an Indian-forged blade that never spares my heart.

  39. مَلِيكَةَ الحُسْنِ رِفْقاً بِالفؤَادِ وَلاَ

    تبغي عَلَيَّ فَإنِّي مِنْ رَعَايَاكِ

    Queen of beauty, be gentle with the heart, and do not

    oppress me, for I am one of your subjects.

  40. أنَزّهُ الطَّرْفَ عَنْ رُؤْيَا سِوَاكِ كَمَا

    أوَحِّدُ القَلْبَ عَنْ تَثْلِيثِ إشْرَاكِ

    I keep my gaze pure of seeing anyone but you, just as

    I keep the heart devoted to one, free from a trinity of partners.