1. أَراني قَد تَصابَيتُ

    وَقَد كُنتُ تَناهَيتُ

    I find I have indulged in youthful folly,

    though I had already desisted.

  2. وَلَو يَترُكُني الحُبُّ

    لَقَد صُمتُ وَصَلَّيتُ

    Were love to leave me,

    I would surely fast and pray.

  3. إِذا شِئتُ تَصَبَّرتُ

    وَلا أَصبِرُ إِن شيتُ

    When I wish, I make myself patient,

    yet I cannot be patient, even if I wish.

  4. وَلا وَاللَهِ لا يَصبِ

    رُ في الدَيمومَةِ الحوتُ

    No, by God, it cannot endure—

    the fish in the trackless desert.

  5. سُلَيمى لَيسَ لي صَبرٌ

    وَإِن رَخَّصتِ لي جيتُ

    Sulayma, I have no patience;

    and if you give me leave, I will come,

  6. فَقَبَّلتُكِ أَلفِينِ

    وَفَدَّيتُ وَحَيَّيتُ

    then kiss you two thousand times,

    and offer myself as your ransom and greet you.

  7. أَلا أَحبِب بِزَورٍ زا

    رَ مِن سَلمى بِبَيروتِ

    Ah, how dear is a visitor who has come—

    from Salma, in Beirut:

  8. غَزالٌ أَدعَجُ العَينِ

    نَقِيُّ الجيدِ وَالليتِ

    a gazelle with wide, dark eyes,

    with neck and neck-side unblemished.