1. أما والعَينُ تُبكيها طُلولٌ

    لِمَن تهوى وتُدميها شؤونُ

    Lo, by the eye, made to weep by ruins

    of the one it loves, and made to bleed by tear ducts—

  2. ألِيَّةَ مغرمٍ يبدي سُلُوًّا

    وفي أحشائه الوجد الكمين

    the oath of a lover who displays detachment,

    while passion lies hidden in his breast.

  3. يكتِّمُ سِرَّه بالصَّبر حتَّى

    يَبوح بِسرِّه الدَّمع الهتون

    He conceals his secret through patience, until

    streaming tears disclose his secret.

  4. يطيع غرامه دمعٌ كريمٌ

    ويعصي أمْرَهُ صَبْرٌ ضنين

    Generous tears obey his passion,

    and miserly patience defies his command.

  5. يقول إذا ذكرتُ له عذولاً

    له دين وللعشاق دين

    He says, when I mention a reproacher to him,

    "He has his creed, and lovers have theirs."

  6. لقد فتكت بي الأحداق حتَّى

    جُنِنْتُ وما الهوى إلاَّ جنون

    Indeed, eyes have ravaged me until

    I went mad—and love is nothing but madness.

  7. وما يُدريك ما طَعَنتْ قدود

    مهفهفةٌ وما فتكت عيون

    And how can you know whom figures have pierced—

    slender figures—and whom eyes have slain?

  8. فذا منها وما قَتَلَتْ قتيل

    وذا منها وما طَعَنَتْ طعين

    So this one is slain by them, though they have not killed,

    and this one is pierced by them, though they have not stabbed.

  9. ألينُ وأشتكي منها فتقسو

    فكم تقسو عليَّ وكم ألين

    I soften and complain of her, so she grows harsh;

    how harsh she is to me, and how I soften!

  10. وإنَّ الظاعنين وإنْ تناءت

    عليها لي وإن نزحت ديون

    And indeed the departing ones, though they grow distant,

    owe me debts, though they have gone far away.

  11. وللمستغرمين بعينِ نجدٍ

    غداة البين إذ خَفَّ القطين

    And the love-stricken at Najd's spring,

    on the morning of parting, when the dwellers departed,

  12. قلوبٌ عند كاظمةٍ رهون

    وما قُبِضَتْ إذَنْ تلك الرهون

    have hearts held in pledge at Kazima,

    and those pledges were not collected then.

  13. فلا صبرٌ على نأيٍ مقيمٌ

    ولا دَمعٌ على سرٍّ أمين

    So no patience endures through separation,

    and no tears can be trusted with a secret.