1. كم أنتَ واللهِ تُحسَدْ

    باللْحظِ والروحِ والقدّْ

    How greatly you are envied, by God,

    For your gaze, your spirit, and your figure.

  2. عيناك عينا مهاةٍ

    والشعر كالليلِ أسودْ

    Your eyes are the eyes of a female oryx,

    And your hair is black as night.

  3. والثغرُ عِقدُ لآلٍ

    يا ليتني فيه أُنضَدْ

    And your mouth is a necklace of pearls—

    Oh, if only I were strung within it!

  4. إني وحيدُ القوافي

    وأنتَ بالحسن أَوحَدْ

    Indeed, I am peerless in rhyme,

    And you are peerless in beauty.

  5. ففيمَ هذا التجافي

    والهجرُ يا حلو والصَّدّْ

    Why, then, this aloofness,

    And abandonment, sweet one, and rejection?

  6. لكم سهرتُ الليالي

    وقلت: يا نجمُ فاشْهَدْ

    How many nights I have stayed awake,

    And said: O star, bear witness

  7. بأنَّني منهُ مضنى

    وأنني فيه أُحْسَدْ

    That I am worn out because of him,

    And that I am envied on his account,

  8. وأنّه يتجنّى

    وأنَّني أَتَجلَّدْ

    And that he wrongs me,

    And that I steel myself.

  9. وكلَّما رُمتُ وعداً

    بهجرِه يتوعَّدْ

    And whenever I seek a promise,

    He threatens to abandon me.

  10. وإنْ خلوتُ بنفسي

    وجدتُها تَتَمرَّدْ

    And if I am alone with myself,

    I find my soul rebelling.

  11. أقول، يا نفسُ صبراً

    فبابُه غيرُ موصَدْ

    I say: O soul, have patience,

    For his door is not shut.

  12. أقولها وفؤادي

    على اللظى يتوقَّدْ

    I say it while my heart

    Burns upon the flames.

  13. مُنى غدي أنتَ لكنْ

    سيَّان أمسي والغَدّْ

    You are my hopes for tomorrow, yet

    My yesterday and tomorrow are alike.

  14. وأنتَ محرابُ قلبي

    فحيثما كنتَ يَسجُدْ

    And you are my heart's prayer niche;

    So wherever you are, it prostrates itself.