1. بسيف اجفانه تقلّد

    فاحذر من الصارم المهند

    He girded himself with the sword of his eyelids;

    so beware the keen, Indian-forged blade.

  2. وهز للطعن سمهرياً

    سمر القنا دونه تقصد

    And he brandished a slender spear to thrust,

    before which tawny spear-shafts break apart.

  3. قد ضرج الحسن منه خدّاً

    من دم عشاقه تورد

    Beauty has stained a cheek of his;

    it turned rose-red with his lovers' blood.

  4. فمن اقاح ومن شقيق

    ونرجس ناعس مسهد

    So, of daisies and of anemones,

    and a drowsy, sleepless narcissus.

  5. له قوام إذا تثنى

    رأيته في الجمال مفرد

    His is a figure that, when it sways,

    you see as peerless in beauty.

  6. جمع شمال الجمال لكن

    لشمل صبر المحب بدد

    He gathered all beauty together, but

    scattered the unity of the lover's patience.

  7. دمعي طليق وذاك قلبي

    عان بأسر الهوى مقيد

    My tears are free, while that heart of mine

    is a captive, fettered in love's prison.

  8. انظر إلى الخد وهو نضر

    تجد رياضاً بذلك الخد

    Look at the cheek, fresh and radiant;

    you will find gardens upon that cheek.

  9. بدا فبدر الدجى تجلى

    مشى فبان الحمى تأود

    He appeared, and the full moon of night shone forth;

    he walked, and the bān tree of the sanctuary swayed.

  10. دموع عيني لها انسجام

    حين ترى حسنه وتشهد

    The tears of my eye stream freely

    when it sees his beauty and beholds it.

  11. يبسم عن اشنب شتيت

    رضابه شهدة وصرخد

    He smiles, revealing a cool, sweet mouth with spaced teeth;

    his saliva is honey from the comb and Ṣarkhad wine.

  12. يا خجلة الريم حين يرنو

    بأحور ناعس واجيد

    Oh, the gazelle's shame when he gazes

    with a dark, drowsy eye and a graceful long neck!

  13. فالبدر والبانة استعارا

    سنا المحيا وهزة القد

    For the full moon and the bān tree borrowed

    the radiance of his face and the sway of his figure.

  14. ثغر كان الاقاح فيه

    يفترّ واللؤلؤ المنضد

    A mouth where daisies seem

    to smile, along with pearls arranged in rows.

  15. في ذلك الثغر كنز درّ

    بعقرب الصدغ بات يرصد

    Within that mouth is a treasure of pearls,

    watched through the night by the scorpion of his temple-lock.

  16. سدّد عن قوس حاجبيه

    سهماً رماني به فاقصد

    From the bow of his eyebrows he aimed

    an arrow; he struck me with it and killed me outright.

  17. مسدّد الرمي افتديه

    بمهجتي رامياً مسدّد

    Unerring in his shots, I would ransom him

    with my lifeblood—an unerring archer.

  18. لم ار قبل اللحاظ سيفاً

    يقتل من شاء وهو مغمد

    Before his glances, I had never seen a sword

    that kills whomever it wills while still sheathed.

  19. ولائم قد عداه وجدي

    فلا منى في الهوى وفند

    And a reproacher, untouched by my passion,

    rebuked me for love and called me foolish.

  20. بت شجياً وبات خلواً

    من لوعة الهائم المسهد

    I passed the night grieving; he passed it free

    of the anguish of the sleepless, love-crazed wanderer.

  21. يقول ان الهوى هوان

    طورا بعاد وتارة صد

    He says that love is humiliation:

    at one time estrangement, at another rejection.

  22. قلت عذاب الغرام عذب

    وذو الهوى بالغرام يسعد

    I said: Love's torment is sweet,

    and the lover finds happiness in passion.

  23. دع المعنى وما يقاسي

    كم بين سال وبين مكمد

    Leave the tormented lover with what he suffers;

    how far apart are the carefree and the grief-stricken!

  24. ذق لذة الحب والتصابي

    لتعذر المغرم المفند

    Taste the delight of love and youthful dalliance,

    so you may excuse the lover accused of folly.

  25. قلبي عند الحسان اضحى

    رهن هوى غادة واغيد

    Among the beauties, my heart has become

    hostage to love for a graceful maiden and a supple youth.

  26. أوقدت النار وجنتاها

    لكنها في الحشا توقد

    Her cheeks kindled the fire,

    yet it burns within my breast.

  27. وشاحها جائل بخصر

    واه دقيق يكاد ينقد

    Her sash moves loosely about a waist

    so frail and slender it nearly snaps.

  28. كم ليلة بت في دجاها

    والنوم عن مقلتي مشرد

    How many a night I have spent in its darkness,

    with sleep driven away from my eye!

  29. كأنما الجفن وهو يأبى

    غمضاً بنجم السماء يعقد

    As though my eyelid, refusing

    to close, were bound to a star in the sky.

  30. كأنما الصبح إذ جفاني

    خاف عتابي له فابعد

    As though the dawn, when it shunned me,

    feared my reproach and kept far away.

  31. يا نفحة الشيح من زرود

    تحمل نشر العبير والند

    O breath of wormwood from Zarūd,

    carrying the scent of perfume and aromatic incense,

  32. عرفت عرف الحبيب منها

    والركب دون الغوير هجد

    from it I recognized the beloved's fragrance,

    while the caravan slept this side of al-Ghuwayr.

  33. فحدثيني حديث شوق

    إلى الحمى والعقيق يسند

    So tell me a tale of longing

    traced to the sanctuary and al-ʿAqīq.

  34. طاب شذاها كأن فيها

    ذكر مليك العلى المؤبد

    Its fragrance grew sweet, as though it held

    the mention of glory's everlasting sovereign.