1. فؤادي وفودي بعد لمياء أشيبُ

    وقلبي على جمر الغضا يتقلبُ

    After Lamya, my heart and my temple-locks have turned gray,

    and my heart writhes upon ghada-wood embers.

  2. إذا ماس غصنٌ قال قدٌ مهفهفٌ

    وإن لاح برقٌ قال كفٌّ مخضب

    When a bough sways, my heart says, 'A slender figure!'

    And if lightning flashes, it says, 'A henna-stained palm!'

  3. فلا تنكرا ذكر العذيب وبارقٍ

    فإني بثغر المالكية أنسب

    So do not, you two, fault my mention of al-Udhayb and Bariq,

    for I sing love verses of al-Malikiyya's mouth.

  4. أغارُ من القرطين خيفةَ حبّها

    ألست تراها مثل قلبي تعذّب

    I am jealous of the two earrings, fearful of her love;

    do you not see her tormenting them, like my heart?

  5. وأنكرُ من تلك الغدائرِ أنّها

    متى أرسلت ظلّت مع الحجل تلعب

    And I resent the fact that those tresses,

    whenever let loose, keep playing with the anklet.

  6. وليلةِ وصلٍ طال عمرُ ظلامها

    وقد وقفتْ من شعرها تتعجّب

    And a night of union—its darkness lingered long,

    as the night stood still, marveling at her hair.

  7. وطلعتها والفرعُ شمسٌ وليلةٌ

    ومبسمها والكأسُ صبحٌ وكوكب

    And her face and her hair were a sun and a night,

    and her smiling mouth and the cup were a dawn and a star.

  8. وما لاح في الغرب الهلالُ وإنما

    هو البدر إجلالاً لها يتنقّب

    And no crescent gleamed in the west; rather,

    it was the full moon, veiling its face in reverence for her.

  9. كأنَّ دموعي لؤلؤٍ رمتُ نظمهُ

    على جيدها عقداً وبالهدب يثقب

    As though my tears were pearls I sought to string

    as a necklace upon her neck, pierced by my eyelashes.

  10. فلو أنَّ بدر التّم يسطيع بعدها

    لما ضمّهُ من حندس الليل موكب

    For if the full moon could endure her absence,

    no procession of night's deep darkness would enfold it.

  11. وبي فاتكُ الألحاظ لا خوف عنده

    ومع ظلمهِ يرضى المحبُّ فيغضب

    And I suffer from one with murderous glances, who knows no fear;

    despite his cruelty, the lover is content, yet the beloved grows angry.

  12. سباني بوجهٍ لو أماط لثامه

    غداة تلاق كان باللحظ يشرب

    He captured me with a face that, if he lifted its veil

    on a morning of meeting, would be drunk in by the gaze.

  13. وخطّ عذارٍ طرسهُ ماءُ وجنةٍ

    فيا من رأى خطاً على الماءِ يكتب

    And a line of cheek-down, its parchment the water of his cheek—

    oh, who has seen writing inscribed upon water?

  14. وقالوا دخانٌ فوق صفحة خدّه

    ألست تراها جذوةً تتلهبُ

    And they said, 'Smoke above the surface of his cheek!'

    Do you not see that cheek as an ember ablaze?

  15. أعد نظراً في الصبح يعتنق الدُّجى

    وإلاّ ففي الكافور بالمسك يعشب

    Look again at dawn embracing darkness,

    or else at camphor, sprouting with musk.

  16. بصيرٌ بأحكام الخلافِ وشرعهِ

    وليس له إلاّ تجنّيه مذهب

    He is versed in the rulings of dissent and its law,

    and he has no school of thought but his baseless accusations.

  17. يبشّرني هجرانه بوصاله

    ولا عجبٌ أن يقدم الصبح غيهب

    His estrangement gives me glad tidings of union with him;

    and no wonder that deep darkness precedes dawn.

  18. ولو كان لي قلب بقلبي وهبتهُ الـ

    ـبشير ولكنْ ملكهُ كيف يوهب

    And if I had a heart in place of mine, I would give it to the

    bearer of glad tidings—but how can his property be given away?

  19. وما قطع الطيفُ الزيارة عن قلى

    ولكنهُ من أدمعي يتهيّب

    And the dream-phantom did not cease its visits out of aversion,

    but it shrinks in fear from my tears.

  20. أجودُ لهُ بالنفس وبالبخلُ شأنه

    وأسأل منهُ عفوه وهو مذنب

    I lavish my very life on him, while stinginess is his way,

    and I ask him for pardon, though he is the one at fault.

  21. فللحزن في الأحشاء جمعٌ وللهوى

    حجيجٌ وخدّي بالدموع محصّب

    So sorrow has a gathering in my breast, and passion has

    a throng of pilgrims, and my cheek is pebbled with tears.

  22. وما بيَ ضعف عن سقامِ جفونه

    وعينيه لكنَّ المشوقَ مغلَّب

    And I lack no strength to resist the languor of his eyelids

    and his eyes; yet the yearning lover is vanquished.

  23. له قامة كالسمهريّ مثقّفاً

    ولحظٌ كسيف الدين في الحرب مقضب

    He has a figure like a straightened Samhari spear,

    and a glance that cleaves like Saif al-Din in battle.