1. ما على ما لاقيته من مزيدِ

    شفَّ برحُ البكاءِ والتسهيدِ

    Nothing can surpass what I have suffered.

    The agony of weeping and sleeplessness has wasted me.

  2. يا قلوبَ الأحباب ما أسعدَ العشـ

    ـاق جدّاَ لو حزنَ لينَ القدودِ

    O hearts of the beloved, how happy lovers would be,

    truly, if you had the suppleness of their figures!

  3. من شكا قسوةَ القلوب فما أش

    كو سوى فرط رقةٍ في الخدودِ

    Others may lament the hardness of hearts; I complain

    only of the excessive softness of cheeks.

  4. وقريب منّي بعيد عن النا

    ظر فأعجبْ من القريب البعيدِ

    And one near me is far from sight;

    so marvel at the one both near and far!

  5. يا عهود الحدباء عودي فقد

    برحت شوقاً بالهائم المعمودِ

    O days of al-Hadba, return, for you have

    tormented the bewildered, stricken lover with longing.

  6. طال بثّي ولا أرى من سميعٍ

    سالفُ الدهر ما له من معيدِ

    My lament has drawn on, and I see no listener.

    No one can bring back the days gone by.

  7. أنا أفدي من خدّهِ فضَّةً بيضا

    ءَ لكنَّ قلبه من حديدِ

    I would ransom the one whose cheek is white silver,

    but whose heart is made of iron.

  8. وأرى الدهر كالأحبَّةِ فعلاً

    ما صفا يومُ وصله من صدودِ

    And I see Time behaving like the beloved:

    no day of its union is free of rejection.

  9. وبديعُ الجمال كم حلَّ من

    عقدةِ صبري ببندهِ المعقودِ

    And one of wondrous beauty—how often he has untied

    a knot in my patience with his knotted band!

  10. علَّني أن أراه يوماً فيطفي

    نار وجدٍ فيب القلب ذات وقودِ

    Perhaps I may see him one day, and he may quench

    the fuel-fed fire of longing within the heart.

  11. لذعتني نار الفارق ونار الحـ

    ـب والبين ما لها من خمودِ

    The departing one's fire scorched me, and the fire of love

    and separation never dies down.

  12. يا زمان الوصل السريع فدى عصـ

    ـركِ عصرُ الهجر الطويل المديدِ

    O time of fleeting union, may your span be ransomed

    by the long, drawn-out span of estrangement!

  13. وضعيفَ العهود ما مثل وجدي

    بك في العاشقين بالمعهودِ

    And you, frail in your pledges—no longing like mine

    for you is known among lovers.

  14. طال عمر البعاد عنكم وفي الأشـ

    ـجان عمرُ الملام والتفنيدِ

    Long is the life of separation from you, and amid sorrows,

    the life of blame and censure is long as well.

  15. فقنعنا من وصلكم بالتمنّي

    ورضينا منكم بليَّ الوعودِ

    So we settled for merely wishing for union with you,

    and accepted your twisting of promises.