1. مني إليك وقد تباعدَ بيننا

    بُعدٌ وصالَ على الصدودِ وصالُ

    From me to you, though there has grown between us

    a distance, and union has assailed estrangement.

  2. وجَلا بمجْلِسِنا الربيعُ عروسَهُ

    لعبتْ بمِعطَفها صَبا وشمالُ

    And spring unveiled its bride at our gathering;

    the east and north winds played about her flank.

  3. غازلْتها والكأسف في آفاقِها

    نجمٌ توقّد والمُديرُ هِلالُ

    I wooed her, while the cup upon her horizons

    was a blazing star, and the cupbearer a crescent moon.

  4. فلوتْ معاطفَها تميسُ كأنّما

    حكمتْ عليها القهوةُ الجِريالُ

    Then she twisted her flanks, swaying as though

    the ruby-red wine had gained mastery over her.

  5. فانعمْ بها هيفاءَ عرْفُ نسيمِها

    أرَجٌ وروضُ جمالِها مِخْضالِ

    So delight in her, slender-waisted: the scent of her breeze

    is sweet perfume, and the garden of her beauty is lush with dew.

  6. حملتْ من الأزهارِ أشباهَ الرُبى

    فتساوتِ الأمثالُ والأشكالُ

    She bore, in blossoms, likenesses of the hills;

    thus the likenesses and forms became alike.

  7. فالآسُ صدْعٌ والأقاحي مَبْسِمٌ

    والوردُ خدُّ والبنفسجُ خالُ

    So the myrtle is a cleft, and the daisies a smiling mouth;

    and the rose is a cheek, and the violet a beauty spot.