1. آه من فتك طرفها القتال

    واهتزازات خصرها الميال

    Ah, the havoc of her murderous glance!

    And the undulations of her swaying waist;

  2. وخدود كالبدر أشرق ليلاً

    وجبين مبرج كالهلال

    And cheeks like the full moon shining at night;

    And an adorned brow like the crescent;

  3. وقوام كالسمهري إذا ما

    س ولفت يحكيه لفت الغزال

    And a figure like a slender spear whenever she

    sways, and a turning matched by a gazelle's turn;

  4. وعيون كالنرجس الغض غضت

    فكوت بالغضا فؤادي البالي

    And eyes like fresh narcissus, lowering their gaze,

    then searing my worn-out heart with burning ghada wood;

  5. وانعقاد النونين من حاجبيها

    ولمى شهد ثغرها السلسال

    And the joining of the two nūns formed by her eyebrows;

    And dusky lips, the smooth-flowing honey of her mouth;

  6. وحبال من القضا سلسلتها

    فوق كشح واها لها من حبال

    And cords of fate she has linked together

    above a waist—ah, what cords!

  7. ومعان من سحر منطقها العذ

    ب دعت مهجتي كلون الخال

    And meanings from the magic of her speech, so

    sweet, summoned my heart's blood, like the beauty spot's hue;

  8. وانعطاف لكن لعمرك عني

    وتلو كالبارق المتلالي

    And a turning—but, by your life, away from me—

    and pursuit, like glittering lightning;

  9. ووعيد أضنى جلادة عزمي

    وغدا منه هيكلي كالخيال

    And a threat that exhausted the resilience of my resolve;

    And through it my frame became like a phantom;

  10. ووعود طالت وطال مداها

    وتمادت وأشغلت لي بالي

    And promises stretched on, their reach stretching too;

    They dragged on and occupied my mind;

  11. وهيام لها وحر غرام

    في ضميري كما رج في اشتعال

    And passion for her, and the heat of ardent love

    within my heart, like a flame ablaze;

  12. ودموع كالسيل فاضت كمرجا

    ن بخدي تقص خافي حالي

    And tears like a torrent, flowing like coral

    on my cheek, recounting my hidden state;

  13. ورقيت ما زال يبحث عنها

    ونصوح فيها من العذال

    And a watcher who keeps searching for her;

    And an earnest counselor about her, one of the reproachers;

  14. ويد في الهوى قيصرة باع

    وهموم من الزمان طوال

    And a hand whose reach in love is short;

    And long sorrows from time;

  15. ورفاق قد أوتروا لفراقي

    خدرها عدوة رفيع النبال

    And companions who have strung their bows to part me from

    her bower, in a rush of lofty arrows;

  16. واقتراب ما البعد أصعب منه

    واتصال أدهى من الإنفصال

    And a nearness no easier than distance;

    And a union more grievous than separation;

  17. وسكون ولهفةٌ وولوع

    واضطراب وسكرة وخبال

    And stillness, yearning, and devotion;

    And agitation, intoxication, and madness;

  18. وقيام مع الهوى وقعود

    وحروب مع النوى وجدال

    And rising and sitting with love;

    And wars and disputes with separation;

  19. وهي في عزها وسلطان عليا

    عجبها في دلالها والتعالي

    While she, in her glory and the sway of her supreme

    self-admiration, in her coquetry and haughtiness,

  20. تتغالى على سرير جمال

    حرسته عساكر الآمال

    exalts herself upon a throne of beauty,

    guarded by the armies of hope;

  21. وترى قتلة المتيم ظلماً

    في سبيل الهوى أحل الحلال

    And deems the unjust slaying of the love-stricken,

    in love's cause, the most lawful of lawful acts.

  22. حالها الفتك بالمحب غروراً

    إن هذا من أعجب الأحوال

    Her way is to slay the lover in her conceit;

    Truly, this is among the strangest of states.

  23. محيت قدرتي ولا أستطيع الصب

    ر عنها فالصب شيمة خالي

    My strength is erased; I cannot endure

    being away from her, for lovesickness is my maternal uncle's trait.

  24. أنا صبري لها وحاشاي أن أش

    غل عنها حتى ألف بخالي

    As for me, my patience is for her; far be it from me to be

    distracted from her, even to grow familiar with my maternal uncle.

  25. هكذا عادة المحب إذا ما

    مال قلباً ما مال للإنفتال

    Such is the lover's custom: whenever

    his heart inclines, he never inclines to turn away.

  26. ويرى في طريقه الصبر فرضاً

    واجباً حكمه على كل حال

    And he sees patience on his path as an obligation,

    a binding duty whose decree holds in every state.

  27. لذتي ذلتي لها وخضوعي

    وذهولي عن غيرها واشتغالي

    My delight is my abasement before her and my submission,

    and my oblivion to all but her, and my absorption.

  28. ما أحيلي الأيام تقضي لديها

    وبأعتابها تمر الليالي

    How sweet the days spent in her presence,

    and the nights passing at her thresholds!

  29. هي روح وروح من صار مثلي

    في هواها حزباً من الأمثال

    She is solace and the soul of those who, like me,

    have become, in love for her, a company of peers,

  30. وتخلي لها عن الغير حتى

    غبا عن آل عمه والخال

    and forsaken all others for her, until

    they vanished from the kin of their paternal and maternal uncles.

  31. حاربتني بحسنها فرمتني

    حين ماست وقطعت أوصالي

    She warred against me with her beauty, then shot me

    when she swayed, and severed my limbs;

  32. وغزتني بمقلة تبعتها

    في طريق الوغا جيوش الجمال

    And she raided me with an eye, followed

    on the path of battle by the armies of beauty.

  33. ليس لي عدة لحفظ فؤادي

    غير حبي للمصطفى والآل

    I have no arms to protect my heart

    but my love for al-Mustafa and his family.