الحابِسِ الرَوَثَ في أَعفاجِ بَغلَتِهِ

الحابِسِ الرَوَثَ في أَعفاجِ بَغلَتِهِ

خَوفاً عَلى الحُبَّ مِن نَقرِ العَصافيرِ

خَوفاً عَلى الحُبَّ مِن نَقرِ العَصافيرِ

He who holds back the dung in his she-mule’s bowels,

The one who holds back his spit in the cheeks of his mule,

He who imprisons the dung in the bowels of his mule,

For fear the sparrows might peck at the grain.

Fearing for love from the pecking of sparrows.

For fear that the sparrows might peck at the grain.