يا رشأ السدرِ ولو أنني

أنصفتُ ناديتُ رشا الصدرِ

O young gazelle of the lote trees—had I

done you justice, I would have called you the young gazelle of my breast.

يا قاسيَ القلب ألا عطفةٌ

تثني إليها رقةَ الخَصرِ

O hard-hearted one, is there no tender turn

that might bend your slender waist toward itself?

ما بالُ قلبي مثل عينيك لا

يفيقُ من همٍ ومن سُكرِ

What ails my heart, that, like your eyes, it never

recovers from sorrow or intoxication?

ولو أراد اللَّهُ رفقاً به

لم يكحل الأجفانَ بالسحرِ

And had God wished to be gentle with it,

He would not have lined the eyelids with magic.

ملءُ فؤادي زفرةٌ تلتظي

وملء عيني عَبرَةٌ تجرِي

My heart is full of a blazing sigh,

and my eye is full of a flowing tear.

آياتُ داودٍ إذن في يدي

إن لان لي قلبُ أبي بكرِ

Then David's miracles would be in my hand,

if Abu Bakr's heart were to soften toward me.