1. طالَ التمنُّعُ يا مليحةَ فامنحي

    كم فرصة سنحت ولمّا تسمَحي

    Long has your coy refusal lasted, fair one; grant me your favor.

    How many chances have arisen, yet you have not consented!

  2. طلبَ الجمالُ عبودَتي وعِبادَتي

    فغَدَوتُ بينَ مؤرَّقٍ ومُبرَّحِ

    Beauty demanded my servitude and my worship,

    So I found myself between sleeplessness and torment.

  3. إني لأرجو ما بهِ أطمَعتني

    ووعَدتِني وأنا بعيدُ المَطمَح

    Indeed, I hope for what you led me to expect

    And promised me, while my aspirations reach far.

  4. إن تُنجِزيهِ كُنتِ أكرمَ حرّةٍ

    جادت على حرٍّ بما لم يقبح

    If you fulfill it, you will be the most generous freeborn woman

    Who generously gave a freeborn man what brought no shame.

  5. ما زلتُ عذريَّ الهوى وأنا الذي

    عن موقفِ الشرفاءِ لم يَتَزَحزَح

    I have remained chaste in love, and I am the one

    Who has never budged from the stance of honorable people.

  6. فثقي بما يُبديه قلبي من فمي

    فأنا المخاطِبُ بالأصحّ الأفصح

    So trust what my heart reveals through my mouth,

    For I speak in the truest, most eloquent terms.

  7. ولئن نظرتُ إِلى سواكِ هُنَيهةً

    ما كنتُ غيرَ مقابلٍ مُستَوضِح

    And even if I looked at someone other than you for a moment,

    I was only comparing, seeking clarity.

  8. باللهِ كيفَ أُحبُّ غيركِ بعدَما

    طالعتُ أنوارَ الجبينِ الأصبَح

    By God, how could I love anyone but you, after

    I beheld the radiance of your shining brow?

  9. أنتِ الصباحُ وغيرُكِ المِصباحُ في

    نظري ولستُ إذا جحدتُ بمُفلِح

    You are the morning, and anyone else is a lamp in

    My eyes; and I shall not prosper if I deny it.

  10. هاتي يَديكِ وصافِحيني رَحمةً

    فالحقدُ تحتَ يدِ المصافِحِ يَمَّحي

    Offer me your hands and shake hands with me in mercy,

    For rancor fades beneath the hand of one who shakes hands.

  11. قالت أغارُ عليكَ فاحذر غِيرتي

    ما النارُ منها في الجحيمِ بألفَح

    She said, “I am jealous over you, so beware my jealousy:

    The fire in Hell is no more searing than it.

  12. أوَ لستَ تَعلمُ إنني سلطانةٌ

    إن لم يكن دَمُ عاشِقي لي يُسفح

    And do you not know that I am a queen,

    Even if my lover’s blood is not shed for me?”

  13. وبكت وألقَت فوقَ صَدري خَدَّها

    فعَجبتُ كيفَ الخدُّ لم يتَجرَّح

    And she wept and laid her cheek upon my chest,

    So I wondered how her cheek had not been wounded.

  14. وكأنهُ البلسانُ مِنهُ قد بَدا

    وَردٌ على الأغصانِ لم يَتَفَتَّح

    And it was like a balsam tree, from which had appeared

    A rose upon the branches, not yet unfolded.

  15. والدَّمعُ في تِلكَ المحاجر كالنّدى

    في زهرةٍ من غُصنِها المترنّح

    And the tears in those eye sockets were like dew

    In a flower upon its swaying branch.

  16. ففتحتُ قلبي مثلَ حرزٍ مُثمنٍ

    يحوي جواهرَ لم يُمَسَّ وتُطَرَح

    So I opened my heart like a precious amulet,

    Containing jewels, never touched or cast away,

  17. لأصونَ جوهرَ دَمعِها وأقولَ يا

    غوّاصُ درُّكَ عِندَهُ لم يَربَح

    To safeguard the jewel of her tears and say, “O

    Diver, your pearls yield no profit beside it.”