1. إذا شمَمتُ الغداةَ أفواها

    من العذارى نشَقتُ أفواها

    When at dawn I smell the mouths

    Of maidens, I breathe in fragrances.

  2. وإن رَشفتُ الرِّضابَ أسكرَني

    كأن خمراً دَبّت حميَّاها

    And if I sip their saliva, it intoxicates me,

    As though wine's intoxicating heat had spread through me.

  3. كم ناهدٍ كالملاكِ روَّعها

    بأسي فقالت أستغفِرُ الله

    Many an angel-like, budding-breasted maiden was frightened

    By my might, and said, 'I seek God's forgiveness.'

  4. لكنّها عن فؤادها كشَفَت

    إذ بيَدَيها غطّت محيّاها

    But she laid her heart bare,

    When she covered her face with both her hands.

  5. وبعدَ ذلّي ودلِّها زمناً

    قبَّلت فاها فاحمرَّ خدّاها

    And after a spell of my abasement and her coyness,

    I kissed her mouth, and both her cheeks reddened.

  6. وبتُّ أرنو شوقاً ومن خجلٍ

    تخشعُ عندَ التَّسليمِ عيناها

    And I spent the night gazing longingly, while, out of shyness,

    Her eyes lowered as she yielded.

  7. ما كان أشهى في اللَّثمِ زفرتها

    وعند ضمِّي صيحتُها واها

    How delicious was her sigh amid kisses,

    And, in my embrace, her cry of 'Ah!'

  8. في ألمِ الحبّ لذةٌ خلبت

    قلبي وتحتَ السيوفِ أحلاها

    In love's pain is a pleasure that bewitched

    My heart—and beneath the swords lies its sweetest form.