1. لولاكَ ما كان ودّي

    ولا منازلُ ليلا

    Were it not for you, my love would not exist.

    Nor would Layla’s dwellings exist.

  2. ولا حدا قطُّ حادٍ

    ولا سارَ مركبُ ميلا

    Nor would any camel-driver ever have sung.

    Nor would a caravan have traveled a mile.

  3. يا حاديَ العيسِ مهلا

    هل جُزتَ في الحيِّ أم لا

    O driver of the pale camels, go slowly.

    Have you passed through the encampment, or not?

  4. عشفتهُم فبوني

    لا تحب العشق سهلا

    I loved them, and they tested me [probable reading of unclear text].

    Do not love passion as though it were easy.

  5. فأينَ كنتُ وجِئتُ

    حبيبٌ لي قد تجلّى

    Where, then, was I, and where have I come?

    A beloved of mine has revealed himself.

  6. عشقتهُ فلبني

    فصِرتُ عندهُ أهلا

    I loved him, and he [unclear] me.

    So I became one of his own.

  7. فلم نسمَع ولم نبصِر

    إلّا هواكَ لي سهلا

    So we neither heard nor saw

    Except your love, easy for me.

  8. ظهَرتَ لي بجمالٍ

    فشُربي زادَ وعلّا

    You appeared to me in beauty.

    So my drinking increased and rose.

  9. فأنتَ روحي وجسمي

    لا فرقَ عنكَ وإلّا

    For you are my soul and my body.

    There is no separation from you—or else...

  10. حتّى إذا ما تجلّى

    هواكَ في قلبي حلّا

    Until, when it revealed itself,

    Your love settled in my heart.