1. أَمير لجَّ في هَجري

    فَعيل هَجره صَبري

    A prince persists in shunning me;

    his shunning has exhausted my patience.

  2. مُهَنَد لَحظَهُ يَذري

    بِها رَوَت وَبِالسحر

    The Indian-steel sword of his glance puts to shame

    Harut and sorcery.

  3. يَسلّ الروح مِن بَدَني

    بِعَينيهِ وَلا أَدري

    He draws the soul from my body

    with his eyes, and I am unaware.

  4. سَقيم الوَعد وَالعُشّا

    ق وَالأَجفان وَالخصر

    His promise and his lovers are ailing,

    as are his eyelids and his waist.

  5. يَود البَدر لَو يَكسي

    سَناهُ لَيلة البَدر

    The full moon wishes it could be clothed

    in his radiance on the night of fullness.

  6. وَيَهوى الوَرد وَجنَتُهُ

    فَيَهجر شَمهُ هَجري

    The rose longs for his cheek,

    yet he refuses to smell it, as he forsakes me.

  7. وَواشوقي إِلى تَقبي

    ل مَبسَمِهِ مَع الفَجر

    And oh, how I long to kiss

    his smiling mouth at dawn!

  8. وَمَن لي لَو يَجود بِنه

    لة مِن ريقِهِ الخَمري

    And who could help me, if he granted a draught

    of his wine-like saliva,

  9. فَيَطفي بَردَها أَحشا

    يَ أَو أَقضي مِن السكر

    so its coolness might soothe my innards,

    or I might die of intoxication?

  10. أَقول لَهُ وَقَد فَضحت

    سَوابق عبرَتي سَرى

    I say to him, now that my secret has been exposed

    by the first rush of my tears:

  11. أَيا من صيغ مِن ماء

    وَمِن نور وَمِن دُرّ

    O you who were fashioned from water,

    and from light, and from pearls,

  12. أَيُحسن مِنكَ أَن يَعزى

    لِقليك قَسوة الصَخر

    does it befit you that there be ascribed

    to your aversion the hardness of stone,

  13. وَأَنتَ أَرَق طَبعاً مِن

    صَباً مَسكية النَشر

    while you are gentler in nature than

    an east breeze with a musky fragrance?

  14. بِحَسبك أَن سَقي

    بَعض ما أَشكو مِن الضَر

    Enough for you that my [sickness]

    is part of the harm I lament.

  15. وَإِن حَياة نَفسي في

    يَمينك دَعكَ مِن أَمري

    And indeed, my soul's life lies in

    your right hand—never mind my plight.

  16. وَإِن صرت مِن فَرط ال

    ضنا أَخفى مِن الذَر

    And if I have become, from excessive

    wasting, less visible than tiny ants,

  17. فَلَيسَ بِمَدرَكي بَصَرٌ

    وَلَستُ أَجول في فكر

    then no eye can perceive me,

    nor do I cross anyone's mind.

  18. أَتَحسَب أَن قَتل النَفس

    يابأ مِن الأَجر

    Do you think that killing a soul

    is [a gateway] to reward?

  19. يَضيق بِمَن قَتَلت غَدا

    هَجرك مَوقف الحَشر

    Tomorrow it will be crowded with those slain

    by your desertion—the gathering-place of resurrection.

  20. فَمَسَّ بِكَفِهِ صُدري

    لِيُطفئ واقد الجَمر

    Then he touched my chest with his palm

    to quench the glowing embers.

  21. فَقُلت لَهُ فَدَيتك زِد

    تَني حرّاً عَلى حر

    I said to him: May I be your ransom! You have added

    heat upon heat to me,

  22. لِأَن النار في قَلبي

    وَقَلبي لَيسَ في صَدري

    for the fire is in my heart,

    and my heart is not in my chest.