1. أيا واحةً في وَحشةِ البيد أنسها

    يُحرَّمُ فيئى ظَّلها ونُزولي

    O oasis, whose solace lies amid the desert's desolation,

    My taking refuge in its shade and lodging there are forbidden.

  2. لمن تُخلقُ الجناتُ إلا لشاعرٍ

    قليل حنانٍ منكِ غيرُ قليلِ

    For whom are gardens created, if not for a poet?

    A little tenderness from you is far from little.

  3. يا قيسُ رفقاً بمهجتي

    فإنَّ رياح البيد تُرهق أزهاري

    O Qays, be gentle with my heart,

    For the desert winds wear down my flowers,

  4. وقد صَّوحتها وهي في عُنفوانها

    وكم تُقتلُ الأزهارُ في بُعدِ زَهَّارِ

    And have withered them in their prime.

    How often flowers are killed when their gardener is far away!

  5. عرفتكِ طفلاً في ظلالك لهوه

    نُغِّنى ونجرى كالضياء وُثوبا

    I knew you as a child, playing in your shade;

    We would sing and run, leaping like light,

  6. ونعبثُ بالدُّنيا وما عبثت بنا

    فكيفَ غَدونا مُثقلين ذُنوبا

    And play with the world, which had not yet played with us.

    How, then, have we become burdened with sins?

  7. يا قيسُ كم يُظلمُ الهوى

    نِفاقاً ويأبي الناسُ إلاَّ عذابَه

    O Qays, how often love is wronged

    Through hypocrisy, and people insist on nothing but its torment.

  8. ومن نفحاتِ الزهرِ أنفاسُهُ لهم

    فكيف أباحُوا للهيبِ مُذابُهُ

    And its breaths come to them from the flowers' fragrances;

    How, then, could they surrender its molten substance to the blaze?

  9. أأكتم حُبِّي أم أُشَبِّبُ ضَلةً

    بمن لست أهوى كيف أحيا منافقا

    Shall I conceal my love, or misguidedly sing love verses

    About someone I do not love? How can I live as a hypocrite?

  10. أنا الفُّن والفنانُ لا عشتُ ناطقاً

    إذا لم يكن فني كقلبيَ صادقا

    I am art and the artist; may I not live to speak

    If my art is not as truthful as my heart.

  11. لأنت نُّبي الحبِّ يا قيسُ فلتعش

    بعيداً عن الدنيا الخؤونِ وأهلها

    You are indeed love's prophet, O Qays; then live

    Far from the treacherous world and its people.

  12. تُغِّنى لها كالنحلِ تَمنحُ شُهدَها

    شهياً وتُجزى الموتَ شكراً لبذلها

    You sing to it like bees bestowing their honey,

    Sweet, and receiving death as thanks for their giving.

  13. أليلاىَ مالي غيرَ حُسنك مُبدِعي

    وماليَ إلاّ قُربَكِ اليوم ناشري

    O my Layla, I have no creator but your beauty,

    And today none but your nearness can revive me.

  14. فَنيتُ غداةَ الين فلترحمي فتىً

    هواه نصبري حينما هو آسرى

    I wasted away on the morning of [parting]; have mercy on a youth

    Whose love is [my ally] even when it is my captor.

  15. اليلاىَ ما الدنيا سوى أَنت إن تكن

    لذكراي أهلاً أو لنجوىَ مشاعري

    O my Layla, the world is nothing but you, if it is

    Worthy of my remembrance or my feelings' secret whispers.

  16. فإن تُبعدي روحي الوفىَّ فما له

    وجودٌ ولا ذكرٌ كأهلِ المقابر

    Then if you banish my faithful soul, it has

    Neither existence nor remembrance, like those in the graves.

  17. حنانَكِ يا يلي حنانَكِ

    Your tenderness, O Layla, your tenderness!

  18. إنني

    لأَطوعُ من وحىٍ يفيضُ بخاطرك

    Indeed, I

    Am more obedient than an inspiration flowing through your mind.

  19. وفي صدري الخفاقِ منك نوازعي

    وفي صوتيَ الملكومِ رَجعُ مزاهرك

    And in my throbbing breast, my impulses come from you,

    And in my bruised voice is the echo of your lutes.

  20. جراحٌ خفياتٌ بنفسي عميقةٌ

    أخبؤهَا والحُّب يأبي استتارها

    Deep, hidden wounds lie in my soul;

    I conceal them, but love refuses their concealment.

  21. وهيهاتَ للنسيانِ والنوم مرَّةً

    مُحالفتي هيهات أقبلُ عارَها

    And never could forgetfulness and sleep, even once,

    Become my allies; never shall I accept that shame.

  22. سَتبقى على طُهر الوفاءِ نقيةً

    وإن هي أودَت بي وأفنت سعادتي

    They shall remain pure in the purity of fidelity,

    Even if they destroy me and consume my happiness.

  23. ستبقى على مَرِّ الزمانِ شواهداً

    لِحبِّي وعنوانا لأسَمى عبادتي

    Through the passing years they shall remain witnesses

    To my love, and a sign of my loftiest devotion.

  24. جراحي هي الأبَقى جراحي هي التي

    يُنِّفسُ عنها الشعر وهو مقصرُ

    My wounds are what endure most; my wounds are those

    To which poetry gives vent, though it falls short.

  25. كرهتُ حياتي ثم عُدت مُرجِّياً

    حياتي كأني بالعذاب أُطُهَّرُ

    I hated my life, then once more began to hope for

    My life, as though through torment I were purified.

  26. حياتي وما معنى حياتي ولم أَزل

    غريباً عن الدنيا لبعدكِ يا ليلى

    My life—what meaning has my life, while I remain

    A stranger to the world because you are far away, O Layla?

  27. ايا توأمَى إنَّا الغريبانِ مُذ أَبَت

    علينا اتحاداً نحنُ كنَّابه أَولىَ

    O my twin, we two have been strangers since it denied

    Us a union to which we had the greatest right.

  28. وَحقكَ لم يُبعدكَ عني شاغلٌ

    وليس قِراني بالغريب قِرانَا

    By your worth, no distraction has kept you far from me,

    And my marriage to the stranger is no marriage.

  29. لأنَتَ بقربي رغمَ بُعدكَ شاملاً

    وجودي وأحلامي هَوىً وِعيانَا

    You are indeed beside me, despite your distance, embracing

    My being and my dreams, in love and in sight.

  30. سيأتي زمانٌ يندم الدهر تائباً

    وأي انتفاعٍ لي إذا هو تابا

    A time will come when time itself regrets and repents;

    But what benefit is there for me if it repents?

  31. إذا أنا بالأحلامِ عشتُ مُضلَّلاً

    فَسيَّانش أغدو كوكباً وترابا

    If I have lived deluded by dreams,

    It is all the same whether I become a star or dust.

  32. رويدكَ يا قيسُ الحبيبُ فإننا

    لأسَمى من الدَّهرِ المسئِ وأهله

    Gently, beloved Qays, for we

    Are nobler than cruel time and its people.

  33. سَنحيا على الذكرى حياةً أبيَّةً

    وَنعلو على خُبثِ الزمانِ وذُلِّهِ

    We shall live on remembrance, a proud, unbowed life,

    And rise above time's malice and its abasement.

  34. وَداعاً إذن يا صنوَ نفسي وَقُبلةً

    يَظل فمي عذباً بها وسلاما

    Farewell, then, O twin of my soul—and a kiss

    With which my mouth remains sweet—and peace.

  35. وَداعاص فإن لم تستطع حملِ عبئهِ

    فَألغِ لكَ العقلَ الحكَيمَ هُياما

    Farewell; if you cannot bear its burden,

    Then cast aside your wise reason in love's frenzy.

  36. حنانيكِ ليلى آهِ ليلى

    Your mercy, Layla! Ah, Layla!

  37. لقد مضت

    وَوَلى الجميل الحلمُ حين تَسامَى

    She has gone,

    And the beautiful dream departed just as it soared.

  38. سأذرعُ هذا الكونَ ابحثُ عنهما

    ولو ضاع عقلي ولوعةً وغراما

    I shall stride across this universe, searching for them both,

    Even if my reason is lost in anguish and passion.