1. تُعَدِّدُ نَفسي مِن سُلَيمى عِدادَها

    فَلَم تَرقَ عَيني وَاستطيرَ رُقادُها

    My soul recounts its recurring pangs from Sulayma.

    So my eye has not ceased weeping, and its sleep has fled.

  2. فَأَيسَرُ ما تَلقى مِنَ الوَجدِ أَنَّها

    مَعَ الحُزنِ مَغمُورٌ بِماءٍ سَوادُها

    The least it suffers from passion is that

    Amid sorrow, its dark pupil lies submerged in water.

  3. ذَرُوفُ النَهارِ حِينَ تَحمي مِن البُكا

    كَثِيرٌ إِذا جَنَّ الظَلامُ اطِّرَادُها

    It streams with tears by day, when it burns from weeping;

    Its flow is abundant when darkness falls.

  4. عَلى عَبراتٍ تَعتَريني لَو أَنَّها

    بِجانِبِ رَضوى أَنفَذَتهُ وِهادُها

    With tears that assail me—if they were

    Beside Radwa, their ravines would pierce it through.

  5. يُجافِينَ جَنبي عضن فِراشي كَأَنَّها

    عَلَيهِ سُيُوفٌ أَقلَقَتهُ حِدادُها

    They keep my side from my bed, as though they were

    Swords upon it, their sharp edges leaving it restless.

  6. إِذا رامَتِ الأَصعادَ في الصَدرِ زَفرَةٌ

    فَسَلمى عَلى بابِ الفُؤادِ رِدادُها

    When a sigh seeks to rise within my breast,

    Salma turns it back at the heart's gate.

  7. وَلَو فارَقَت جَوفي لَصادَفتُ راحَةً

    وَلَكِنَّما في الجَوفِ مِنّي مُرادُها

    And if she left my breast, I would find relief,

    Yet her desire is to be deep within me.

  8. فَقُلتُ لِعَيني أَعمِدي نَحوَ غَيرِها

    بِنَفسي وَعَيني حَيثُ تَهوى قِيادُها

    So I told my eye, 'Turn toward someone other than her,

    Taking my soul'; yet my eye's reins lie where it longs.

  9. فَزادَت لِنَفسي العَينُ جُهداً وَإِنَّما

    إِلى حُبِّ سَلمى حَيثُ كانَ مَعادُها

    So my eye added to my soul's anguish; and only

    To the love of Salma would it return, wherever it was.

  10. وَكَيفَ تُطِيقُ الهَجرَ نَفسٌ ضَعِيفَةٌ

    بِكَفِّ سُلَيمى حَلُّها وَصِفادُها

    And how can a frail soul endure estrangement

    When its release and its fetters lie in Sulayma's palm?

  11. فَمنّى عَلَيَّ اليَومَ سَلمى وَسَدِّدي

    وَخَيرُ الأُمُورِ حِينَ تُنمى سَدادُها

    So show me favor today, Salma, and do what is right;

    And in affairs, as they develop, taking the right course is best.

  12. فَما القَلبُ عَن سَلمى بِجَلدٍ وَإِن نَأَت

    وَشَرُّ قُلوبِ الواجِدينَ جِلادُها

    So my heart cannot bear separation from Salma, even if she is far away,

    And the worst of lovers' hearts are the hardy ones.

  13. فَلا النفسُ تَرضى عَن سُلَيمى بِخُلَّةٍ

    وَلَو نَحَلَت نَفسي وَطالَ بعادُها

    So my soul accepts no other beloved in Sulayma's place,

    Even if my soul wastes away and her absence lengthens,

  14. حَياتي ما غَنّى حَمائِمُ أَيكَةٍ

    وَما أَحصَنَت عُصمُ الفَلاةِ صَمادُها

    For all my life, as long as the doves of a thicket sing,

    And as long as the desert's crags shelter its white-footed wild goats.