1. ما ضَرَّ جيرانَنا إِذِ انتَجَعوا

    لَو انَّهُم قَبلَ بَينِهِم رَبَعُوا

    What harm would it have done our neighbors, when they sought fresh pasture,

    had they lingered before their departure?

  2. أَحمَوا عَلى عاشِقٍ زيارَتَهُ

    فَهوَ بِهِجرانِ بَينِهِم فَظِعُ

    They denied a lover his visits,

    so he is distraught at the estrangement their parting brings.

  3. وَهوَ كأَنَّ الهيامَ خالَطَهُ

    وَما بِهِ غَير حُبِّها رَدَعُ

    And he seems as though madness had possessed him,

    yet nothing ails him but love of her.

  4. كَأَنَّ لُبنى صَبيرُ غادِيَةٍ

    أَو دُميَةٌ زُيِّنَت بِها البيَعُ

    Lubna is like a white bank of morning rainclouds,

    or a statue with which churches were adorned.

  5. اللَهُ بَيني وَبَينَ قَيِّمِها

    يَفِرُّ عَنّي بِها وَأتَّبِعُ

    May God judge between me and her guardian:

    he flees from me with her, and I follow.