1. دَعا فُؤادي يقاسي الشّوقَ والكمدا

    في حُبِّ مَن لَم يدعْ لي حبّهُ جلَدا

    Leave my heart to suffer yearning and sorrow

    In love with one whose love has left me no endurance.

  2. لا تَتْعبا ففؤادي غير مُمتَثِلٍ

    إن رمتُما منهُ إصلاحَ الّذي فسدَا

    Do not weary yourselves, you two: my heart will not obey

    If you ask it to mend what has gone wrong.

  3. أَوْسَعْتُماهُ ملاماً في الغرامِ وما

    وجدتُما في الهوى بعضَ الّذي وَجَدَا

    You two have heaped blame on it for its passion, yet

    You have not felt in love even part of what it has felt.

  4. استودعُ اللهَ رُوحاً في الهوى تَلِفَتْ

    وفيه أحتَسب الدمعَ الَّذي نَفَدا

    I entrust to God a soul that perished in love,

    And in it I seek God's reward for the tears that ran dry.

  5. أجريتُهُ في مَيادين الهوى غَرَراً

    ولِلْغرام مدى لا ينتهي أبداً

    I set them racing recklessly through the arenas of love,

    And passion has a course that never ends.

  6. وكان لي جسدٌ أودَى السّقامُ به

    فها أنا اليوم لا روحاً ولا جسدا

    And I once had a body that sickness destroyed;

    So here I am today, with neither soul nor body.

  7. نَفْسي الفِداء لمعسول اللَّمى غَنِجٌ

    تعلّم الغُصنُ منه اللَّينَ والميَدَا

    My soul be ransom for a coy one with honey-sweet, dusky lips;

    The branch learned from him its suppleness and sway.

  8. كالظَّبي حين عطا والليثُ حين سطا

    والغصن حين خطا والبدرُ حين بدا

    Like a gazelle when he reaches upward, and a lion when he attacks,

    And a branch when he steps, and the full moon when he appears.

  9. حاشا الرّقيبَ فلا وصل أسرُّ به

    منه خلا أنّه بالوصل لي وَعَدا

    No blame on the watcher: there is no union I rejoice in

    With him, save that he has promised me union.

  10. ما شِمتُ منذ أظلت سحب عارضه

    بوارقَ الثَغر إلاّ أمطرتْ بردا

    Since the clouds of his cheek cast their shade, I have never watched

    The lightning flashes of his mouth without their raining down hail.

  11. ولا أغازلُ ريماً من مُقلَدِه

    إلاّ أنازلُ من ألحاظِهِ أَسَدا

    Nor do I court the gazelle of his neck

    Without dueling with the lion of his glances.