يا صاح لست من الغرام بصاح

يا صاح لست من الغرام بصاح

مادامت الأرواح في الأشباح

مادامت الأرواح في الأشباح

O friend, I am not sober from love,

O friend, I am not one to complain of love’s anguish,

as long as souls remain in bodies.

As long as souls are clad in human flesh.

أتلوم بالحدق المراض وطالما

أتلوم بالحدق المراض وطالما

تركت صحاح الناس غير صحاح

تركت صحاح الناس غير صحاح

Do you blame me for languid eyes, when so often

Why should I blame the languid, drowsy eyes,

they have left healthy people unwell?

When wholesome living you have all forsworn?

روحي الفداء لمن أبيت وشعره

روحي الفداء لمن أبيت وشعره

ليلي وضوء جبينه مصباحي

ليلي وضوء جبينه مصباحي

May my soul be ransom for him; as I spend the night, his hair

My soul I sacrifice for one whose hair is night itself,

is my night, and the light of his brow my lamp.

His brow a lamp that makes my darkness glow.

في خده وردي وفي أصداغه

في خده وردي وفي أصداغه

آسي وفي وجناته تفاحي

آسي وفي وجناته تفاحي

On his cheek are my roses, and at his temples

In his cheek blooms my rose, his temples wear

my myrtle, and on his cheeks my apples.

My myrtle wreath, his mouth my apples sweet.

وبريقه المعسول لا أبريقه

وبريقه المعسول لا أبريقه

راح المحب ونشوة المرتاح

راح المحب ونشوة المرتاح

And in his honeyed saliva—not his pitcher—

Not from his cup, but from his honeyed lips

are the lover's wine and the joyful one's rapture.

My fevered love has drunk deep draughts of joy.

فوحقّ ما في ثغره من لؤلؤ

فوحقّ ما في ثغره من لؤلؤ

رطب ومن مشمولة وأقاح

رطب ومن مشمولة وأقاح

So, by the sanctity of what his mouth holds—pearls,

By the soft pearls his lips enclose,

moist, and chilled wine and chamomile blossoms—

By the sweet fruits his kiss reveals,

ووحقّ ما في قده ولحاظه

ووحقّ ما في قده ولحاظه

من ذابل لدن وبيض صفاح

من ذابل لدن وبيض صفاح

and by the sanctity of what his stature and glances hold:

By the soft down that clothes his cheek and throat,

a slender, supple spear and gleaming, broad-bladed swords.

I swear his loveliness shall never fail!