1. ما لَهُ قَد خانَ عَهدَه

    ناسِياً تِلكَ المَوَدَّه

    What ails him? He has broken his pledge,

    forgetting that affection.

  2. أَنعَمَ الدَهرُ بِهِ في

    خُلسَةٍ ثُمَّ اِستَرَدَّه

    Time favored me with him in

    a stolen moment, then reclaimed him.

  3. هُوَ كَالزُهرَةِ وَال

    مِرّيخِ في لينٍ وَشِدَّه

    He is like Venus and

    Mars in gentleness and sternness.

  4. وَجهُهُ البُستانُ فاِقطِف

    آسَهُ أَو فَاِجنِ وَردَه

    His face is a garden—so pluck

    its myrtle, or gather its roses.

  5. لَيسَ عِندي غَيرُ شِعري

    لَيتَهُ يَنفُقُ عِندَه

    I have nothing but my poetry;

    if only it found favor with him.

  6. يا كَليلَ الطَرفِ إِلاّ

    في فُؤادي ما أَحَدَّه

    O you whose gaze is languid, except

    in my heart—how sharp it is!

  7. هَزَمَ الهَجرُ اِصطِباري

    فَعَسى لِلوَصلِ رَدَّه

    Separation has routed my endurance;

    so may reunion strike back.

  8. لَيتَهُ يَرثي لِما عِن

    دِيَ أَو يَرحَمُ عَبدَه

    If only he would pity what I

    suffer, or have mercy on his slave.