1. قلبي يُحَدّثني بأَنّكَ مُتْلِفِي

    روحي فِداكَ عرَفْتَ أمَ لم تَعْرِفِ

    My heart tells me that you will destroy me.

    My soul is your ransom, whether you know it or not.

  2. لم أَقْضِ حَقّ هَواكَ إن كُنتُ الذي

    لم أقضِ فيِه أسىً ومِثليَ مَنْ يَفي

    I have not paid love's due to you, if I am one

    Who has not died of grief in it; one like me keeps faith.

  3. ما لي سِوَى روحي وباذِلُ نفسِهِ

    في حُبّ مَن يَهْواهُ ليسَ بِمُسرِف

    I have nothing but my soul; one who offers his soul

    In love for the one he loves is not extravagant.

  4. فلَئِنْ رَضِيتَ بها فقد أسعَفْتَني

    يا خَيبَة المَسْعَى إذا لم تُسْعِفِ

    If you are pleased with it, you have granted my wish;

    Alas for the failed endeavor if you do not help!

  5. يا مانِعي طيبَ المَنامِ ومانِحي

    ثوبَ السّقامِ بِهِ ووَجْدِي المُتْلِفِ

    O you who deny me sweet sleep and bestow on me

    The robe of sickness in its stead, and of my consuming passion,

  6. عَطفاً على رَمقي وما أبقَيتَ لي

    منْ جسميَ المُضْنى وقلبي المُدَنَفِ

    Have pity on my last spark of life and what you have left me

    Of my wasted body and my gravely ailing heart.

  7. فالوَجْدُ باقٍ والوِصَالُ مُماطلي

    والصّبْرُ فانٍ واللّقاء مُسَوّفي

    Passion endures, while union puts me off;

    Patience perishes, while meeting keeps me waiting.

  8. لم أَخلُ من حَسَدٍ عليك فلا تُضِعْ

    سَهَري بتَشْنِيع الخَيالِ المُرجِفِ

    I have not escaped envy on your account; so do not squander

    My sleepless vigil through the rumor-spreading phantom's slander.

  9. واسأَلْ نجومَ اللّيلِ هل زارَ الكَرَى

    جَفني وكيف يزورُ مَن لم يَعْرِفِ

    And ask the stars of night whether sleep has visited

    My eyelid—how could it visit one it has never known?

  10. لا غَرْوَ إن شَحّتْ بغُمْضِ جُفُونها

    عيني وسَحّتْ بالدّموعِ الذّرّفِ

    No wonder that, grudging its eyelids their closing,

    My eye pours forth copious tears.

  11. وبما جرَى في موقفِ التوديعِ مِنْ

    ألمِ النّوَى شاهدتُ هَولَ الموقفِ

    Through what occurred at the moment of farewell, of

    Parting's pain, I witnessed the terror of the Gathering.

  12. إن لم يكن وْصلٌ لدَيْكَ فعِدْ به

    أَمَلي وَمَاطِلْ إنْ وَعَدْتَ ولا تفي

    If you have no union to grant, then promise it

    To my hope; put me off if you promise, and do not fulfill.

  13. فالمَطْلُ منكَ لدَيّ إنْ عزّ الوفا

    يحلو كوَصَلٍ من حبيبٍ مُسْعِفِ

    For your delay, to me, when fulfillment is scarce,

    Is sweet as union with a beloved who grants my wish.

  14. أهْفُو لأنفاسِ النّسِيمِ تَعِلّةً

    ولوَجْه مَن نقَلَتْ شَذَاهُ تشوّفي

    I long for the breeze's breaths as solace;

    And my longing is for the face of him whose fragrance they carried.

  15. فلَعَلّ نارَ جوانحي بهُبُوبِها

    أن تنطَفي وأوَدّ أن لا تنطَفي

    For perhaps the fire within my breast, through their blowing,

    May be quenched—yet I wish it would not be quenched.

  16. يا أهلَ وُدّي أنتم أَمَلي ومَن

    نَادَاكُمُ يا أَهْلَ وُدّي قد كُفي

    O people of my affection, you are my hope; whoever

    Calls to you, 'O people of my affection,' has his needs met.

  17. عُودوا لِما كُنْتُم عليه من الوفا

    كَرَماً فإنّي ذَلِكَ الخِلّ الوَفي

    Return to the faithfulness you once showed,

    Out of generosity, for I am that faithful friend.

  18. وحياتِكُمْ وحياتِكُمْ قَسَماً وفي

    عُمري بغيرِ حياتِكُمْ لم أحْلِف

    By your lives, by your lives, I swear; and in

    My lifetime I have sworn by nothing but your lives.

  19. لو أَنّ رُوحي في يدي وَوَهَبْتُها

    لمُبَشّري بِقُدُومكمْ لم أُنْصِف

    If my soul were in my hand and I gave it

    To the bearer of news of your coming, I would not do him justice.

  20. لا تحسَبُوني في الهوى مُتَصَنّعاً

    كَلَفي بِكُمْ خُلُقٌ بغيرِ تكلُّف

    Do not think me pretending at love;

    My passion for you is innate, without affectation.

  21. أخفَيتُ حُبّكُمُ فأخفاني أسىً

    حتى لعَمري كِدْتُ عني أختفي

    I concealed my love for you, and grief concealed me,

    Until, by my life, I nearly disappeared from myself.

  22. وكتمْتُهُ عنّي فلو أبدَيْتُهُ

    لوَجَدْتُهُ أخفى منَ اللُّطْف الخَفي

    I hid it even from myself; had I revealed it,

    I would have found it more hidden than hidden subtlety.

  23. ولقد أَقولُ لِمَنْ تحَرّشَ بالهوى

    عرّضْتَ نفسَكَ للبَلا فاستهدف

    Indeed, I say to anyone who meddles with love:

    You have exposed yourself to affliction—so become its target.

  24. أنتَ القَتِيْلُ بأيّ مَنْ أحبَبْتَهُ

    فاختر لنَفْسِكَ في الهوى من تصطفي

    You will be slain by whomever you love;

    So choose for yourself whom to favor in love.

  25. قُلْ للعذولِ أطلْتَ لومي طامعاً

    إنَّ الملامَ عن الهوى مُستوقِفي

    Tell the reproacher: 'You have prolonged your blame of me, hoping

    That reproach will turn me away from love.'

  26. دَعْ عنكَ تَعنيفي وذُقْ طعم الهَوَى

    فإذا عشِقْتَ فبعدَ ذلكَ عَنّف

    Leave off rebuking me and taste love's flavor;

    Then, when you have loved, rebuke me after that.

  27. بَرَحَ الخَفاء بحُبّ مَنْ لَوْ في الدّجى

    سَفَرَ اللّثامَ لقُلْتُ يا بدرُ اختَفِ

    Concealment has fled my love for one who, if in the darkness

    He lifted his veil, I would say, 'O full moon, hide!'

  28. وإن اكتفى غَيري بطَيفِ خيالِهِ

    فأنا الّذي بوِصالِهِ لا أكتَفي

    Though others are content with his spectral image,

    I am one not content even with union with him.

  29. وَقْفَاً عليِه مَحَبتِّي ولِمِحنتي

    بأَقَلّ مِن تَلَفي به لا أشتَفي

    My love is devoted to him alone; and for my affliction

    I find no cure in anything less than perishing through him.

  30. وهَواهُ وهْوَ أليّتي وكَفَى بِه

    قَسَماً أكادُ أُجِلّهُ كالمُصْحَفِ

    By love for him—it is my oath, and sufficient it is

    As an oath—I almost revere it as the Qur'an.

  31. لَوْ قالَ تِيهاً قِفْ على جَمْر الغَضا

    لَوَقَفْتُ مُمْتَثِلاً ولم أتوَقّف

    If he proudly said, 'Stand on the embers of ghada wood,'

    I would stand obediently, without hesitation.

  32. أوْ كان مَنْ يرضى بخدّي موْطِئاً

    لَوَضَعْتُهُ أرْضاً ولم أستنكِف

    Or were he to accept my cheek as a place to tread,

    I would lay it on the ground without disdain.

  33. لا تُنْكِروا شغَفِي بما يرضَى وإن

    هو بالوِصَالِ عليّ لم يتعطّف

    Do not deny my passion for what pleases him, even if

    He has not favored me with union.

  34. غَلَبَ الهَوَى فأطَعْتُ أمْرَ صَبابتي

    من حيثُ فيه عصَيتُ نهْيَ مُعنّفي

    Love prevailed, and I obeyed my yearning's command

    Where, in love, I defied my reproacher's prohibition.

  35. مني لَهُ ذُلّ الخَضُوعِ ومنهُ لي

    عِزّ المَنوعِ وقوّة المستضْعِف

    From me to him comes the lowliness of submission; from him to me,

    The withholder's might and the subjugator's strength.

  36. ألِفَ الصّدُودَ ولي فؤادٌ لم يزَلْ

    مُذْ كُنتُ غيرَ وِدَادِهِ لم يألَف

    He is accustomed to turning away, while my heart has never,

    Since I came to be, known anything but love for him.

  37. يا ما أُمَيْلَحَ كُلَّ ما يرْضَى بِهِ

    ورُضابُهُ يا ما أحَيْلاَهُ بفي

    Oh, how charming is everything that pleases him!

    And his lips' moisture—oh, how sweet it is in my mouth!

  38. لو أسمَعوا يَعقُوبَ ذِكْرَ مَلاحَةٍ

    في وجهِهِ نَسِيَ الجَمالَ اليوسُفي

    Had they let Jacob hear mention of beauty

    In his face, he would have forgotten Joseph's beauty.

  39. أو لو رأهُ عائِداً أيّوبُ في

    سِنَةِ الكَرَى قدماً من البلوى شُفي

    Or had Job seen him visiting, in

    A drowse of sleep, he would long ago have been cured of affliction.

  40. كُلُّ البُدُورِ إذا تَجَلّى مُقْبِلاً

    تصبُو إليه وكُلُّ قَدٍ أهيَف

    All full moons, when he appears approaching,

    Yearn toward him, as does every slender-waisted figure.

  41. إن قُلْتُ عندي فيكَ كُلُّ صَبَابَةٍ

    قالَ المَلاحةُ لي وكُلُّ الحُسْنِ في

    If I say, 'All yearning for you is mine,'

    He says, 'Charm is mine, and all beauty is within me.'

  42. كَمَلَتْ مَحاسنُهُ فلو أَهدى السّنا

    للبَدْرِ عند تَمامِهِ لم يُخْسَف

    His beauties are perfected; had he bestowed his radiance

    On the moon at its fullness, it would not be eclipsed.

  43. وعلى تَفَنّنِ واصِفيهِ بِحُسْنِهِ

    يَفنى الزّمانُ وفيه ما لم يُوصف

    Despite all the artistry of those who describe his beauty,

    Time runs out, while something in him remains undescribed.

  44. ولقد صَرَفْتُ لحُبّه كُلّي على

    يَدِ حُسْنِهِ فحمِدْتُ حُسْنَ تصرّفي

    And I have indeed spent my whole self on loving him, through

    His beauty's hand, and praised the wisdom of my spending.

  45. فالعينُ تهوى صورةَ الحُسْنِ التي

    روحي بها تَصبو إلى مَغْنىً خَفي

    The eye loves the image of beauty through which

    My soul longs for a hidden abode.

  46. أسْعِدْ أُخَيَّ وغَنني بحديثه

    وانْثُر على سَمْعي حِلاهُ وشَنِّف

    Help me, dear brother, and sing to me of him;

    Scatter his charms upon my hearing and adorn my ears,

  47. لأرى بعينِ السّمعِ شاهِدَ حُسْنِهِ

    معنىً فأتحِفْني بذاكَ وشَرّف

    That I may see, with hearing's eye, the manifestation of his beauty

    As meaning; grant me that gift and honor me.

  48. يا أخْتَ سعْدٍ مِن حَبيبي جئتِني

    بِرِسالةٍ أدّيتِها بِتَلَطّف

    O sister of Sa'd, you came to me from my beloved

    With a message you delivered gently.

  49. فسَمِعْتُ ما لم تسمَعِي ونَظَرْتُ ما

    لم تنظُري وعَرَفْتُ ما لم تعرِفي

    So I heard what you did not hear and saw what

    You did not see, and knew what you did not know.

  50. إنْ زارَ يوماً يا حشايَ تَقَطَّعِي

    كَلَفاً بِه أو سارَ يا عينُ اذرِفي

    If he visits one day, O my inmost heart, tear yourself apart

    In passion for him; or if he departs, O eye, shed tears.

  51. ما للنّوَى ذنْبٌ ومَنْ أهوَى مَعي

    إن غابَ عن إنسانِ عيني فهْوَ في

    Separation is blameless, for the one I love is with me;

    If he is absent from my eye's pupil, he is within me.