1. إِن كُنتَ تُضمِرُ لي في الحُبِّ إِشفاقا

    فأطلِقِ الدَمعَ خَلفَ الظعنِ إِطلاقا

    If you harbor compassion for me in love,

    then let your tears flow freely behind the departing caravan.

  2. لا تَلحَني فَصَباباتٍ قُطِعتُ بِها

    إِلى اللَذاذاتِ إِسباباً وَإِغلاقا

    Do not reproach me: through passionate longings I was cut off

    from the paths to pleasure, and shut out.

  3. بَيني وَبَينَ حِمى الأَحبابِ عَهدُ هَوىً

    أَلّا أَزالَ إِلَيهِ الدَهرُ مُشتاقا

    Between me and the loved ones' sanctuary lies a pledge of love:

    that I shall never cease to yearn for it, as long as time endures.

  4. يَشتاقُ قَلبي إِلى نَجدٍ وَيُطرِبُهُ

    نَسيمُ نَجدٍ إِذا ما هَبَّ خَفّاقا

    My heart longs for Najd, and it is enraptured

    by Najd's breeze whenever it blows in fluttering gusts.

  5. وَأسأَلُ البَرقَ أَحياناً فَتُخبِرُني

    عَنهُمُ بِما يَملَأُ الأَحشاءَ إِحراقا

    And sometimes I question the lightning; then you tell me

    about them, with tidings that fill my entrails with fire.

  6. يا بَرقُ هَل رَبَّةُ الخالَينِ ذاكِرَةٌ

    بَعد البِعادِ لَنا عَهداً وَميثاقا

    O lightning, does the lady with the two beauty spots remember

    after separation, a pledge and covenant with us?

  7. واوَحشَتا لِدِيارٍ دونَ كاظِمَةٍ

    كُلُّ الفَضاءِ لِعِينٍ بَعدَهُم ضاقا

    Ah, my desolation for dwellings this side of Kazimah!

    All open space has narrowed to the eye since they departed.

  8. قالَت فُتنتَ بِنا وجداً فَقُلتُ لَها

    كَم قَد فَتِنتِ رَعاكِ اللَهُ عُشاقا

    She said, "You are bewitched with love for us"; I said to her,

    "How many lovers you have bewitched—may God preserve you!"

  9. ويلاهُ مِن عَذبِة الأَلفاظ مُذ هَجَرَت

    ما راقَ لِلعَينِ ما مِن عيشَةٍ راقا

    Woe is me for the sweet-spoken one! Since she deserted me,

    what once was sweet in life no longer delights the eye.

  10. يا لَسعَةً في فُؤادي لا أَرى أَبَداً

    لَها سِوى القُربِ مِن لَمياءَ دِرياقا

    O sting within my heart! I can never find

    an antidote for it save nearness to Lamya.

  11. إِن أَومَضَ البَرقُ نَجدِيّاً بَعَثتُ لَهُ

    جارٍ مِنَ الدَمعِ مِدراراً وَمِهراقا

    If lightning flashes from Najd, I send toward it

    a stream of tears, pouring abundantly and spilling forth.

  12. لَواَنَّ قَلبي في صَخرٍ لَقَلقَلَهُ

    حادٍ بِها يَومَ سَفحِ المُنحَنى سِباقا

    Were my heart enclosed in rock, it would be shaken

    by the swift camel-driver singing her onward that day at the foot of the bend.

  13. لا مَتَّعَ اللَهُ طَرفي في مَحاسِنِها

    إِن كانَ مِن بَعدِها طيبُ الكَرى ذاقا

    May God deny my eye delight in her beauties,

    if, since she left, it has tasted the sweetness of sleep.