1. لِمَنِ اللِحاظ مَريضَةُ الأَجفانِ

    تَسطو بِسَيفٍ في القُلوبِ يَماني

    Whose are the glances with languid eyelids,

    that assail hearts with a Yemeni sword?

  2. وَبِلَيلٍ أسوَدَ طرَّةٍ وَبِعِزَّةٍ

    فَرطُ الغَرامِ أَظَلَّني وَهَداني

    And by a forelock's black night, and by pride,

    love's excess has cast its shadow over me and guided me.

  3. لَولا جَهالَةُ عاذِلي ما لا مَني

    وَهوَ الخَلِيُّ مِنَ الهَوى وَلَحاني

    But for my reproacher's ignorance, he would not have blamed me;

    he himself is untouched by love, yet he rebuked me.

  4. كَيفَ التَعَرُّضُ لِلسُلُوِّ وَلَيسَ لي

    قَلبٌ يُوافِقُني عَلى السِلوانِ

    How can I seek forgetfulness when I have no

    heart that agrees with me in forgetting?

  5. يا لِلرِجالِ سَرى بِقَلبي شادِنٌ

    حورِيُّ وَصفٍ يوسِفِيٌّ مَعاني

    O men! A young gazelle has slipped by night into my heart,

    houri-like in appearance, Yusuf-like in qualities.

  6. ما كُنتُ أَعلَمُ أَنَّ أَيّامَ الصِبا

    مِمّا تُقاسُ بِرَقدَةِ الوَسنانِ

    I did not know that the days of youth

    could be compared to a drowsy sleeper's nap.

  7. وَلَقَد شَكَوتُ إِلى النَسيم صَبابَتي

    لَمّا سَرَت مِسكِيَّة الأَردانِ

    And I have indeed complained of my yearning to the breeze,

    when it drifted past with musk-scented sleeves.

  8. يا عاذِلي فيمَن أُحِبُّ جَهالَةً

    عَنّي إِلَيكَ فَلَيسَ شانَكَ شاني

    O you who ignorantly reproach me for the one I love,

    leave me alone; attend to yourself—your concern is not mine.

  9. كَم بَينَ مَلآنِ الضُلوعُ ضَبابَةً

    وَخَلّي بالٍ مُطلِقُ الأَرسانِ

    How great the gulf between one whose ribs brim with yearning

    and one carefree, with the reins let loose!

  10. بَينَ المَلامِ وَبَينَ سَمعي مِثلُ ما

    بَيني وَبَينَ الصَبرِ وَالسِلوانِ

    Between reproach and my hearing lies the same gulf

    as between me and patience and forgetting.

  11. لَم يَعلُ ذاكَ الخَدّ خالُ أَسوَدٌ

    إلا لِنكثِ شَقائِقِ النُعمانِ

    No black mole rose upon that cheek

    save to undo the anemones.

  12. يا بَرق نُعمانِ الأَراكِ سَقى الحَيا

    زَمَناً نَعِمتَ بِهِ عَلى نَعمانِ

    O lightning of Nuʿman al-Arak, may the rain water

    a time when you found delight over Nuʿman.

  13. لكَ أَن تُشَوِّقُني إِلى الأَوطانِ

    وَعَلَيَّ أَن أَبكي بِدَمعٍ قانِ

    Yours is to stir my longing for my native lands,

    and mine is to weep with crimson tears.

  14. وَأَنا الكَفيلُ لِواصِفيكَ بشَهقَةٍ

    تُغري الفُؤادَ بِصارِمِ اللَمَعانِ

    And I guarantee those who describe you a gasp

    that entices the heart with a sword of flashing light.

  15. إِذا الفَتى عَدَمَ الشَبيبَة وَالصِبا

    فَفِناؤُهُ وَبَقاؤُهُ سِيّانِ

    When a man has lost youth and boyhood,

    then his death and his survival are alike.

  16. قِف بي عَلى تِلكَ المَعاهِدِ وَقفَةً

    تَشفى الجَوى وَتَفوزُ بِالإِحسانِ

    Pause with me awhile at those old haunts;

    you will heal love's anguish and earn the reward of kindness.

  17. نَزَلوا بِرامَة قاطِنينَ فَلا تَسَل

    ما حَلَّ بِالأَغصانِ وَالغِزلانِ

    They settled in Rama as residents; do not ask

    what befell the branches and the gazelles.

  18. فَلأبعَثَنَّ مَعَ النَسيم اليَهِمُ

    شَكوى تَميلُ لَها غُصونُ البانِ

    So I shall surely send them, with the breeze,

    a lament to which the ban-tree boughs incline.

  19. وَأَغَنَّ لو شَهدَ العَذولُ جَمالَه

    نَبَذَ المَلامَ وَلِلغَرامِ دَعاني

    And a dulcet-voiced one—if the reproacher saw his beauty,

    he would abandon reproach and call me to love.

  20. مُتَيَقِّظٌ لِلقَتلِ ناعِسُ طَرفِهِ

    وَيلاهُ مِن مُتَيَقِّظٍ نَعسانِ

    Alert for killing, drowsy in his gaze—

    woe to me from one both wakeful and drowsy!

  21. لِمَ لا أَحِنُّ إِلى الحِجازِ صَبابَةً

    وَيَجودُ دمعَ العَينِ بِالهَملانِ

    Why should I not yearn for the Hijaz with passionate longing,

    and the eye's tears pour down in streams?

  22. وَرِضابُهُ الخَمرُ العَذيبُ وَخَدُّهُ الن

    نَضر الحِمى وَعِذارِهِ العَلمانِ

    And his saliva is sweet wine; his cheek, the

    fresh one, is the sanctuary, and his cheek-down the twin landmarks.