1. إِذا أَحبَبتُ لَم أَسلُ

    وَإِن واصَلتُ لَم أَقطَع

    When I love, I do not forget.

    And if I maintain a bond, I do not sever it.

  2. وَإِن عَنَّفَني النَّاسُ

    تَصامَمتُ وَلَم أَسمَع

    And if people rebuke me,

    I feign deafness and do not hear.

  3. وَقَد جَرَّبتُ ما ضَرَّ

    وَقَد جَرَّبتُ ما يَنفَع

    And I have tried what harms,

    and I have tried what benefits.

  4. فَلا مِثلُ الهَوى أَن

    هَكُ لِلجِسمِ وَلا أَضرَع

    Nothing is like passion for

    wearing down the body or enfeebling it.

  5. وَلا كَالهَجرِ لا أَوحى

    إِلى المَوتِ وَلا أَشرَع

    And nothing is like estrangement—nothing swifter

    toward death, nor quicker.

  6. وَقَد أَوجَعَني العَذلُ

    وَلكِنَّ الهَوى أَوجَع

    And reproach has pained me,

    but passion is more painful.

  7. وَكانَت قُوَّتي في الحُب

    بِ قَبل الفِعلِ فَاِستَجمَع

    And my strength in love was

    before the deed; then it rallied.

  8. فَلَمَّا رُمتُ أَن أَسلُ

    وَ عَن حُبّيكَ صارَت مَع

    Then, when I sought to forget

    your two loves, it became with ... [text unclear].

  9. وَهذا عدمُ العَقلِ

    فَما أَسطيع أَن أَصنَع

    And this is a lack of reason;

    so what can I do?

  10. فَلا وَاللَّهِ ما عِندي

    لما قَد حَلَّ بي مَدفَع

    So no, by God, I have no

    defense against what has befallen me.

  11. وَلا لي عِندَكُم مغدى

    وَلا لي دونَكُم مَرجِع

    Nor have I a place to go at dawn with you,

    nor a place to return apart from you.

  12. وَلا فِيَّ لِهجرانِ

    كِ لَولا ظُلمُكُم مَوضِع

    Nor is there room within me for

    forsaking you, were it not for your injustice.

  13. وَهَل لي ناصِرٌ مِنكِ

    إِذا جَدَّ بِيَ المَفزَع

    And have I any defender against you,

    when terror presses hard upon me?

  14. أَلا لي جَسَدٌ يَبلى

    وَلا لي مُقلَةٌ تَدمَع

    Have I no body that wastes away,

    and no eye that weeps?