1. قَال خَلِّيني نَفْتَصَلْ

    في بَلَدْ راني

    He said, “Let me part

    in the land where I am.”

  2. هَلْ في ارْتِياحي إلى المِلاحِ

    أو إلى الشَّمُولْ بَأْسٌ يا عَذُولْ

    Is there, in my delight in beautiful ones,

    or in wine, any harm, O reproacher?

  3. فَدَعْ لومَ مَفْتُونِ

    فَعِشقُ خَوْدٍ وشُربُ راحِ

    So cease reproaching an enthralled lover.

    For loving a tender maiden and drinking wine—

  4. إنَّما يُلامْ غَيْرِي في المُدامْ

    وفي الخُرَّدِ العِيْنِ

    only someone other than me is blamed for wine

    and for bashful, wide-eyed maidens.

  5. هذِي عَرُوسُ الرِّياضِ تُجْلى

    مِنْ رائقِ الزَّهْر في حُلَلْ

    Here is the bride of the gardens, unveiled

    in robes of exquisite flowers.

  6. والجَوُّ بالغَيمِ قَدْ تَحَلَّى

    ولاحتِ الشّمسُ مِنْ خَلَلْ

    And the sky has adorned itself with clouds,

    and the sun gleamed through the gaps.

  7. وخَبَّ فَصْلُ الربيع طِفلا

    يَسْقيهِ ثدْيُ الحَيا عَلَلْ

    And the season of spring trotted forth as a child;

    the breast of rain gives him draught after draught.

  8. فَسَقِّني بالكَبيرِ وامْلا

    إنِّي كَبيرٌ ولا تُبَلْ

    So give me drink in the large cup, and fill it;

    I am grown; do not worry.

  9. في وُدِّ خُمْصانةٍ رَداحِ

    قَدُّها النَّبِيلْ بالنُّهى يَمِيلْ

    In love with a slender-waisted, full-hipped woman,

    whose stately figure sways the mind,

  10. يُناجِيْكَ مِنْ لِيْنِ

    أُعيذُ يا رَبَّةَ الوِشاحِ

    whispering to you through its suppleness.

    I invoke protection, O lady of the sash,

  11. ذلكَ القوامْ مِنْ لَحاقٍ ذامْ

    بِسورةِ ياسينِ

    for that figure against any blemish befalling it,

    with the surah Ya-Sin.

  12. هَيفاءُ تَهْتَزُّ عَنْ قَضِيْبِ

    وتَنْجَلي عَنْ سَنا قمر

    Slender-waisted, she sways, revealing a bough,

    and shines forth with the radiance of a moon.

  13. شَدَّتْ إزاراً عَلى كَثيبِ

    لَوْ خانَهُ العِقدُ لانْفَطرْ

    She fastened a waist-wrap around a sand dune;

    had the fastening failed it, it would have split.

  14. أيُّ بَنانٍ لَها خَضِيْبِ

    دِماءُ قَلْبي لَهُ هَدَرْ

    What dyed fingertips she has!

    My heart's blood is forfeit to them.

  15. لَولا اتِّقائي مِنَ الرَّقيبِ

    قَضَيْتُ مِنْ لَثْمِهِ وَطَرْ

    Were it not for my fear of the watcher,

    I would satisfy my desire by kissing them,

  16. شَوْقاً إلى رِيْقِها القَراحِ

    فَهو سَلْسَبِيلْ مالَهُ سَبِيلْ

    yearning for her pure saliva.

    For it is Salsabil, with no path to it

  17. لحِرَّانَ مَحْزُون

    مُناهُ لَوْ عُلَّ من أقاحِ

    for a thirsty, grieving man.

    His wish: if only he were given another draught from daisies!

  18. راقَ ذا ابتِسامْ يُزْرِي في اقْتِسامْ

    بِرَيَّا الرَّياحينِ

    Lovely in its smile, it puts to shame, in sharing fragrance,

    the perfume of aromatic herbs.

  19. يا ظَبْيَةَ الخِدْرِ في لَماكِ

    شِفاءُ مابي من الألمْ

    O gazelle of the chamber, in your dark lips

    is a cure for the pain I suffer.

  20. تِيْهي عَلى البَدْرِ في سَناكِ

    وزاحِمي الشَّمْسَ مِنْ أَممْ

    Exult over the full moon in your radiance,

    and rival the sun at close quarters.

  21. فَلَوْ بَدا النَّجْمُ في حُلاكِ

    ما غَشِيَتْ أُفقَهُ الظُّلَمْ

    For if the star appeared in your finery,

    darkness would not shroud its horizon.

  22. مَنْ كان يَلْحى عَلى هَواكِ

    فَمسْمَعي عَنْهُ ذُو صَمَمْ

    Whoever reproaches me for loving you,

    my ear is deaf to him.

  23. زيَّفْتُ ما صاغَهُ اللَّواحي

    من قالٍ وقيلْ في الوَجهِ الجميلْ

    I deemed false what the reproachers fashioned

    of gossip and hearsay about the beautiful face.

  24. فلا لومَ يَثنيني

    عَنْ رونقِ الأوْجهِ الصِّباحِ

    So no reproach turns me away

    from the radiance of fair faces.

  25. فَدَعْ عَنْ مَلامْ صَبٍّ مُسْتهامْ

    فَلَوْمُكَ يُغْرِيني

    So cease reproaching a lovesick, distraught man;

    for your reproach urges me on.

  26. أمَّا فُؤادي الشَّجي فَما لي

    حُكُم اختِيارٍ ولا لَهُ

    As for my sorrowful heart, I have no

    power to choose, nor does it.

  27. فَوَّضْتُ أمري الى الجَمال

    يَفْعَلُ بي ما بَدا لَهُ

    I entrusted my affairs to Beauty;

    it does with me whatever it pleases.

  28. مَلَّكْتُهُ القَلْبَ ما أُبالي

    أنالَهُ أمْ أنالَهُ

    I made it master of my heart; I do not care

    whether it bestowed it or bestowed it.

  29. مَنْ كانَ يَشْكُو بِسُوءِ حَالِ

    قَدْ رَضِيَ الصَّبُّ حالَهُ

    Whoever may complain of a wretched plight,

    the lover has accepted his lot.

  30. قُيِّدْتُ في الحُبِّ عَنْ سَراحِ

    بِرِدْفٍ ثَقِيلْ كحِقْفٍ مَهيل

    I was fettered in love, denied release,

    by heavy haunches like a heaped-up dune

  31. من أحقافِ يَبْرينِ

    قَد هَزَّ في مَلعبِ الرِّماحِ

    among the dunes of Yabrin.

    It has brandished, in the spears' arena,

  32. قدّاً كالحُسامْ يَقُدُّ الأنامْ

    فَقَدْ كادَ يَبْرِيْنِي

    a swordlike figure that cuts people down;

    for it has almost whittled me away.

  33. يا مَنْ لِذي لَوْعةٍ مُعَنّى

    قَدْ ضاقَ بالبَيْنِ ذَرْعُهُ

    O who will help one tormented by burning grief,

    whose endurance separation has exhausted?

  34. أنَّى لَهُ بالسُّلُوِّ أنّى

    يَأْبَى عَلى الصَّبِّ طبْعُهُ

    How can he find solace—how?

    The lover's nature refuses it.

  35. إنْ ناسَمَتْهُ الرِّياحُ حَنّا

    لِمعْهَدٍ شَطَّ رَبْعُهُ

    If the winds breathe upon him, he yearns

    for a familiar haunt whose dwelling lies far away.

  36. مَرَّتْ به نَسْمةٌ فَغَنَّى

    وفاضَ للبينِ دَمعُهُ

    A breeze passed by him, and he sang,

    and his tears overflowed at separation.

  37. رياكِ يا نَسْمَةَ الصَّباحِ

    راحَة العَلِيلْ مِنْ جَوى الغَلِيلْ

    Your fragrance, O morning breeze,

    is the ailing man's relief from the anguish of burning thirst.

  38. فَهُبّي لِتُحييني

    باللهِ إنْ عُجْتِ بالبِطاحِ

    So blow, that you may revive me.

    By God, if you turn toward the lowlands,

  39. فاقْصدي الخِيامْ واقْرئي السَّلامْ

    على ربَّةِ السينِ

    then seek the tents and convey greetings

    to the lady of Sīn.