1. عَينُ الظِباءِ تَجَنّيها

    لِصَبِّ مُبيد

    The gazelles' eye—its cruelty

    is deadly to a yearning lover.

  2. أَرسَلَت تُسَدِّدُ لِلسالي

    سَهمَها السَديد

    It loosed, aiming at the carefree one,

    its unerring arrow.

  3. فاتِنُ الحَلي أَثمَرَ البَدرا

    غُصنُ قَدِّه

    The bejeweled charmer—the full moon was the fruit

    of the branch of his figure.

  4. وَمُذ جَهِلَ جَعَلَ الهَجرا

    بَعضَ وَعدِه

    And since he acted foolishly, he made estrangement

    part of his promise.

  5. هَل يَنالُ بِالشِعرِ وَالشُعَرى

    فَوقَ خَدِّه

    Can one reach him through verse, while Sirius

    is above his cheek?

  6. كَيفَ بِالكَواكِبِ يَجنيها

    مَن عَلى الصَعيد

    How can the stars be plucked

    by one upon the ground?

  7. ذَهَبَت لَعَمرِكَ آمالي

    مَذهَباً بَعيد

    My hopes have gone, by your life,

    along a distant path.

  8. قَد بَلَغتَ موسى مِنَ الهَجرِ

    كُلَّ مُلتَمَس

    You have reached, Musa, in estrangement,

    every sought-for end.

  9. لَو شَقَقتَ دَمعي عَلى البَرِّ

    لَم يَعُد يَبَس

    If you cleft my tears across the land,

    no dry ground would remain.

  10. خَلِّ طورَ سيناءَ في صَدري

    لِلهَوى قَبَس

    Leave Mount Sinai aside; in my breast

    is a firebrand of love.

  11. تَطلُبُ الشُجون فَأُعطيها

    فَوقَ ما تُريد

    You ask for sorrows, so I give them—

    more than you desire.

  12. هَل أَصابَ قَبلي عِذالي

    عاشِقاً رَشيد

    Has the reproach I bear ever struck, before me,

    a sensible lover?

  13. كَم تُقابِلُ العاشِقَ الزُوّار

    مِنكَ بِاِزوِرار

    How often you greet the lover who visits

    by turning away from him!

  14. سَوفَ تَنسَخُ التيهَ وَالأَعذار

    آيَةُ العِذار

    Arrogance and excuses will be abrogated

    by the sign of down along your cheeks.

  15. إِنَّ حَلكَةَ الخال كَالإِنذار

    كُن عَلى اِنتِظار

    Indeed, the mole's blackness is like a warning;

    wait expectantly.

  16. شاقَهُ نَسيمُ المُنى فيها

    نَجمُها السَعيد

    The breeze of hopes stirred his longing; within them

    is their auspicious star.

  17. كَم لِذَلِكَ الخالِ مِن خالِ

    رَدَّهُ عَميد

    How many a carefree man that mole

    has made lovesick!

  18. قَسَماً بِهَجرِكَ وَالسُنَّه

    حَيثُ ذا اليَمين

    I swear by your estrangement and the Sunnah—

    where this oath is sworn—

  19. ما كانَ حُبُّكَ يا فِتنَه

    في الحَشا مَكين

    your love, O temptation, would not be

    firmly lodged within my breast,

  20. لَولا مُحَيّاكَ لي جَنَّه

    وَهَواكَ دين

    were your face not a paradise for me

    and your love my faith.

  21. أُحيِ مُهجَةً أَنتَ فيها

    مُبدِئُ مُعيد

    Revive a soul in which you are

    the originator, the restorer.

  22. لَو رَزَقتَ مِن وَصلِكَ الغالي

    جَنَّةَ الشَهيد

    If only you would grant, from your precious union,

    the martyr's paradise!

  23. قُل لِلبائِعِ الطيبَ في الدُكّان

    هَل سِواكَ طيب

    Say to the seller of perfume in the shop:

    Is there any fragrance but you?

  24. إِن حَضَرتُ ظَنَّ بي الجيران

    أَنَّني مُريب

    If I come, the neighbors think

    that I am suspect.

  25. أَنا سَوفَ أَحسُمُ بِالهَوان

    تُهمَةَ القَريب

    I shall put an end, through humiliation,

    to the suspicion of the one nearby.

  26. نَفتَحُ العِطرَ في ذاكَ الجِيها

    عَلى مَن يُريد

    We open the perfume in that quarter

    to whoever wants it.

  27. يَشعُرُ لي إِنُّ الرَقيب بالي

    وَالحانوتُ جَديد

    It seems to me that the watcher is worn out,

    and the shop is new.