1. لي فيك قلب كالزجاجة مشعب

    وهوىً بحبك مفرط متشعب

    For you I have a heart splintered like glass,

    And a passion, excessive and many-branched in loving you.

  2. للعاشقين مذاهب لكنما

    مالي سواك من المذاهب مذهب

    Lovers have their creeds, but

    Among all creeds, I have none but you.

  3. ولقد شكوت عليك عندك عاتباً

    لو كان للعشاق عندك معتب

    And indeed I complained of you to you, reproachfully,

    If only lovers could find redress with you.

  4. ما خلت قبلك بل وبعدك سوقة

    ملكاً تراه العين وهو محجب

    Before you—indeed, even after you—I never took a commoner

    For a king whom the eye beholds, though he is veiled.

  5. ترنو إليك العين حتى تنتشي

    فكأن عيني من جفونك تشرب

    The eye gazes at you until it grows intoxicated,

    As though my eye were drinking from your eyelids.

  6. وكأن جعدك فوق خدك مرسلا

    ليل أحم البردتين مكوكب

    And your curls, hanging loose over your cheek, seem

    A star-studded night with two pitch-black mantles.

  7. إني ليطربني قوامك إن خطى

    يهتز كالخطي وهو مدرب

    Your figure truly enraptures me when it takes a step,

    Swaying like a Khatti spear, well-trained.

  8. ينساب فوق كثيب ردفك أرقم

    وتدب فوق شقيق خدك عقرب

    A speckled snake glides over the dune of your hips,

    And a scorpion creeps over your cheek's red anemone.

  9. لدغت وريقك قاتل لسمامها

    والريق درياق بفيك مجرب

    It stung, yet your saliva destroys its venom,

    And the saliva in your mouth is a proven antidote.

  10. وغذا استمالك من هواي مؤنب

    لم يستملني عن هواك مؤنب

    And if a reprover has turned you away from loving me,

    No reprover has turned me away from loving you.

  11. إني وإن كنت المحب مذمم

    فلعند غيرك في القلوب محبب

    Indeed, though I am the lover, I am reviled;

    Yet in the hearts of others I am cherished.

  12. يا من يريح الصب من أوصابه

    هلا تريح القلب وهو معذب

    O you who relieve the lovesick lover of his pains,

    Will you not ease the heart while it suffers torment?

  13. لك من وداد أخ الوداد تنكب

    ولديك أهل للعذول ومرحب

    You turn away from a loving companion's affection,

    And with you the reprover finds welcome and hospitality.

  14. لك حين تبدو من جمالك هيبةً

    ومن الملاحة حين تقبل موكب

    When you appear, your beauty lends you majesty,

    And when you approach, loveliness is your retinue.

  15. وغذا تأملت الملاحة خلتها

    لجّاً به يطفو المحب ويرسب

    And when I contemplate loveliness, I imagine it

    A deep sea in which the lover floats and sinks.

  16. أنت الحيا وسواك غيم خلب

    أتراه يمطرنا الغمام الخلب

    You are life-giving rain; all others are rainless clouds.

    Do you think those rainless clouds will rain upon us?

  17. قد أطنبوا قوم بحسنك أغربوا

    ولعارض أن أطنبوا أو أغربوا

    Some have spoken at length of your beauty, saying wondrous things;

    And their lengthy or wondrous praise is for a passing quality.

  18. إن شبت أو ذهب الشباب فعاذر

    لو عدتُ بعد الشيب فيك أشيب

    If you grow grey, or youth departs, be forgiving

    If, after greying, I grow grey anew in loving you.

  19. أمعذبي بهواك أقسم والهوى

    لولاك لا يحلو النسيم ويعذب

    O my tormentor through love for you, I swear by love:

    Without you, the breeze would not be sweet or pleasant.

  20. تصف العذاب العذب منك ثلاثةً

    ريق وسالفة وثغر أشنب

    Three things of yours describe sweet torment:

    Saliva, the side of your neck, and a mouth with cool, white teeth.

  21. لقدحت لي ناراً بقلبي حرها

    ودخانها بين الضلوع مطنب

    You have kindled a fire for me, its heat within my heart,

    And its smoke lies spread between my ribs.

  22. النار تلهب ثم يخمد ضوؤها

    أبداً ونارك في الحشا تتلهب

    Fire blazes, then its light dies out

    For good; yet your fire blazes within my breast.

  23. وأما وربربك البغوم آلية

    لم يجتمع لولاك ذاك الربرب

    And indeed, by your softly calling herd of gazelles, I swear:

    That herd would not have gathered without you.

  24. أخذوا بأطراف الحديث كأنهم

    عجم الكراكي أو قمارٍ تعرب

    They took up the threads of conversation, as though they were

    Inarticulate cranes, or turtle-doves speaking eloquently.

  25. إن يمسي وادي الجزع ملعب سربهم

    فلهم مراح في القلوب وملعب

    If the valley of al-Jiz‘ becomes their flock's playground at evening,

    Then in hearts they have a resting ground and a playground.

  26. ويشوقهم منك الجبين كأنه

    قمر السما ينجاب عنه الغيهب

    And your forehead stirs their longing, as though it were

    The moon in heaven, with darkness clearing from it.

  27. برقت أسرته عليه كأنه

    طرس بمحلول النضار مذهب

    Its lines flashed upon it, as though it were

    A parchment gilded with dissolved pure gold.

  28. فإذا طلعت فكل شيءٍ طلع

    وغذا غربت فكل شيءٍ مغرب

    So when you rise, everything rises,

    And when you set, everything sets.

  29. ومجرد لحظاً لحتفي مرهفاً

    عضب المضارب من دمي يتحلب

    And one who unsheathes a glance, honed to bring my death,

    Keen of edge, dripping with my blood,

  30. ومصرف بالتبر بيض أنامل

    مثل اللجين تجدُّ فيه وتلعب

    And sets white fingertips to work with raw gold,

    Like silver, working at it earnestly and playfully—

  31. ناديته والقلب مني واجب

    يا من يصوغ القلبَ قلبك قلب

    I called to him, my heart pounding:

    'O you who fashion bracelets, your heart is counterfeit!'

  32. كم قائل والطوق يحسد جيده

    والقرط راح بخده يتذبذب

    Many a speaker has said, while the necklace envies his neck

    And the earring has begun to sway beside his cheek:

  33. قد شب عمرو عن سلاسل طوقه

    فأجبته اكفف يا بفيك الأثلب

    'Amr has outgrown the chains of his necklace.'

    So I answered him: 'Enough, you! Gravel in your mouth!'

  34. يعتاده مرح الدلال كأنه

    في حلبة الخيلاء مهر سلهب

    Coquetry's exuberance comes over him, as though he were

    A tall, long-limbed colt in the arena of swagger.