روحي فِداءُ عصابةٍ زَرقاءِ

روحي فِداءُ عصابةٍ زَرقاءِ

لَمّت شُعورَ مَليحة حَسناءِ

لَمّت شُعورَ مَليحة حَسناءِ

My soul is a ransom for a blue headband

My soul is the ransom of a blue-eyed band

That gathered the tresses of a lovely beauty.

That braided the hair of a pretty, beautiful one

ما زَيّنَتكِ وَإِنَّما زَيّنتِها

ما زَيّنَتكِ وَإِنَّما زَيّنتِها

بِجوارها لجبينك الوضّاءِ

بِجوارها لجبينك الوضّاءِ

It did not adorn you; rather, you adorned it

It did not adorn you, but adorned her

Through its nearness to your radiant brow,

With its proximity to your bright forehead

وَدُنوّها مِن مُقلة مَكحولة

وَدُنوّها مِن مُقلة مَكحولة

فَتّانةٍ فَتّاكةٍ حَوراءِ

فَتّانةٍ فَتّاكةٍ حَوراءِ

And its closeness to a kohl-lined eye,

And its nearness from an alluring eyelash

Bewitching, deadly, with deep black against bright white.

Of a charming, fatal, houri-like one

إِن الجمال إِذا تجمّع شَمله

إِن الجمال إِذا تجمّع شَمله

فَالوَيل كُل الوَيل للشعراءِ

فَالوَيل كُل الوَيل للشعراءِ

Indeed, when all of beauty comes together,

Indeed beauty, when it is brought together

Then woe—utter woe—to poets!

Then woe, all woe, to the poets