1. زَهَا وَرْد خدّيها على الوردِ بهجةً

    حَمَاهُ عن الألحْاظِ طَرْفٌ مُذَكَّرُ

    The rose of her cheeks outshone the rose in splendor.

    A fierce gaze shielded it from gazing eyes.

  2. وخدٌّ أَسِيلٌ زَبْرَجِيٌّ مُنعَّمٌ

    إذا نامَ يُدْميه المُنى والتفكُّرُ

    And a smooth, gold-bright, tender cheek—

    When it sleeps, wishes and reflection make it bleed.

  3. رَمَتْني بسهمٍ مِن جُفونٍ فواترِ

    لها في الحَشا وَخْزُ المُدَى ليس يَفْتُرُّ

    She shot me with an arrow from languid eyelids;

    Their dagger-pricks within my breast never abate.

  4. دواءٌ لكل الداءٍ والسقمِ وصْلها

    وهجرانُها نارٌ على القلبِ تسعرُ

    Union with her is a cure for every disease and sickness.

    And her estrangement is a fire blazing upon the heart.

  5. هي الشمسُ نوراً لا يملُّ شروقها

    معظمةً عنها النواظرُ تَقْصرُ

    She is the sun in radiance; one never tires of her rising.

    Exalted, she is beyond the reach of gazing eyes.

  6. وفاتنةٍ إِنْ فاهَ فُوهَا بمنطقٍ

    تَفاوَح مسكٌ من شَذَاه وعنبرُ

    And a bewitching beauty—if her mouth utters words,

    Musk and ambergris waft from their fragrance.

  7. لو أنّ ابنَ كلثومٍ رأَى حسن وجهها

    لكانَ بها لا بالقبيلةِ يفخرُ

    Had Ibn Kulthum seen the beauty of her face,

    He would have boasted of her, not of his tribe.