1. ظَمْأَى لِعَيْنَيْكِ يَا غَيْدَاءُ بَيْدَائِي

     مَاتَ الغَمَامُ فَمَاتَتْ كُلُّ أَنْدَائِي

    My desert thirsts for your eyes, O Ghayda.

    The clouds died, so all my dews died.

  2. سَلَّتْ أَظَافِرَهَا شَمْسُ الحَيَاةِ فَمَا  

     أَبْقَتْ بِرَاحِلَتِي زَادِي وَلاَ مَائِي

    The sun of life unsheathed its claws, leaving

    neither my provisions nor my water upon my mount.

  3. أَمْشِي وَفِي الرَّمْلِ حُمَّى وَالطَّرِيقُ يَدٌ  

     شَلاَّءُ تَرْسُفُ فِي قَيْدٍ وَإِغْمَاءِ

    I walk; there is fever in the sand, and the road is a hand,

    paralyzed, dragging itself in fetters and a swoon.

  4. أَمْشِي وَوَهْجُ اللَّظَى يَمْتَصُّ مِنْ رِئَتِي  

     ثُمَالَةَ النَّفَسِ المَكْدُودِ بِالدَّاءِ

    I walk, and the heat of flames sucks from my lung

    the dregs of breath worn out by illness.

  5. أَمْشِي وَحَرُّ الظَّمَا يَغْتَالُ فِي شَفَتِي  

     رُوَاءَهَا وَيَهُدُّ الوَهْمُ أَعْضَائِي

    I walk, and the heat of thirst slays, within my lip,

    its freshness, while illusion crushes my limbs.

  6. أَمِنْ جَفَافِ الضَّنَى جَفَّتْ بِأَخْيِلَتِي  

     حُقُولُهَا وَتَلاَشَى ضَوْءُ أَنْوَائِي ؟

    Is it from the drought of wasting sickness that, within my imaginings,

    their fields have dried, and the light of my rain-stars has faded?

  7. أَمْ أَنَّ صَبَّارَتِي مَلَّتْ مُرَافَقَتِي  

    مَنْ ذَا يُرافِقُ أَشْوَاكِي وَحَصْبَائِي ؟ !

    Or has my cactus grown weary of keeping me company?

    Who would accompany my thorns and pebbles?

  8. يَا خِصْبَةَ الرُّوحِ ، عَطْشَى مُهْجَتِي انْصَهَرَتْ

    جِبَالُ صَبْرِيَ فِي نِيرَانِ رَمْضَائِي

    O fertile-souled one, my heart is thirsty; melted are

    the mountains of my patience in the fires of my scorching sands.

  9. لاَ تَحْسَبِي حُمْرَةَ الخَدَّيْنِ مِنْ رَغَدِي  

    فَالنَّارُ مِنْ نَكَدِي تَقْتَاتُ أَحْشَائِي

    Do not think my cheeks' redness comes from my ease;

    for the fire of my misery feeds on my entrails.

  10. سَبَى الخَرِيفُ اخْضِرَارِي وَالهَجِيرُ دَمِي  

    وَعَكَّرَتْ رِيحُ هَمِّي صَفْوَ أَجْوَائِي

    Autumn took my greenness captive, and the noonday heat my blood;

    and the wind of my worry clouded the clarity of my skies.

  11. أَكَادُ أَجْهَلُ لَوْنِي ، وَجْهَ خَارِطَتِي  

    أَكَادُ أَنْسَى عَنَاوِينِي وَأَسْمَائِي

    I scarcely recognize my color, the face of my map;

    I almost forget my addresses and my names.

  12. يَمَامَةً صِرْتُ ضَلَّتْ سِرْبَهَا ، وَغَدَتْ  

    مَا بَيْنَ مَوْتَيْنِ صَيَّادٍ وَإِعْيَاءِ

    I became a dove that lost her flock and ended up

    between two deaths: a hunter and exhaustion.

  13. صَدْيَانَ هَدَّ النَّوَى قَلْبِي وَأَجْنِحَتِي  

    رَهِينُ رِيحَيْنِ هَوْجَاءٍ وَنَكْبَاءِ

    Parched—separation has shattered my heart and my wings—

    I am captive to two winds: a raging one and a crosswind.

  14. غَارَتْ عُروقِي ، وَنَشَّ الجِذْرُ وَانْتَفَضَتْ  

    أَنَامِلِي وَارْتَمَتْ لِلْقَيْظِ صَحْرَائِي

    My veins receded, the root dried up, and trembled

    my fingertips; my desert flung itself into the summer heat.

  15. فَعَلِّلِينِي ؛ أُحِسُّ المَوْتَ يَهْمِسُ لِي  

     يَكِيدُ لِي بَيْنَ إِرْهَابٍ وَإِغْرَاءِ

    So soothe me; I feel death whispering to me,

    scheming against me between terror and temptation.

  16. رُشِّي تُرَابِي لَعَلِّي حَينَ يَلْمَسُنِي  

    طَلُّ الهَوَى يَنْتَشِي حِسِّي وَأَهْوَائِي

    Sprinkle my dust with water; perhaps, when I am touched

    by the dew of love, my senses and passions will grow intoxicated.

  17. عَلِّي إِذَا بَلَّلَتْ سُقْيَاكِ ذَاكِرَتِي  

    تَنْمُو حُرُوفِي وَيَحَْيا بَعْضُ أَشْلاَئِي

    Perhaps, when your watering moistens my memory,

    my letters will grow, and some of my torn limbs will come alive.

  18. رُدِّي عَلَيَّ لِحَائِي ، وَابْعَثِي وَرَقِي  

    وَحَرِّرِي مِنْ سُجُونِ الظِّلِّ أَفْيَائِي

    Restore my bark to me, and revive my leaves,

    and free my shades from the prisons of shadow.

  19. وَذَكِّرينِي هَدِيلِي إِنَّها نَسِيَتْ  

    هَدِيلَهَا فِي عَنَاءِ الدِّرْبِ وَرْقَائِي

    And remind me of my cooing; she has forgotten

    her cooing in the hardship of the road—my gray dove.

  20. هَيَّا انْفُخِي فِيَّ جَمْرَ الحَرْفِ وَاشْتَعِلِي  

    وَأَشْعِلِي فِي بَقَايَا الصَّمْتِ أَعْبَائِي

    Come, breathe the letter's embers into me, and blaze,

    and set my burdens alight in the remnants of silence.

  21. وَلَمْلِمِينِي ، وَضُمِّي شِقْوَتِي فَلَقَدْ  

    تَبَعْثَرَتْ فِي مَهَبِّ الرِّيحِ أَشَيَائِي !!

    And gather me up, and embrace my misery, for indeed

    my things lie scattered in the wind's path.