1. قاسوكِ يا شمسَ الضُّحى

    بالبدرِ ظلماً والهلالِ

    They compared you, O morning sun,

    Unjustly, with the full moon and the crescent.

  2. ورأوا عيونكِ فاستها

    موا بالغزالةِ والغزالِ

    They saw your eyes and became enamored

    Of the gazelle doe and buck.

  3. يأبى جمالكِ أن يقا

    سَ وأنتِ مقياسُ الجمالِ

    Your beauty refuses to be measured,

    And you are the measure of beauty.

  4. عذرتُ فؤاداً رآكِ فطارا

    كذا الطيرُ إما لمحنَ النهارا

    I excused a heart that saw you and took flight;

    So too do birds whenever they glimpse the day.

  5. ودماً على نفخِ ذكراكِ يهمي

    كما هاجتِ النسماتُ الشرارا

    And blood that pours at the breath of your memory,

    As breezes stir up sparks.

  6. نثرتِ على الليلِ منهُ شعاعاً

    كما تنثرُ الشمسُ منها النضارا

    You scattered a ray of it upon the night,

    As the sun scatters gold from itself.

  7. تداعتْ ضلوعي وعندَ الحريق

    يهدمُ أهلِ الديارِ الديارا

    My ribs collapsed; and at a fire,

    The dwellers tear their houses down.

  8. ولما أحستْ بذاكَ الدموع

    أبينَ من الرعبِ إلا فرارا

    And when the tears became aware of that,

    In terror, they refused everything but flight.

  9. وأبصرها العقلُ مُستَنفرات

    فمدَّ جناحيهِ خوفاً وطارا

    And reason saw them panic-stricken,

    So it spread its two wings in fear and flew.

  10. ولا عجبٌ أن تراني على

    تقلبِ هندٍ عدمتُ القرارا

    And no wonder you see me, amid

    Hind's fickleness, bereft of repose.

  11. فلو أنَّ للأرضِ قلباً يحب

    لما أبصرَ الناسُ فيها جدارا

    For if the earth had a heart that loved,

    People would not see a wall upon it.

  12. وهندٌ على ما بنا لا تبالي

    وحبكِ يا هندُ ليسَ اختيارا

    And Hind, despite our suffering, does not care;

    And love for you, O Hind, is not a choice.

  13. إذا ما هجرتِ عذرنا الدلال

    فليسَ دلالكِ إلا اعتذارا

    When you forsake me, we excuse your coyness;

    For your coyness is nothing but an apology.

  14. وفي الحبِّ شيءٌ يسمونهُ

    نفاراً وما تتركينَ النفارا

    And in love there is something they call

    Aversion—and you never give up that aversion.

  15. كأنَّ الجمالَ بأعمارنا

    يطولُ ليصبحنَ منهُ قصارا

    As though beauty, at the cost of our lives,

    Grows long, so they may become short because of it.

  16. وما يربحُ الحسنُ إنْ لم يكن

    مُحبُّوهُ يرضونَ منهُ الخسارا

    And what does beauty gain, unless

    Its lovers are content with loss at its hands?

  17. لماذا تجافينَ يا هندُ عني

    هبيني ظلاً وراءَكِ سارا

    Why do you shun me, O Hind?

    Think of me as a shadow that walked behind you.

  18. هبيني نسيماً تلطفَ يوماً

    فحركَ من جانبيكِ الإزارا

    Think of me as a breeze that one day turned gentle,

    So it stirred the wrap along your two sides.

  19. هبيني أشعةَ شمسِ الأصيل

    نورٌ يغادرُ خديكِ نارا

    Think of me as rays of the late-afternoon sun—

    Light that leaves your cheeks aflame.

  20. هبيني من قَطَرَاتِ الندى

    إذا ما انتشرنَ عليكِ انتثارا

    Think of me as one of the drops of dew,

    When they spread and scatter over you.

  21. هبيني أخاً وهبيني طفلاً

    هبيني فتىً وهبيني جارا

    Think of me as a brother; think of me as a child;

    Think of me as a young man; think of me as a neighbor;

  22. هبينيَ من بعدِ هاذا وذاك

    غباراً على قدميكِ استثارا

    Think of me, after this and that, as

    Dust that rose upon your feet.

  23. وأقسمُ أني لأطهرُ نفساً

    وأصفى غراماً وأسمى وقارا

    And I swear that I am purest in soul,

    And purest in passion, and loftiest in dignity.

  24. اتقّي اللهَ إني رأيتُ الجفون

    تعلمُ نفسي لديكِ انكسارا

    Fear God: I have seen the eyelids

    Teaching my soul abasement in your presence.

  25. وعودتني أن أخافَ الأنام

    وما كنتُ أحذرُ إلا الحذارا

    And you have accustomed me to fear humankind,

    Though I once feared nothing but fear itself.

  26. وحملتني من خطوبِ الزمان

    بما لمْ يدرِ فلكٌ حيثُ دارا

    And among time's calamities, you have burdened me

    With what no heavenly sphere has known, wherever it has turned.

  27. أصيخي إلى الحلي إني أرىالسوا

    رَ يناجي بأمري السوارا

    Listen to the jewelry: I see a bracelet

    Whispering about my plight to another bracelet.

  28. متى ما سمعتِ رنينَ الحليّ

    فإنَّ لهنَّ بشأني سِرارا

    Whenever you hear the jewelry ringing,

    Then indeed they have secret whispers about me.

  29. ولا تفزعي من حفيفِ الثياب

    يناديني إذ مللنَ انتظارا

    And do not be startled by the rustle of clothes;

    It calls to me, for they have tired of waiting.

  30. على أنَّ قلبي لها حاسدٌ

    فيا ليتهُ كانَ فيها زرارا

    Yet my heart envies them,

    Oh, if only it were a button on them!

  31. ويا ليتني وأنا كالخيوط

    نُسجتُ لهذا القومِ إزارا

    And oh, if only I, being like threads,

    Had been woven into a wrap for these people!

  32. متى قلتُ يا ليتني مرةً

    لأمرٍ توجعتُ منها مرارا

    Whenever I say 'Oh, if only I...' just once,

    About something, I suffer for it time and again.

  33. علمتُ من الثديِ ما تضمرين

    فقد وقفَ الثديُ حتى أشارا

    I learned from the breast what you conceal;

    For the breast stood upright until it pointed.

  34. فحسبي البعادُ وحسبُ النجوم

    إذا ما بدا صحبها أن توارى

    So distance is enough for me—and enough for the stars,

    When their companions appear, to hide away.