رَأى المَحبوب في جفنيَّ كحلاً

رَأى المَحبوب في جفنيَّ كحلاً

فَأَنكره وَقال أَرى سَوادا

فَأَنكره وَقال أَرى سَوادا

The beloved saw kohl on my eyelids,

He saw the beloved in my eyes as kohl

so he disapproved of it and said, “I see blackness.”

So he denied it and said, "I see but darkness"

فَقُلت قَضى لِهَجرك نَوم عَيني

فَقُلت قَضى لِهَجرك نَوم عَيني

وَتِلكَ جُفونها لَبست حدادا

وَتِلكَ جُفونها لَبست حدادا

I said, “My eye’s sleep has died from your desertion,

I said, "My eyes have lost sleep from your abandonment

and those, its eyelids, have donned mourning black.”

And those lids have put on mourning clothes"