أَلا فَاِسأَلِ الرُكبانَ هَل سُقِيَ الحِمى

نَدىً فَسَقى اللَهُ الحِمى وَسَقانِيا

Ask the caravans if they watered the fevered camels

With dew, so Allah watered the fevered and I.

وَأَسأَل مَن لاقَيتُ عَن أُمِّ مالِكٍ

فَهَل يَسأَلانِ الحَيَّ عَن كَيفَ حالِيا

And ask those I met about Umm Malik's mother -

Do the living ask the well how I fare?

فَوَدَّعتُهُم عِندَ التَفَرُّقِ ضاحِكاً

إِلَيها وَلَم أَعلَم بِأَن لا تَلاقِيا

I bade them farewell laughing

As I went to her, not knowing we'd never meet again.

وَلَو كُنتُ أَدري أَنَّهُ آخِرُ اللُقا

بَكَيتُ فَأَبكَيتُ الحَبيبَ المُوافِيا

Had I known it was our last meeting

I would have wept and made my beloved companion weep.

هُوَ الحُبُّ لا تَخفي سَواكِنُ جِدَّهُ

وَكَيفَ وَيُبدي الدَمعُ ما كانَ خافِيا

It is love - its intensity cannot be hidden

And how can tears not show what was secret?

يَقولونَ لَيلى عِلجَةٌ نَبَطِيَّةٌ

وَقَد حَبَّبَت لَيلى إِلَيَّ المَوالِيا

They say Layla is a Nabataean healer -

And Layla made me love the outcasts.

أَحَبُّ المَوالي إِن سَكَنتِ دِيارَهُم

وَما لِلمَوالي مِنكِ شَيءٌ وَلا لِيا

I love the outcasts if they dwell in her land

But the outcasts have no claim on you, nor I.

فَيا رَبِّ إِن صَيَّرتَ لَيلى ضَجيعَتي

أُطيلُ صِيامي دائِماً وَصَلاتِيا

O Lord, if you make Layla my companion

I will always fast and pray.

بَني عَمِّ لَيلى لَو شَكَوتُ بَليَّتي

إِلى راهِبٍ في دَيرِهِ لَرَثى لِيا

O Layla’s cousin, if I complained of my misery

To a monk in his monastery, he would weep for me.

إِذا ما تَداعى في الأَنينِ حَبائِبٌ

دَعوتُكِ لَيلى أَن تُجيبي دُعائِيا

When lovers moan in their death throes

I call on you, Layla, to answer my call.

فَلا نَفَعَ اللَهُ الطَبيبَ بِطِبِّهِ

وَلا أَرشَدَ اللَهُ الحَكيمَ المُداوِيا

So the doctor was no use with his cures

Nor the wise man who tried to heal me.

أَتَيتُ أَبا لَيلى بِصَحبي وَنِسوَتي

وَجَمَّعتُ جَمعاً مِن رِجالِ بِلادِيا

I went to Layla’s father with my friends and women

And gathered a group from my countrymen

بِأَن يَتَخَلّى عَن قَساوَةِ قَلبِهِ

فَزادَ فِظاظاً ثُمَّ رامَ هَلاكِيا

To ask him to soften his hard heart -

But he grew more stubborn and tried to kill me.

أَلا قُل لَهُم ما قَد تَرى مِن صَبابَتي

وَمِن أَدمُعِ تَنهَلُّ مِنّي تَوالِيا

Tell them what you see of my youth

And the tears that continually stream from me,

وَمِن أَجلِها أَحبَبتُ مَن لا يَحُبُّني

وَمَن لا يَزالُ الدَهرُ فيها مُعادِيا

And that for her sake I loved one who did not love me

And who the days make more and more my enemy,

وَمِن أَجلِها صاحَبتُ قَوماً تَعَصَّبوا

عَلَيَّ وَلَم يَرعُوا حُقوقَ جَوارِيا

And that for her sake I kept company with people who were prejudiced

Against me and did not respect the rights of a neighbor.