1. أَإِن هَتَفَت يَوماً بِوادٍ حَمامَةٌ

    بَكَيتَ وَلَم يَعذِركَ بِالجَهلِ عاذِرُ

    Is it because a dove called one day in a valley

    that you wept, with none to excuse your folly?

  2. دَعَت ساقَ حُرٍّ بَعدَما عَلَتِ الضُحى

    فَهاجٍ لَكَ الأَحزانَ أَن ناحَ طائِرُ

    She called “Sāq Ḥurr” after the morning sun rose high,

    and a bird's lament stirred your sorrows.

  3. تُغَنّي الضُحى وَالصُبحَ في مُرجَحِنَّةٍ

    كِثافِ الأَعالي تَحتَها الماءُ حائِرُ

    She sings at forenoon and dawn in a heavy, drooping tree,

    its upper boughs thick, the water beneath it lying still.

  4. كَأَن لَم يَكُن بِالغَيلِ أَو بَطنِ أَيكَةٍ

    أَوِ الجِزعُ مَن تَولِ الأَشاءَةِ حاضِرُ

    As though there were not, in the thicket or the heart of a grove,

    or at the valley bend, by the young palm [unclear wording], anyone present.

  5. يَقولُ زِيادٌ إِذ رَأى الحَيَّ هَجَّروا

    أَرى الحَيَّ قَد ساروا فَهَل أَنتَ سائِرُ

    Ziyād says, on seeing the tribe depart at midday:

    “I see the tribe has set out; will you be setting out?”

  6. وَإِنّي وَإِن غالَ التَقادُمُ حاجَتي

    مُلِمٌّ عَلى أَوطانِ لَيلى فَناظِرُ

    And I, though passing time has thwarted my desire,

    still visit Laylā's dwelling places, and then gaze.