1. من جبيني تضيء هذي البروق

    وفؤادي زوابع وحريقُ

    From my brow these lightning flashes shine,

    and my heart is whirlwinds and fire.

  2. لا شكوت ُالهوى ولا قلتُ قلبي

    إنَّ هذا بحبِّنا لا يليق

    I never complained of love, nor said, “My heart!”

    Indeed, this does not befit our love.

  3. كلُّ شبرٍ في مقلتيه نشيدٌ

    من غرامي ونُضرةٌ ورحيق

    Every handspan in his eyes is a song

    of my passion, and freshness and nectar.

  4. لم تضقْ بي عيناك كانت مداراً

    شاعرياً وعالم النَّاس ضيقُ

    Your eyes never grew narrow for me; they were an orbit

    of poetry, while the world of people is narrow.

  5. ورحلنا في جُرحنا ما افترقنا

    والمنايا من كُلِّ فجٍّ تتوق

    And we journeyed in our wound; we did not part,

    while deaths yearn from every mountain pass.

  6. لغةُ العشق قبلنا ليس فيها

    أن يُباهي بِسرِّه المعشوق

    The language of love before us had no place

    for the beloved to boast of his secret.

  7. لغةُ العشقِ قبلنا ذكرياتٌ

    وبكاءٌ عند النوى وعُقوق

    The language of love before us was memories,

    and weeping at separation, and ingratitude.

  8. لغةُ العشقِ عندنا قسماتٌ

    لم يُلطِّخ صفاءها المسحوق

    The language of love for us is facial features

    whose purity powder has not stained.

  9. كم سقيت الثُرى دمائي ودمعي

    واجباتٌ عندي لها وحقوق

    How often I watered the soil with my blood and tears!

    I have duties toward her, and she has rights.

  10. فأنا في النّوى وفي كل ساقٍ

    حفظته للنائبات العروق

    For I am in the fruit stones and in every stem

    that the roots have preserved for times of adversity.

  11. وأنا فوقها هلالٌ وشمسٌ

    وغروبٌ عن وجهها وشروق

    And above her I am a crescent moon and a sun,

    and a sunset away from her face, and a sunrise.

  12. وأنا روحها زفيرُ أساها

    كلما ضاق صدرها والشهيق

    And I am her soul, the exhalation of her sorrow,

    whenever her breast tightens—and her inhalation.