1. لو زارَ طيفُ خيالِهِ

    للمُستهامِ الوالِهِ

    If the phantom of his image came

    to the love-stricken, distraught lover,

  2. بلَّ الصَّدى من قلبِه

    وشَفاهُ من بَلبالهِ

    it would slake the thirst in his heart

    and heal him of his turmoil.

  3. رشأٌ شمائِلُهُ مُوَكَّ

    لةٌ بفَرطِ مِلالهِ

    A young gazelle whose ways are governed

    by his excessive boredom.

  4. ليس الدَّليلُ له على ال

    هُجرانِ غيرَ دَلالهِ

    Nothing in him points to

    estrangement except his coyness.

  5. البدرُ تحتَ لِثامهش

    والغُصنُ في سِربالهِ

    The full moon is beneath his veil,

    and the bough within his robe.

  6. لم يجلُ ليلَ صدودِه

    عنِّي بصبُحِ جَمَالهِ

    He has not dispelled the night of his shunning

    from me with the dawn of his beauty.

  7. إِن عمَّ جسمي بالضنَّا

    فَفِداءُ نُقطةِ خالهِ

    If he overwhelms my body with wasting sickness,

    it is a ransom for the dot of his mole.

  8. يا ثغرَهُ آهاً على ال

    مَختومِ من جريالهِ

    O his mouth! Ah, for the

    sealed draught of his crimson wine!

  9. عَسلٌ حَماهُ ما يهُزُّ

    القَدُّ من عَسَّالهِ

    Honey, guarded by what is brandished

    by his figure—his quivering spear.

  10. يَسطو بطَرفٍ فاترٍ

    لم تنبُ بِيضُ نِصالهِ

    He assails with a languid gaze;

    his bright arrowheads have never glanced off.

  11. عن قوسِ حاجبه يُفوِّ

    قُ صائباتِ نِبالهِ

    On the bow of his eyebrow he nocks

    his unerring arrows.

  12. يا فاضحاً قمرَ الدُّجا

    بالحُسنِ عند كَمالهِ

    O you who shame the moon of night

    with your beauty when it is full,

  13. الله في صَبً شَجِ

    أنتَ العليمُ بحالهِ

    for God's sake, pity a sorrowful lover:

    you know his state full well.

  14. لا يعرفُ الشَّكوى ولا

    يُصغي إلى عُذَّالهِ

    He knows no complaining, nor

    does he listen to his reproachers.

  15. ما حالَ عن ميثاقِه

    لا والنَّبي وآلهِ

    He has not swerved from his pledge—

    no, by the Prophet and his family!