1. ما زالَ يَخدعني باللّطف والحِيَلِ

    حتّى اِستجبتُ على كُرهٍ إلى الغزلِ

    He kept beguiling me with gentleness and guile,

    until, against my will, I yielded to courtship.

  2. للَّه قلبُ عميدٍ خرّ منجدلاً

    لمّا رأته لحاظُ الأعينِ النُّجُلِ

    By God, a lovesick man's heart fell prostrate

    when the sidelong glances of wide eyes beheld it.

  3. ما كانَ هَذا الهوى لي في الحساب ولا

    هذي الصّبابةُ لولا الحسنُ من عملِي

    This passion was never in my reckoning, nor

    would this longing have been my doing, but for beauty.

  4. جاء الهوى عَرَضاً لم أجْنِهِ بيدي

    كأنّه ليس منّي وهْو من قِبَلي

    Passion came by chance; I did not reap it with my own hand,

    as though it were not of me, though it comes from me.

  5. ناشدتُكم أن تقرّوا من قلوبكم

    فبين حنبيَّ قلبٌ ما تَحَيَّزَ لِي

    I implored you to offer me a share of your hearts,

    for between my two sides lies a heart that never sided with me.

  6. كم قد نصحتُ لعذّالي وقلتُ لهمْ

    عذلتُمُ اليومَ مشغولاً عن العَذَلِ

    How often I have counseled my reproachers and said to them:

    Today you have reproached someone too absorbed to heed reproach.

  7. يعصيكُمُ قلبُهُ الغاوي ومن خَجَلٍ

    يُطيعكمْ لفظُهُ قولاً بلا عَمَلِ

    His wayward heart disobeys you, yet out of shame

    his speech obeys you in words, without deeds.