1. أي قلبٍ كوى الفِراق وهزّهْ

    أيّ لبٍّ أَطاره واستفزّه

    What a heart parting seared and shook!

    What a mind it sent flying and unsettled!

  2. أيّ دمع جرى وقلب تلظّى

    وفؤاد تداول البينُ وخزه

    What tears flowed, and what heart blazed!

    And a heart that separation pierced again and again!

  3. كم شموسٍ بعين شمس أُذيلت

    لوداع رأى به الحِلْمُ عَجْزه

    How many suns were brought low at ʿAyn Shams

    by a farewell in which forbearance saw its own helplessness!

  4. موقف جار فيه حكُم التصابي

    وأصاب الأسَى العزاءَ فبزه

    A scene where youthful passion's rule was tyrannical,

    and sorrow struck solace and overcame it.

  5. لو رآني كثير فيه ما ش

    كّ بأنّي فيه كثيِّرُ عَزّهْ

    Had Kuthayyir seen me there, he would not have

    doubted that there I was Kuthayyir of ʿAzza.

  6. ما غزتني كتائب البَثّ حتى

    جعلوا موعد التلاقي بغزّهْ

    The battalions of anguish did not invade me until

    they set the rendezvous at Gaza.

  7. فُرْقَة لا تزال في العين دمعاً

    عند ذكرِي لها وفي القلب حَزَّه

    A parting that remains as tears in the eye

    whenever I recall it, and as a cut in the heart.

  8. سيدتِي أحسنُ من قد مشى

    كذا أنا أحسن ما يُلْبَس

    My lady is the loveliest of all who have walked;

    likewise, I am the loveliest of all that is worn.

  9. كأنني من رقّتي عاشق

    ليس يُرَى سُقْما ولا يُلْمَس

    In my delicacy, I am like a lover

    who, through sickness, is neither seen nor touched.