1. يا مغاني اللهو والطرب

    بأبي أفدي ثراك وبي

    O haunts of pleasure and rapture,

    I ransom your soil with my father and myself.

  2. لا تعداه الغمام ولا

    حاد عنه صيب السحب

    May the clouds never pass it by, nor

    The clouds’ pouring rain turn aside from it.

  3. حبذا دار عهدت بها

    كل معسول اللمى شنب

    How lovely the home where I once knew

    Every one with honeyed, dusky lips and pearly teeth!

  4. حيث كانت قبل فرقتنا

    فلكاً يجري على شهب

    There, before our parting, it was

    A celestial sphere coursing over shooting stars.

  5. ونصيبي من وصالهم

    واصلاً نحوي بلا نصب

    And my share of union with them

    Came toward me without toil,

  6. في بساتين المحول لا

    في قفار الجزع واللبب

    In the gardens of al-Muhawwal, not

    In the wastes of valley bends and sandy slopes,

  7. بين أشجار تفوق على

    شجرات الضال والكثب

    Among trees that surpass

    The wild lote trees and those of the dunes.

  8. صفعوني لا عدمتهم

    وأضاعوا حرمة الأدب

    They slapped me—may I never lose them—

    And disregarded the sanctity of good manners.

  9. فعلوا بالرأس ما فعلوا

    وأحالوني على الذنب

    They did to my head what they did,

    And referred me to the tail.

  10. كأن في رأسي وأسفلهم

    شبه من حكة الجرب

    As though my head and their lower parts

    Had something of the itch of scabies.