1. عاوَدَ القَلبَ مِن سَلامَةَ نُصبُ

    فَلِعَينَيَّ مِن جَوى الحُبِّ سَكبُ

    Distress over Salama has returned to my heart;

    So my eyes stream with tears from love's burning grief.

  2. وَلَقَد قُلتُ أَيُّها القَلبُ ذو الشَو

    قِ الَّذي لا يُحِبُّ حُبَّكَ حِبُّ

    And indeed I said: O heart full of

    Longing, whose love no lover can match,

  3. إِنَّهُ قَد نَأى مَزارُ سُلَيمى

    وَعَدا مَطلَبٌ عَنِ الوَصلِ صَعبُ

    Indeed, Sulayma's dwelling has grown distant,

    And a difficult quest has kept us from union.

  4. قَد أَراني في سالِفِ الدَهرِ لَو دا

    مَ وَغُصنُ الشَبابِ إِذ ذاكَ رَطبُ

    I see myself in days gone by—if only they had

    Lasted—with youth's bough still tender then.

  5. وَلَها حِلَّةٌ مِنَ العَيشِ ما في

    ها لِمَن يَبتَغي المَلاحَةَ عَتبُ

    And hers was a robe of life, with nothing in

    It for anyone seeking beauty to fault.

  6. فَعَدانا خَطبٌ وَكُلُّ مُحِبَّي

    نِ سَيَعدوهُما عَنِ الوَصلِ خَطبُ

    Then calamity parted us; and every pair of

    Lovers will be kept from union by calamity.

  7. وَكِلانا وَلَو صَدَدتُ وَصَدَّت

    مُستَهامٌ بِهِ مِنَ الحُبِّ حَسبُ

    And both of us, though I turned away and she turned away,

    Are love-besotted, each with love enough within.

  8. لَو عَلِمتِ الهَوى عَذَرتِ وَلَكِن

    إِنَّما يَعذِرُ المُحِبَّ المُحِبُّ

    If you knew passion, you would excuse me; but

    Only a lover excuses a lover.