1. أَرِقتُ وَآبَني هَمّي

    لِنَأيِ الدارِ مِن نُعمِ

    I lay sleepless, and my sorrow returned,

    because the dwelling lay far from Nuʿm.

  2. فَأَقصَرَ عاذِلٌ عَنّي

    وَمَلَّ مُمَرِّضي سُقمي

    So a reproacher ceased reproaching me,

    and my nurse grew weary of my illness.

  3. أَموتُ لِهَجرِها حُزناً

    وَيَحلو عِندَها صَرمي

    I die of grief at her abandonment,

    while she finds it sweet to cut me off.

  4. فَبِئسَ ثَوابُ ذاتِ الوُد

    دِ تَجزيهِ اِبنَةُ العَمِّ

    Wretched is a loving woman's recompense—

    the one my paternal cousin gives!

  5. وَيَومَ الشَريِ قَد هاجَت

    دُموعاً وُكَّفَ السَجمِ

    And on the day of al-Shary, she stirred

    tears that streamed profusely,

  6. غَداةَ جَلَت عَلى عَجَلٍ

    شَتيتاً بارِدَ الظَلمِ

    that morning when she hurriedly bared

    well-spaced teeth with cool saliva.

  7. وَقالَت لِفَتاةٍ عِن

    دَها حَوراءَ كَالرِئمِ

    She said to a girl beside

    her, dark-eyed as a white antelope:

  8. أَهوَ يا أُختِ بِاللَهِ ال

    لَذي لَم يَكنِ عَن إِسمي

    “Is he, sister, by God, the one

    who did not veil my name,

  9. وَلَم يُجازِنا بِالوُد

    دِ أَحفى بي وَلَم يَكمِ

    and did not repay us with affection—

    who pressed me insistently and concealed nothing?”

  10. فَقالَت رَجعَ ما قالَت

    نَعَم يَخفيهِ عَن عِلمِ

    She answered, in reply to those words:

    “Yes, he divulges it knowingly.”

  11. فَجِئتُ فَقُلتُ صَبٌّ زَل

    لَ مِن واشٍ أَخي إِثمِ

    I came and said, “A lovelorn man has stumbled

    because of a slanderer, a brother to sin.

  12. وَقَد أَذنَبتُ ذَنباً فَاِص

    فَحى بِاللَهِ عَن ظُلمي

    I have committed a sin; so pardon

    my wrongdoing, by God.”

  13. فَقالَت لا فَقُلتُ فَلِم

    أَرَقتِ دَمي بِلا جُرمِ

    She said, “No.” I said, “Then why

    have you spilled my blood without a crime?

  14. أَإِن أَقرَرتُ بِاِلذَنبِ

    لِحُبٍّ قَد بَرى جِسمي

    Is it because I confessed my fault,

    out of love that has wasted my body,

  15. زَوَيتِ العُرفَ وَالنائِ

    لَ عَمداً غَيرَ ذي رُحمِ

    that you withheld kindness and

    bounty deliberately, without compassion?”