1. تبدت مع الصبح لما تبدى

    فأهدت إلي السلام وأهدى

    She appeared with the dawn when it appeared.

    So she offered me her greeting, and the dawn did too.

  2. تقابل في الأفق خداهما

    فحييت خداً وقبلت خداً

    Their two cheeks faced each other on the horizon;

    I greeted one cheek and kissed the other.

  3. لقد بدل الله بالبعد قرباً

    فلا بدل الله بالقرب بعدا

    God has indeed exchanged distance for nearness;

    so may God never exchange nearness for distance.

  4. تلظى اشتياقي بقلبي زماناً

    ولكنه أصبح اليوم بردا

    For a time my longing blazed within my heart,

    but today it has turned to coolness.

  5. فلست بشاك ولست بباك

    سأزداد شكراً وأزداد حمدا

    So I neither complain nor weep;

    I shall grow in gratitude and grow in praise.

  6. أزائرتي بعد طول النوى

    تلطفت جداً تعطفت جداً

    O my visitor after long separation,

    you have been so gracious, so tender.

  7. نظرت لعهدي صدود ووصل

    فأبليت عهداً وجددت عهدا

    You looked upon the two eras of rejection and union,

    so you wore out one era and renewed the other.

  8. أعدت لهذا المكان صباه

    فأصبح كالروض بل كان أندى

    You restored this place's youth,

    so it became like a garden—indeed, it was more dewy still.

  9. ويا طالما كنت أوليه صداً

    ويا شد ما صرت أوليه ودا

    And oh, how long I used to shun it,

    and oh, how deeply I have come to cherish it!

  10. وكنت أسميه قبل سعيراً

    فأصبح عندي نعيماً وخلدا

    And formerly I called it a blazing fire,

    so now, to me, it is bliss and eternity.

  11. تعالي فجسي بكفك كبدي

    إذا كان ابقى لي الهجر كبدا

    Come, then feel my liver with your palm,

    if estrangement has left me any liver at all.

  12. على أنني آمل رده

    بوصلك لو شئت بالوصل ردا

    Yet I hope for its restoration,

    through union with you, if you wish to restore it through union.

  13. خشيت السلو فغالبته

    فزاد كلانا على البعد وجدا

    I feared forgetting love, so I struggled against it;

    so we both grew in longing despite the distance.

  14. وليس يضيع مثلي عهداً

    وليس يضيع مثلك عهدا

    And one like me does not forsake a pledge,

    nor does one like you forsake a pledge.

  15. يقوم الغرام على جانبيه

    فأما يمل جانب منه هدا

    Love stands upon its two sides;

    so if one side of it leans, it collapses.

  16. هلمي أسر بك بين الرياض

    فننظم فلا وننثر وردا

    Come, let me walk with you among the gardens,

    so we may string jasmine and scatter roses.

  17. فهذا أوان هبوب الصبا

    لنخمش خداً ونهصر قدا

    For this is the time when the east wind blows;

    let us scratch a cheek and bend a slender form.

  18. ستشدو الطيور بألحانها

    وأشدو بلحني وأني لأشدى

    The birds will sing their melodies,

    and I shall sing my tune—and surely I sing more sweetly.

  19. إذا نظرتك على الأيك غنت

    تبدت مع الصبح لما تبدى

    When they see you from the leafy trees, they sing:

    “She appeared with the dawn when it appeared.”