translated from the Arabic by Abdullah al-Udhari
1
The girl with the gazelle neck is here and longs to meet you.
2
I wonder if she’ll be graced with a welcome or told you’re indisposed?
زائر قد أتى بجيد غزال طامع من مُحبّه بالوصالِ أتراكم بإذنكم مسعفيه أم لكم شاغلٌ من الأشغالِ
“[The girl with the gazelle neck]” by Hafsa bint al-Ḥājj al-Rakūniyya is published in Classical Poems by Arab Women: A Bilingual Anthology by Abdullah al-Udhari (Saqi Books, 1991). Used with the permission of Saqi Books.