By Layla al-'Amiriyya:

Majnun was never in any state

but that I was always as he was;

Yet he divulged the secret of his passion,

while I have melted away in concealment.

And also by her:

The madman of 'Amir proclaimed his passion,

and I hid mine, and died of my longing;

So if, on the Day of Resurrection, the cry goes up:

'Who was slain by love?' — I shall step forward alone!

By Umm Hamada al-Hamdaniyya:

I complained to her of love. She said: You are lying to me —

do I not see your frame still clothed in flesh?

Wait, rather, till longing and passion have worn

your bones away, till they show through plainly,

And the whisperings of love's anguish take hold of you,

and you fall dumb, unable to answer him who calls.

By Hafsa bint al-Hajj al-Rakuniyya:

Shall I come to you, or will you come? For my heart

inclines forever toward whatever you desire;

My mouth is a spring of sweet, pure water,

and the tresses of my hair a shading shade;

And I have hoped that you will be thirsty and sun-scorched

when the hour of the noonday rest brings me to you —

So hasten your answer: it is no graceful thing,

O Jamil, to refuse your Buthayna!