1. This one whose witnesses against me you've established
If I had any right, I wouldn't want it
١. هذا الذي ثبتَت عليك شهودُه
إن كانَ لي حقاً فلستُ أريدُهُ
2. What do I want with anguish from one who rejects me
Whose fuel is always burning, and its kindling
٢. ماذا أريدُ بلوعَةٍ من لاعجٍ
أبداً يشبُّ وقودُها ووقودُهُ
3. And I see you deny me your love as if
It were an offer from the world that benefits me
٣. وأراك يُنكرني هواك كأنه
عرَضٌ من الدنيا عليك أفيدُهُ
4. Far from it, even if the union of the one I love continues
How can his aloofness and his rejection be?
٤. هيهاتَ ذاك ولو تواصلَ وصلُ من
أهوى فكيفَ جفاؤه وصدودُهُ
5. And he chirps blaming me, his singing is long
His solitude in blaming me and composing poems against me
٥. ومغرد باللوم طال غِناؤه
وحِداؤه بملامَتي ونَشيدُهُ
6. He recites it to make me hear it every evening
Surely I hear it while you repeat it
٦. أمسى يرجِّعُه ليُسمِعَني به
حتَّام أسمعُه وأنت تعيدُهُ
7. Or are you not wary of blaming love
So love hears you and its troops
٧. أو ما تُحاذِر أن تلومَ على الهوى
أحداً فيسمَعَك الهوى وجُنودُهُ
8. If you were not disdainful of meeting him
And meeting him is difficult, severe
٨. إن لم تكن متعرِّماً لِلقائِه
ولقاؤه صعبُ المرام شَديدُهُ
9. With a frowning face whose cheek bears witness against me
Certainly with what I have reaped and harvested
٩. ومهفهفٍ وافاكَ يشهدُ خدُّه
قطعاً عليَّ بما جنيتُ وجيدُهُ
10. That was because I kissed him and spoke to him
And if I did so, it was with my heart I fettered him
١٠. قد كان ذاك لثمتُه وكَلمته
ولئن فعلتُ فبالفؤادِ أقيدُهُ
11. And misfortunes, time brought about circumstances
Among them, happiness intercepted its companion
١١. ونوائبٍ بعثَ الزمان عوارضاً
مِنهنَّ فاعترض النّدى وفريدُهُ
12. So they returned in droves before reaching me
Yearning for them, the Bountiful and His Generosity
١٢. فرجعنَ قبل وصولهنَّ جوافلاً
يستاقهنَّ أبو الوحيد وجودُهُ
13. His horses at their stables when ruin is mentioned
There, its promise is made
١٣. فعلاته في الخيل عند مغارِها
وهناك إن ذُكر الردى موعودُهُ
14. Do not let the gentleness of his manners bring you near him
For the sword cuts even as its steel is soft
١٤. لا يُدنِيَنك منه رقَّة خُلقه
فالسيفُ يقطعُ إذ يرقُّ حديدُهُ
15. And keep your distance until you ask for respite, for then
His wood shakes generously at that time
١٥. وابعُد إلى أن يُستماح فإنه
يهتزُّ جوداً عند ذلك عودُهُ
16. God reward you, and the dust is as if
It were chaff while you and those around you are black
١٦. للَه درُّك والغبارُ كأنه
خيسٌ وأنت ومن يليكَ أسودُهُ
17. You hum, so you hear your swords
Narrate your humming to you and excel at it
١٧. تترنَّمون فتسمعونَ سيوفَكم
تحكي رنُّمكم لكم وتُجيدُهُ
18. As if their melodies are his melodies
And as if their extension is his extension
١٨. وكأنما نغماتُها نغماتُه
وكأنما تمديدُها تمديدُهُ
19. On a night when you were the pillars of its dawn
Until the dawn illuminated its pillars
١٩. في ليلةٍ كنتم عمودَ صباحِها
حتى استضاءَ من الصباح عمودُهُ
20. And I see you have tempted the pigeons with a group
Then after that you chase them away
٢٠. وأراك أغريتَ الحِمامَ بمعشرٍ
وأراك عنهم بعدَ ذاك تذودُهُ
21. And I see him in this and that, obedient
As if wherever you wanted, you lead him
٢١. وأراه في هذا وذلكَ طائعاً
حتى كأنك حيثُ شئتَ تقودُهُ
22. So I will grant you, O annihilator of his bliss
What I don't think you can annihilate
٢٢. فلأمنحنَّك يا مبيدَ نَواله
ما لا أظنُّك تستطيعُ تُبيدُهُ