1. غصن بان فوقه البدر بدا

    أم غزال راح يغزو أسدا

    A bān bough, above which the full moon appeared—

    or a gazelle that set out to assail a lion?

  2. أم مليح يتثنى مرحاً

    حيث أضحى بالبها منفردا

    Or a beauty swaying merrily,

    having become unrivaled in splendor?

  3. صنم الحسن الذي لم يره

    عاشق إلا له قد عبدا

    The idol of beauty, whom no

    lover has seen without worshipping him.

  4. يا له بحر جمال عطفه

    موجه بالجسم يرمي زبدا

    What a sea of beauty his flank is!

    Its waves cast foam over the body.

  5. نار خديه مجوسي الهوى

    ما رآها قط إلا سجدا

    The fire of his cheeks—a Magian of love

    has never seen it without prostrating himself.

  6. وإذا ما ظهرت من وجهه

    حضرة الغيب طلبنا المددا

    And whenever from his face there appears

    the presence of the Unseen, we seek aid.

  7. صار جهلي غيره معرفة

    صار غيي وضلالي رشدا

    My ignorance of all but him became knowledge;

    my waywardness and wandering became right guidance.

  8. آه من قسوته مع شغفي

    في هواه وهوى الغيد ردى

    Ah, his harshness, despite my ardor

    in loving him—and love of graceful beauties is death!

  9. قلت يا مولاي جُدْ لي كرماً

    بوصال قال لا لا أبدا

    I said, “My master, graciously grant me

    union.” He said, “No, no, never.”

  10. قلت فالوعد به تسلية

    قال يحتاج يفي من وعدا

    I said, “Then a promise of it would console me.”

    He said, “Whoever promises must fulfill it.”

  11. قلت فاسمح بخيال في الكرى

    قال لي ما لك طرف رقدا

    I said, “Then grant me a dream-image in sleep.”

    He said to me, “No eye of yours has slept.”

  12. قلت ما تفعل بي حينئذ

    قال ما أختاره طول المدى

    I said, “What will you do with me, then?”

    He said, “Whatever I choose, for all time.”

  13. قلت خذ روحي فقال الروح لي

    خل دعواها وهات الجسدا

    I said, “Take my soul.” He said, “The soul is mine;

    abandon your claim to it, and bring the body.

  14. واترك الأمر إلى مالكه

    إن للمحبوب في الحب يدا

    And leave the matter to its owner,

    for the beloved has the upper hand in love.”

  15. كل من يعشق وجهاً حسناً

    لا يرى إلا البلا والنكدا

    Everyone who loves a beautiful face

    sees only affliction and misery.

  16. فاصطبر إن شئت أو شئت فمت

    كم علينا ذاب جلد جلدا

    So endure, if you wish; or, if you wish, die.

    How many a stalwart's endurance has melted over us!

  17. أنا موسى العشق ربي أرني

    بك أن أنظر ظبياً شردا

    I am the Moses of love: “My Lord, let me see,

    through You, that I may behold a gazelle that fled.”

  18. لاح لي جمر على وجنته

    كلما أدنو إليه بعدا

    An ember shone for me upon his cheek;

    whenever I draw near to him, he moves away.

  19. فلعلّي منه ألقى قبساً

    أو يرى قلبي على النار هدى

    Perhaps I may find a firebrand from him,

    or my heart may see guidance at the fire.

  20. قم تأمل أيها الغافل لم

    يخلق الرحمن ذا الحسن سُدى

    Rise and ponder, heedless one: it was not

    in vain that the Merciful created this beauty.

  21. وتعرض لهواه فلقد

    جاء من ناحية الستر نِدا

    And offer yourself to his love, for indeed

    a call has come from the direction of the veil.

  22. وإذا لامك من ليس له

    نظر فاخرب عليه البلدا

    And if someone reproaches you who has no

    insight, lay his town waste.

  23. أين أهل اللوم من أهل الهوى

    ما المحبون يساوون العدا

    How far the people of blame are from the people of love!

    Lovers are not the equals of their enemies.

  24. كلما أرشف سمعي عاذلي

    مرَّ لومي زدت في الحب صدى

    Whenever my reproacher makes my hearing sip

    the bitterness of blaming me, I grow thirstier in love.

  25. فكأن العذل منه طلب

    لهيامي بلسان عقدا

    So it is as though his reproach sought

    a bond for my passion through his tongue.

  26. أيريد الغر أن يصلح من

    حال أهل العشق ما قد فسدا

    Does the naive man wish to mend, in

    the lovers' condition, what has gone awry?

  27. إنما أهل الهوى مرآته

    وهو فيهم حاله قد شهدا

    The people of love are only his mirror;

    and in them he has witnessed his own state.

  28. ثم لما أشكل الأمر رمى

    نفسه من جهله وانتقدا

    Then, when the matter baffled him, he assailed

    himself out of ignorance, and found fault.

  29. وادعى العشق فلم يحصل له

    وعلى أهل الهوى قد حقدا

    He claimed love, yet never attained it,

    and bore a grudge against the people of love.

  30. قام فيه يكثر اللوم لهم

    أوَلَمْ يخش الإله الصمدا

    He set about heaping blame on them for it;

    did he not fear God, the Self-Sufficient?

  31. هبه لا يعرف لذَّاتِ الهوى

    حسن محبوب فؤادي حجدا

    Suppose he knows nothing of love's pleasures—

    yet he denied the beauty of my heart's beloved.

  32. إن قلبي اليوم في أسر رشا

    لا يرى للقتل عشقاً قودا

    Today my heart is captive to a fawn

    who sees no retaliation due for killing out of love.

  33. وجهه الجنة في أعيننا

    خده النار بقلبي وقدا

    His face is Paradise in our eyes;

    his cheek is the fire that has blazed in my heart.

  34. لم يزل يجفو وأبليت على

    حبه أثواب عمري الجددا

    He has never ceased shunning me, and I have worn out for

    his love the new garments of my life.

  35. ولكم أفنيت جسمي سقماً

    وتنفست عليه الصُعَدا

    How often I have wasted my body with sickness,

    and breathed deep sighs over him.

  36. وإذا في حبه مت فقد

    عشت بعد الموت عيش السُعَدا

    And if I die in his love, then surely

    I shall live after death the life of the blessed.

  37. يا سقى الله زمانا بالحمى

    ورعى بالشعب عيشاً رغدا

    Ah, may God water a time in the protected pasture,

    and preserve a life of ease in the ravine.

  38. طالما كنت به طوع هوى

    لم أخف في نهب وقتي أحدا

    How long I lived there at passion's command,

    fearing no one as I plundered my time!

  39. حيث غزلان النقا قد أنست

    بي وبعد المنع أولتني ندا

    Where the gazelles of the dunes grew at ease

    with me, and after refusal bestowed bounty on me;

  40. وكحلت العين بالعين وما

    بعدها عدت شكوت الرمدا

    and I kohled my eye with the eye, and never

    afterward did I again complain of sore eyes.

  41. حيث أقمار البها طالعة

    تتجلى ولها الروح فدا

    Where the moons of splendor were rising,

    revealing themselves, with the soul their ransom;

  42. وغصون البان لما انعطفت

    طائر القلب عليهن شدا

    and when the bān boughs bent,

    the bird of the heart sang upon them.

  43. حيث وجه السعد فينا مقبل

    بالهنا والهم عنا طردا

    Where the face of good fortune came among us

    with bliss, and sorrow was banished from us;

  44. وكؤس الأنس بالقوم صفت

    وبنا الورد إليه وردا

    and the cups of companionship grew clear among the company,

    and with us the rose came to him.

  45. في رياض ضحك الزهر بها

    كلما السحب بكت قطر الندا

    In gardens where the blossoms laughed

    whenever the clouds wept drops of dew.

  46. هزت النسمة من أغصانها

    حين جَلَّتْها قناً مرتعدا

    The breeze shook some of their boughs,

    as it revealed them as trembling spears.

  47. فلهذا كبَّر الطيرُ وقد

    لبس النهر عليها زردا

    So the birds proclaimed God's greatness, while

    the river had donned chain mail across them.

  48. والصبا يذكرنا عهد الصبا

    ليت ما بالأمس لي كان غدا

    And the east wind reminds us of youth's days—

    would that what I had yesterday were tomorrow!

  49. ليت لو جاد زماني بالذي

    كان منه قبل ذا قد عهدا

    Would that my days bestowed what

    had been known of them before now!

  50. يا أصيحابي بأكناف الحمى

    عللاني إن صبري فقدا

    O my dear companions around the protected pasture,

    you two, console me, for my patience is gone.

  51. واذكرا لي سنداً أعرفه

    لست ألقى لي سواء سندا

    And remind me of a support I know;

    I find no support for myself to equal it.

  52. نفد الدمع على جفوته

    واشتياقي والجوى ما نفدا

    Tears have run dry over his coldness,

    and my longing and heartache have not run dry.

  53. هو في القلب مقيم بل أنا

    هو لا بل هو دوني وجدا

    He dwells within the heart—rather, I

    am he; no, rather, he exists without me.

  54. كذب القائل قد حل به

    والذي قد قال فيه اتحدا

    The one who said, “He has indwelt him,” lied,

    as did the one who said of him, “He became one.”

  55. إنما المعشوق موجود ولا

    عاشق غير التباس قصدا

    Only the beloved exists; there is no

    lover, save an intended ambiguity.

  56. لي هوى بالشعب من كاظمة

    ساكن هذا الحشى والكبدا

    I have a love in the ravine of Kāẓimah,

    dwelling in this breast and liver.

  57. وأنا اليوم به مشتهر

    فليمت ضدي ويبلى حسدا

    And today I am renowned for it;

    let my adversary die and waste away with envy!

  58. أنا مفتي العشق من يسألني

    عن هواه يلقني مجتهدا

    I am love's mufti: whoever asks me

    about his love will find me exercising independent judgment.

  59. أنا قاضي شرع أرباب الهوى

    كل حكم بينهم لي حمدا

    I am the judge of the law of the lords of love;

    every ruling of mine among them has been praised.

  60. فالذي أمنعه يشقى ومن

    أجعل الحق له قد سعدا

    So the one I refuse is wretched, and the one

    I award the right to has found happiness.

  61. غير أني في أناس جهلوا

    ما أنا في شأنه والجهل دا

    But I am among people who do not know

    what occupies me—and ignorance is a disease.