1. ماذا على ساداتنا أهل الوفا

    لو أرسلوا طيف الزيارة في خفا

    What harm would it do our lords, the people of fidelity,

    if they sent a visiting dream-vision in secret,

  2. بترصّد الرقباء حتى يغفلوا

    ويكون مانع وصلنا ليلا غفا

    watching the watchers until they grew heedless,

    while the one barring our union had dozed off at night?

  3. فإذا تمكنّت الزيارة خفية

    يأتي مواعد وصلنا متلطّفا

    Then, when a secret visit became possible,

    the one who pledged our union would come graciously.

  4. ويكون قبل حلوله أفرشته

    خدي وطاء للنعال وللحفا

    And before his arrival I would have spread for him

    my cheek as a carpet for sandals and bare feet.

  5. ويكون بيت نزوله قلبي الذي

    وحياتهم من حب غيرهم عفا

    And his lodging would be my heart, which—

    by their lives!—has shed all love for others.

  6. ضيفٌ له نزل لديّ كرامة

    كبدٌ شواها البعد في جمر الجفا

    A guest: the welcoming fare I offer him in honor is

    a liver that separation roasted in the embers of estrangement.

  7. يا سعدُ إن كنت البشير بوصله

    فلقد أتيت على المسرة والوفا

    O Saʿd, if you are the herald of union with him,

    then you have indeed brought gladness and fidelity.

  8. لو أنّ نفسي لي إليك بذلتها

    وأراه بذل مقصر ما أنصفا

    Were my soul my own, I would offer it to you,

    and deem it the gift of one falling short, who has not done justice.

  9. وتكون يا سعد المساعد للذي

    من هجر من يهواه صار على شفا

    And you would be, O Saʿd, the helper of one

    who, deserted by the one he loves, has come to the brink.

  10. لم يبق يوم البين والهجر الذي

    خلقا لتعذيب الأحبة مسعفا

    Parting's day and estrangement left no

    succor—both were made to torment lovers—

  11. إلا صبابته وجسما قد غدا

    ملقى كشنّ بالفلا لن يخصفا

    except his longing and a body that had become

    cast aside like a worn waterskin in the wilderness, never to be patched.

  12. زفرات قلبي جمر نار أججت

    منه دموع العين فاضت ذرّفا

    My heart's sighs are embers of a kindled fire;

    from it, the eyes' tears have streamed in torrents.

  13. بمحاجر من حاجر أقذاء قد

    طردت ضيوف الطيف جاءت طوّفا

    In my eye sockets are motes from Hajir that have

    driven away the visiting dream-visions that came roaming.

  14. هل من منام للديغ بمرّة

    فضلا عن المرات أو هل من غفا

    Is there sleep, even once, for one who has been stung,

    let alone repeatedly—or has anyone dozed?

  15. ما إن تألق برق سلع والحمى

    حتى تفيض النفس منه تأسفا

    No sooner does lightning flash over Salʿ and the protected grounds

    than the soul overflows with grief because of it.

  16. وأراه سيفا صارما وسط الحشا

    فعل الأفاعي أو شهابا ما انطفا

    And I see it as a keen sword amid my innards,

    doing the work of vipers, or a meteor that never goes out.

  17. يحكي زفيري رعدُه ورياحُه

    ووبله حاكى دموعي الوكفا

    Its thunder and winds echo my sighing,

    and its downpour has mirrored my streaming tears.

  18. وإذا جرى ذكر العقيق وأهله

    أجرى العقيق تأسّفا وتلهّفا

    And when al-ʿAqiq and its people are mentioned,

    it sets agate tears flowing in sorrow and longing.

  19. يا أهل طيبة ما لكم لم ترحموا

    صبا غدا لنوالكم متكفّفا

    O people of Tayba, why have you shown no mercy

    to a lovelorn man now begging, hands outstretched, for your bounty?

  20. لا تجمعوا بين الصدود وبعدكم

    حسبي الصدود عقوبة فلقد كفى

    Do not combine rejection with your distance;

    rejection is punishment enough for me; it has indeed sufficed.

  21. لم أدر شيئا قبل معرفة الهوى

    حبي لكم ما كان قط تكلفا

    I knew nothing before I came to know love;

    my love for you was never contrived.

  22. ما بالهم يا صاح لم يتذكروا

    صبا كئيبا في المحبة مدنفا

    What ails them, my friend, that they do not remember

    a lovelorn man, sorrowful and wasted by love?

  23. ما قيل ذاك أسيرنا وقتيلنا

    بين العوادي والأعادي مثقفا

    No one said, 'That is our captive and our slain victim,

    held fast amid calamities and enemies.'

  24. قلبي الأسير لديكم والجسم في

    أسر العداة معذبا ومكتفا

    My heart is held captive with you, and my body is in

    the enemies' captivity, tormented and bound by the arms.

  25. حاشاكم لجميل ظني فيكم

    أن تشتموا في العدو المرجفا

    Far be it from you, given my good opinion of you,

    to give the rumor-mongering enemy cause to revile me.

  26. ولطالما لام العذول بحبّكم

    وأطال عتبي ناصحا ومعنفا

    And often the reproacher has blamed me for loving you,

    and drawn out his rebukes of me, counseling and berating.

  27. ولكم سعى كيما يصرف وجهتي

    عن وجه ودكم ولم يك مصرفا

    And how often he strove to turn my course

    away from the direction of love for you, yet could not divert me.

  28. ويودّ لو أني سلوت هواكم

    فيكون لي خلا وفيا منصفا

    And he wishes I would forget my love for you,

    so he could be a faithful, fair friend to me.

  29. قلب الشجي كما علمتم إنه

    لا ينثني عن حبكم متخوفا

    The sorrowing lover's heart, as you know, indeed

    does not turn away from loving you out of fear.

  30. يبغي الوصال ولو تمزق تالفا

    ويلذ أن يلقى العذاب ويتلفا

    It seeks union, even if torn apart and destroyed,

    and delights in meeting torment and perishing.

  31. يسري ولو أن الظلام عداته

    ويسير لو كان النهار المرهفا

    It journeys by night, even if darkness were its foes,

    and journeys on, even if the day were the keen-edged sword.