ما على القلب ان يهيم غراماً

عند تذكاره الفتاة الرّودا

What blame lies on the heart for being lost in passion

when it recalls the delicate maiden?

من لمى ثغرها شفاء غليل

الصب لو تسمح الشّفاه ورودا

Her lips' dusky hue offers a cure for the burning thirst

of the lover, if those lips would let him drink.

ان مشت فهي بانة أو تغنت

فهي ورقاء روضة تغريدا

If she walks, she is a bān tree; or, if she sings,

she is a garden's gray dove in song.

تستخف الحليم شوقاً ووجداً

أو يعود الحليم صبّاً عميدا

She unsettles the sober man with longing and passion,

or the sober man becomes a lover, stricken by love.

أوقدت نار صبوتي وجنتاها

فهي تذكو من وجنتيها وقودا

Her cheeks have kindled the fire of my passion,

and it blazes, drawing fuel from her cheeks.

اسرت مهجتي مليكة حسن

بعثت لي من الجمال جنودا

A queen of beauty has taken my heart captive;

she sent armies of beauty against me.

نصرتها جفونها بانكسار

فهي تستأسر الرّجال الصيدا

Her drooping eyelids came to her aid,

and so she takes proud men captive.

من يحاذر لقاء حمر المنايا

فليحاذر تلك الجفون السّودا

Whoever fears encountering crimson deaths,

let him fear those black eyelids.

اغربت صنعة الملاحة فيها

فحوت في الملاح حسناً فريدا

The craft of loveliness worked wonders in her,

so she gained a beauty unique among the beautiful.

فلأحداقنا حدائق حسن

تزدهي كل ناظر ان يرودا

Thus our eyes have gardens of beauty

that entice every beholder to roam.

فكأن المدام في وجنتيها

عصرت فاستعارت التوريدا

So it is as though wine within her cheeks

had been pressed and borrowed their rosy hue.

فاجتلينا الخدود منها كؤوساً

ورشفنا الكؤوس منها خدودا

So we beheld her cheeks as goblets,

and sipped her goblets as cheeks.

هي شمس الضحى سناً وسناء

وهي ريم الفلا جفوناً وجيدا

She is the midmorning sun in radiance and splendor,

and a desert's white gazelle in eyelids and neck.

قدها الغصن والعقود زهور

من رأى قبلها الزهور عقودا

Her figure is a bough, and her necklaces are blossoms;

who before her ever saw blossoms as necklaces?

وعلى خصرها يجول وشاح

كل قلب به اغتدى معقودا

And a sash winds about her waist;

every heart has become bound to it.

كم غزتنا بعسكر من جمال

عقدت شعرها عليه بنودا

How often she has raided us with an army of beauty,

over which she tied her hair as banners!

لطفت وجنة ورقت اديماً

وقسا قلبها فصدّت صدودا

She is delicate of cheek and tender of skin,

yet her heart hardened, and she turned utterly away.

عجباً للجمال وهو بديع

كيف اضحى من الجناس بعيدا

How strange is beauty, though so exquisite:

how has it become so far removed from wordplay?

ارسلت وارداً من الفرع جثلا

وعقاصاً اثيثة وجعودا

She let down a thick, flowing mass of hair,

and luxuriant braids and curls.

وليالي الفروع وهي طوال

سهدتني شوقاً لها تسهيدا

And the nights of her locks, long as they are,

have kept me utterly sleepless with longing for her.

ولكم قيدت سلاسل ذاك

الفرع من جن بالهوى تقييدا

And how often have the chains of that

hair shackled one driven mad by love!

لك يا ربة الملاحة حسن

لك يستخدم الحسان الغيدا

Yours, O mistress of loveliness, is a beauty

that enlists lissome beauties in your service.

غرّدي بالهنا فطائر أنسي

بك قد عاد ساجعاً غرّيدا

Sing with joy, for the bird of my delight

has through you become a cooing songster once more.

كم أسير في الحب من غير فاد

وقتيل مضى عليه شهيدا

How many a captive in love has no ransomer,

and a slain one has passed away a martyr to it!

ما رأى المستهام بخلك الا

قال للناظرين بالدمع جودا

Whenever the love-crazed man sees your withholding,

he tells his two eyes, 'Be generous with tears.'

عللي بالوصال صبّا مشوقاً

قد حمى الشوق ناظريه الهجودا

Soothe with union a yearning lover,

whose eyes longing has barred from sleep.

لي دين ان كنت تقضين ديناً

لغريم أو تنجزين الوعودا

A debt is owed me, if you do repay a debt

to a creditor, or fulfill your promises.

قلت للائم المفند فيها

خل عنك الملام والتفنيدا

I told the reproacher who deemed me foolish over her:

'Set aside your blame and accusations of folly.'

قد عداك الهوى فبت خلياً

ورماني الهوى فبت عميدا

Love passed you by, so you became carefree;

but love struck me, so I became lovesick.

منية الصب ان تعود ليال

بزرود سقى الغمام زرودا

The lover's wish is that the nights return

in Zarūd—may the clouds water Zarūd!

مربع كان للظباء الجوازي

ملعباً يقتنصن فيه الأسودا

A spring abode that served the grazing gazelles

as a playground where they hunted lions.

كل نشوى القوام تعطف منها

نشوة الدّل بانة أملودا

Each maiden, tipsy of figure, is swayed

by the rapture of coquetry—a supple bān tree.

حي في رامتين ملعب ريم

كان عهد المشوق فيه حميدا

Greet, in Rāmatayn, a gazelle's playground,

where the yearning lover's time was pleasant.

حيث شمس الجمال تطلع فيه

فنرى طالع الهوى مسعودا

Where the sun of beauty rises,

so we see that love's ascendant is auspicious.

كم رشفنا الرحيق فيه رضاباً

وقطفنا الشقيق فيه خدودا

How often we sipped pure wine there as sweet saliva,

and plucked anemones there as cheeks,

وخلعنا للهو فيه عذاراً

إذ لبسنا من الوصال برودا

and cast off our bridles there for revelry,

when we donned striped cloaks of union.

ونسبنا كأننا قد نظمنا

من مديح الأمير درّاً نضيدا

And we sang of love as though we had strung

from praise of the emir, pearls in ordered rows.

مدحه كالنسيب يبهج لطفاً

فترى كل سامع مستعيدا

Praise of him, like love poetry, delights with its grace,

so every listener asks to hear it again.

ملك قد حوى ممالك حمد

فغدا يوم حمده مشهودا

A king who has gained kingdoms of praise,

so the day of his praise has become well attended.

يفد الحمد والثناء عليه

ان للحمد والثناء وفودا

Praise and acclaim arrive as envoys before him;

indeed, praise and acclaim have delegations.

خلق كالزلال يصفو وبأس

باسل في العدى يذيب الحديدا

His character is clear as pure water, and his might,

fierce among foes, melts iron.

وإذا للعدو جهز جيشاً

اصبح الفتح للواء عقيدا

And when he equips an army against the enemy,

victory becomes the banner's sworn ally.