أوجداً وذيّاكَ الحمى ومنازلهْ

أوجداً وذيّاكَ الحمى ومنازلهْ

لك الله قلباً ما تقرُّ بلابلهْ

لك الله قلباً ما تقرُّ بلابلهْ

Such yearning—by that very sanctuary and its dwellings?

I found longing and the one for whom I long

God help you, O heart whose anguish never rests!

May God give you a heart that can't be calmed without seeing the one it loves

يتيّمهُ جدُّ الفراقِ وهزلهُ

يتيّمهُ جدُّ الفراقِ وهزلهُ

ويملكهُ حقُّ الفراقِ وباطله

ويملكهُ حقُّ الفراقِ وباطله

Separation's earnestness and its jest enslave it,

Grief itself makes it an orphan, jesting with it

and separation's truth and falsehood possess it.

While the right and wrong of parting rule over it

فخذ عفوَ يومِ البين قبل وقوعه

فخذ عفوَ يومِ البين قبل وقوعه

فإني عليمٌ بالذي أنت جاهله

فإني عليمٌ بالذي أنت جاهله

So take the respite of parting's day before it comes,

So take the pardon of separation before it befalls you

for I know well what you do not know.

For I know what you are ignorant of

هوىً أخلفت أخلافهُ بعد حفلها

هوىً أخلفت أخلافهُ بعد حفلها

وبارقُ وصل أظمأتني مخائله

وبارقُ وصل أظمأتني مخائله

A love whose teats failed after brimming full,

I broke my word after gatherings of love

and lightning promising union, whose rain-portents left me thirsty.

While flashes of union parched me, their harbors refusing me drink

وما في فؤادي للتجلد فضلةٌ

وما في فؤادي للتجلد فضلةٌ

فيشكو النوى خطبُ النوى اليوم شاغله

فيشكو النوى خطبُ النوى اليوم شاغله

My heart has no strength left for endurance;

My heart lacks the strength to be patient

so it laments separation, whose ordeal consumes it today.

So the bowed head complains today of what occupies it

أطعت الهوى العذريّ وجداً بنازح

أطعت الهوى العذريّ وجداً بنازح

يطاعُ الهوى فيهِ وتعصى عواذله

يطاعُ الهوى فيهِ وتعصى عواذله

I obeyed chaste, ‘Udhri love, yearning for one far away,

I obeyed love's excuse and passionately visited

for whom love is obeyed and its reproachers defied.

Love is obeyed in this, though reproached be the visitor

شفاءُ سقامي منهُ سقمُ جفونهِ

شفاءُ سقامي منهُ سقمُ جفونهِ

ونقعُ غليلي ما تضمُّ غلائله

ونقعُ غليلي ما تضمُّ غلائله

The cure for my sickness from him is his eyelids' languor,

My remedy for my sickness is the sickness of his eyelids

and what his fine tunics enfold quenches my burning thirst.

And the easing of my anguish is what his locks contain

أشيمت ظبي ألحاظه أم سيوفهُ

أشيمت ظبي ألحاظه أم سيوفهُ

وهزَّت لنا أعطافه أم ذوابله

وهزَّت لنا أعطافه أم ذوابله

Were the blades of his glances drawn, or his swords?

Did I perceive a glance of his gazelle eyes or his swords?

And were his flanks swayed for us, or his slender spears?

Did his bending branches or creeping plants shake for me?

يجيب عذولي فيه نطقُ نطاقهِ

يجيب عذولي فيه نطقُ نطاقهِ

ويصمتُ عنهُ قلبهُ وخلاخله

ويصمتُ عنهُ قلبهُ وخلاخله

His girdle's speech answers my reproacher concerning him,

My flirtations are answered by the speech of his twistings

while his bracelet and anklets keep silent about him.

While his heart and bangles are silent about it

وما بحتُ لولا نفحةٌ جلّقيّةٌ

وما بحتُ لولا نفحةٌ جلّقيّةٌ

حبيسٌ عليها طلُّ دمعي ووابله

حبيسٌ عليها طلُّ دمعي ووابله

Nor would I have confessed but for a breeze from Jilliq,

I wouldn't have confessed were it not for a wafting breeze

to which my tears' dew and downpour are captive.

My streaming tears and rain are confined to it

سلافيَّةُ الأنفاس مسكيّة الصّبا

سلافيَّةُ الأنفاس مسكيّة الصّبا

وآخرُ تهيامي إليها أوائله

وآخرُ تهيامي إليها أوائله

Wine-scented in its breaths, musk-scented in its east wind,

My breaths are of Salafi musk, prairie winds

and the end of my rapture for it is but its beginning.

While the first of my passion is its last

حبيبٌ إليَّ الشهم تندى شماله

حبيبٌ إليَّ الشهم تندى شماله

وأعطاف بانِ السفح تزهى شمائله

وأعطاف بانِ السفح تزهى شمائله

Dear to me is the noble one, whose north wind is dewy,

A beloved whose cheek the dawn dews

and whose northern breezes make the slope's bān boughs proud.

While the slopes of his elevated land pride themselves on their writhing tresses

لنجدّيةٌ أفياؤهُ وظلالهُ

لنجدّيةٌ أفياؤهُ وظلالهُ

وسحرّيةٌ أسحاره وأصائله

وسحرّيةٌ أسحاره وأصائله

Its shade and shadows are truly Najd-like,

He has the hospitality and shade of Nejd

and its predawn hours and late afternoons are enchanting.

The witchcraft of his sorcery and trellises

كأنَّ رماحاً في متون قواضب

كأنَّ رماحاً في متون قواضب

إذا أضطربت أعطافهُ وجداوله

إذا أضطربت أعطافهُ وجداوله

As though spears stood on the flats of keen-edged swords,

As though lances in the scabbards of canoes

when its boughs sway and its streams ripple.

When his bending branches and streams are stirred

كنانةُ مزن والقطارُ سهامها

كنانةُ مزن والقطارُ سهامها

وغمدُ سحابٍ والبروق مناصله

وغمدُ سحابٍ والبروق مناصله

A quiver of rainclouds, with raindrops for its arrows,

The starry cluster of Muzainah and its arrows

and a sheath of clouds, with lightning for its blades.

The scabbard of a cloud and its flashing blades

وللهِ سفحاً قاسيون وهضبهُ

وللهِ سفحاً قاسيون وهضبهُ

ويا حبّذا أعلامهُ ومجاهله

ويا حبّذا أعلامهُ ومجاهله

And how splendid, by God, are Qasioun's slope and its heights!

By God, it has the rugged hill of Qais

And how lovely its landmarks and its trackless wilds!

And how excellent are its landmarks and battlefields

إذا المحلُ هزَّتهُ إليه التفاتةٌ

إذا المحلُ هزَّتهُ إليه التفاتةٌ

أصيبت بنبل الغاديات مقاتله

أصيبت بنبل الغاديات مقاتله

When drought is stirred by a glance toward it,

When a glance moves it into turning

its vital parts are struck by the arrows of morning rainclouds.

It hits with the arrows of the departing ladies its fighters

ولا تحسبا أني ظفرتُ بسلوةٍ

ولا تحسبا أني ظفرتُ بسلوةٍ

ولا أنني أدركت صبراً أحاوله

ولا أنني أدركت صبراً أحاوله

And do not think, you two, that I have found solace,

Think not that I obtained any peace

nor that I have attained the patience I seek.

Nor that I attained any patience I attempt

متى وقفت عيسي على حجراتهِ

متى وقفت عيسي على حجراتهِ

فسائلها من دمعِ عيني سائله

فسائلها من دمعِ عيني سائله

Whenever my pale camels halt at its outskirts,

Whenever I halted at his lodgings

then the stream of my eye's tears is their questioner.

Ask his streaming tears about my streaming ones

ولكنني أدلجتُ في طلب الغنى

ولكنني أدلجتُ في طلب الغنى

رجاءَ مقامٍ لا تخاف غوائله

رجاءَ مقامٍ لا تخاف غوائله

But I traveled by night in pursuit of wealth,

Rather I pretended to seek wealth

hoping for a station whose perils need not be feared.

Hoping for an abode whose misfortunes I need not fear

وهل اقتضى ديناً على ذمَّةِ العلى

وهل اقتضى ديناً على ذمَّةِ العلى

وجودُ صلاحِ الدين ذي المجدِ كافله

وجودُ صلاحِ الدين ذي المجدِ كافله

And has anyone claimed payment of a debt owed by nobility,

Can the existence of the excellence of Salah al-Din, its guarantor

while glorious Salah al-Din's bounty is its guarantor?

Require a debt upon the responsibility of the Sublime?