1. حشًى من نارِ صدّكَ ذائبة

    وتحسبها دموعاً ساكبه

    A heart melting in the fire of your rejection,

    and you take it for flowing tears.

  2. ولم يفطنْ لها

    سوى صبٍّ أقام

    And none perceived it

    except a lovesick man who stayed

  3. على فرش السقام

    درى ما قصَّتي

    on the bedding of illness.

    He knew my story,

  4. فحاكى لوعتي

    وجارى عبرتي

    so he echoed my anguish

    and matched my tears.

  5. وبتنا كالحمائمِ في الحنين

    وما يدري الحزينَ سوى الحزينِ

    And we spent the night like doves in longing,

    and none understands the sorrowful but the sorrowful.

  6. سباني بالفتور وبالفنونْ

    غلامٌ شاهرٌ حدّ الجفونْ

    He took me captive with languor and arts of charm:

    a youth brandishing the cutting edge of his eyelids.

  7. على وجناتِهِ لامٌ ونونْ

    يقولُ وصالُ مثلي لنْ يكونْ

    On his cheeks are a lām and a nūn;

    he says, “Union with one like me will never be.”

  8. فيا لكِ من جفونٍ ضاربه

    بأمثال السيوف القاضبه

    Oh, what striking eyelids,

    wielding the likes of keen-cutting swords!

  9. إذا ما سلَّها

    أبادت في الأنام

    When he draws them,

    they lay waste among mankind.

  10. ويا لك من غلام

    كحيل المقلة

    And oh, what a youth,

    with an eye darkened by kohl,

  11. شريف الوجنةِ

    ضنين العطفةِ

    noble of cheek,

    sparing of affection!

  12. بكيتُ دماً بمرآه الضنينْ

    كأني فيهِ من عيني ظعينْ

    I wept blood at the sight of him, the grudging one,

    as though, for his sake, I were journeying out of my eye.

  13. يعنفني النديمُ على التصابي

    ويحلفُ لا يذوقُ لمى الحبابِ

    My boon companion scolds me for youthful dalliance,

    and swears not to taste the dark-lipped wine-foam.

  14. رُوَيْدَكَ كيف أسلو عن شرابِ

    وعن ساقٍ يطوف على الصحابِ

    Easy now! How can I forsake wine

    and a cupbearer making rounds among the companions,

  15. بكأسٍ للأنامل خاضبه

    تحلُّ عُرَى النفوس التائبه

    with a cup that dyes the fingertips,

    loosens the bonds of repentant souls,

  16. وتنقضُ حبلها

    فدع عنك الملام

    and unravels their cord?

    So leave off your reproach,

  17. وبادرْ بالمدامْ

    زمان اللذّة

    and hasten to the wine

    in the season of pleasure.

  18. وخذ يا منيتي

    خضابَ القهوةِ

    And take, O my heart’s desire,

    the dye of wine.

  19. ولا تمدد إلى حلفٍ يمين

    فما لخضيبِ كفٍّ من يمين

    And do not extend a right hand to swear an oath,

    for one with a dyed palm has no oath.

  20. لها وصلي ولابن عليّ قصدي

    تضيِّعُ ثروتي ونداهُ يجدي

    My union is hers; my quest is for Ibn ʿAlī.

    She wastes my wealth; his bounty brings gain.

  21. مليكٌ طالعٌ في كلِّ حمدِ

    تكادُ يمينهُ بالجودِ تعدي

    A king who rises in every praise,

    whose right hand almost infects others with generosity.

  22. إلى تلك اليمين الواهبه

    تيمَّمُ كلُّ نفسٍ طالبه

    Toward that giving right hand

    every seeking soul turns,

  23. وتأوي ظلّها

    على غيظ الغمام

    and shelters in its shade,

    to the clouds’ vexation,

  24. لدى عالم المقام

    رفيعُ النسبةِ

    before one versed in station,

    lofty in lineage,

  25. نسيبُ الرفعةِ

    سعيدُ الطلعةِ

    kinsman to exaltation,

    auspicious in countenance.

  26. أغاثَ ندي يديه المعتفينْ

    وأودَى بأسهُ بالمعتدينْ

    The dew of his hands succored those seeking bounty,

    and his might destroyed the aggressors.

  27. بني أيوبَ حسبكمُ عمادا

    أعادَ سناءَ بيتكمُ وزادا

    Sons of Ayyūb, he suffices you as a pillar;

    he restored your house’s splendor and increased it.

  28. كريمٌ كم قصدناهُ فجادا

    وعُدنا قاصدين لهُ فعادا

    A generous man—how often we sought him, and he gave!

    And we returned seeking him, and he gave again,

  29. ولاقينا لهىً متواثبه

    جوائزنا عليها واجبه

    and found gifts leaping forth;

    our recompense for them was due.

  30. ففتحنا اللهى

    بأنواع الكلامْ

    So we opened our throats

    with kinds of speech,

  31. كأسجاع الحمامْ

    فكم من منحةِ

    like the rhyming coos of doves.

    For how many a gift

  32. محت من نزحةِ

    وكم من مدحةِ

    has wiped away separation,

    and how many a song of praise

  33. لها في كلِّ سامعةٍ رنين

    يكادُ بلحنِها يشدو الجنين

    rings in every listening ear!

    The unborn child almost sings to its melody.

  34. ومشغوفٍ إذا ما الليل جنَّا

    تذكَّر وصلَ من يهوى فجنَّا

    And many a love-stricken man, when night fell,

    recalled union with the one he loves, and went mad.

  35. كذا من يعشقُ الأجفانَ وسنَّا

    نهبنَ منامَ مقلتهِ فعنَّا

    Such is one who loves drowsy eyelids:

    they robbed his eye of sleep, and he suffered.

  36. على صحبِ الجفون الناهبه

    متى تهدى الضُّلوع اللاهبه

    To those with the plundering eyelids:

    when will the blazing ribs be stilled?

  37. تركتني لأجلها

    إذا جنَّ الظلامْ

    She left me, for her sake,

    so that whenever darkness falls,

  38. جفا عيني المنامْ

    وهاجتْ حسرتِي

    sleep shuns my eye,

    and my sorrow is stirred

  39. على تلكَ التي

    أباحتْ قتلتي

    over that woman who

    made my killing lawful.

  40. وما في دولةِ الأحبابِ أمينْ

    فينظرُ في قلوبِ المسلمينْ

    And there is no trustee in the realm of lovers

    to look into the hearts of Muslims.