Sol 6.1

  1. مرّ بنا كالظّبي لكنّهُ

    يذعَرُنا والظّبيُ مذعورُ

    He passed by us like a gazelle, yet he

    frightens us, while the gazelle is frightened.

  2. واهتزّ كالغُصْنِ ولكنّه

    بأدمُعِ العشّاقِ ممطورُ

    And he swayed like a bough, yet he

    is showered with lovers’ tears.

  3. وا بأبي مَعقِدُ زُنّارِه

    أفي الزّنانيرِ الزّنابيرُ

    Ah, my father be ransom for his girdle’s knot!

    Are there hornets in girdles?

  4. وأنت يا تفتَيرَ أجفانِه

    ما لَك عن قلبي تَفْتيرُ

    And you, O languor of his eyelids,

    you give my heart no respite.

  5. نواظرُ الأغصانِ ما عندنا

    نواظرٌ من فوقِها حُورُ

    The boughs’ eyes, in our view, are not

    bright, dark-pupilled eyes above them.

  6. والبدرُ ما افترّ على حُسْنِه

    عن يانِعِ النورِ له نورُ

    And the full moon, for all its beauty, has never smiled

    to reveal a ripe blossom with a radiance of its own.

  7. في مثل ذا خالِعُ عُذرِ التُقى

    والنُسْكِ والعفّةِ مَعذورُ

    For one like this, whoever casts off the reins of piety,

    devotion, and chastity is excused.

  8. قلتُ وقد كشّف عن صفحتَيْ

    خدٍّ عليه الحُسْن مزْرورُ

    I said, as he laid bare both sides

    of a cheek upon which beauty was buttoned fast:

  9. ذا السيف ما جرّدْتَ لي بعضَه

    إلا ولي في ذاك تحذيرُ

    This sword—you have never bared part of it to me

    without there being a warning for me in that.

  10. كم فيك يا منصور من فتنةٍ

    شاهدةٍ أنّك منصورُ

    How many temptations in you, O Mansur,

    bear witness that you are victorious!

  11. حمْل الأحاريمِ على مثل ذا

    محرّمٌ لا شكّ محذورُ

    To apply prohibitions to one like this

    is forbidden, no doubt, and to be shunned.