هبوا طيفكم اعدى على الناي مسراه

واحرم مضناه الخيال واقصاه

Grant that your phantom’s nightly course outstrips distance,

and the vision has left its languishing lover bereft and banished him.

لان شط يا نور العيون مزاركم

فمن لمشوق ان تهوم جفناه

Since your dwelling lies far away, O light of the eyes,

then who will aid a longing man if his eyelids begin to doze?

وهل يهتدي طيف الخيال لنا حل

عليل ملح الوجد والشوق افناه

And can the dream-phantom find its way to a wasted man,

ailing with relentless passion, whom yearning has consumed?

وقد مح بالاسقام جسما فلم يبن

اذا السقم عن لحظ العوائد اخفاه

His body has wasted away through sickness and become unseen,

as illness hides him from the gaze of those visiting the sick.

وما كل مسلوب الرقاد معاده

ولا كل محبوب يؤمل حسناه

Not every man robbed of sleep is its place of return,

nor can kindness be hoped for from every beloved.

ولا كل مولوع يجامله الهوى

ولا كل مأسور الفؤاد مفاداه

Nor does love indulge everyone consumed by passion,

nor does every captive heart find its ransom.

غنى في يد الايام لا استفيده

وطلسم حال لست ادرك معناه

Wealth lies in the hands of time, but I gain none of it,

and an enigma of circumstance whose meaning I cannot grasp.

ومال من الامال لم الق كنزه

وهبن على الضام لا اتقاضاه

And a fortune of hopes whose treasure I have not found,

and a [claim] against the oppressor, which I do not collect.

يرى الصبر محمود العواقب معشر

ويرقبه خالي الضمير ويرضاه

Some people think patience has praiseworthy consequences,

and the carefree of heart await it and approve of it.

لو كان امكان صبرت تجلدا

وما كل صبر يحمد الناس عقباه

If it were possible, I would endure patiently, steeling myself,

yet people do not praise the outcome of every act of patience.

الا حبذا عهد الكئيب وناعم

من الروض عطري النسيم شممناه

Ah, how dear the sorrowful one’s days, and a tender delight

from the garden, fragrant in breeze, whose scent we breathed.

وليل جلاه البدر يزهو وطيب

من العيش محرور الثياب لبسناه

And a night the full moon lit in splendor, and a sweetness

of life, whose warm robes we wore.

ليالي عاطتني الصبابة درها

ونادي الهوى ارواحنا فاجبناه

Nights when passionate love handed me its pearls,

and love called our souls, and we answered it.

وسالت بنا الاشواق من سلسبيلها

فلم يبق منها مورد ما وردناه

And longings swept us along from their Salsabil spring,

leaving no watering place of theirs we had not visited.

وبالجزع حي كلما عن ذكرهم

على البال دمع العين كالسيل اجراه

At the valley bend is a clan; whenever their memory comes

to mind, it sends the eye’s tears flowing like a torrent.

وان دمدم الحادي بآيات نعتهم

امات الهوى مني فؤادا واحياه

And if the camel-driver murmurs verses describing them,

love slays a heart within me and brings it back to life.

تمنيتهم بالرقمتين ودارهم

لدى وحولي من اولي الذوق اشباه

I wished for them at al-Raqmatayn, and for their dwelling

to be beside me, with kindred souls of discernment around me.

فعز المنى اذ دارهم لا عدمتهم

بوادي الغضايا بعد ما اتمناه

But wishes proved hard to attain, for their dwelling—may I never lose them—

lies in Wadi al-Ghadaya; far away is what I long for.

وما كنت لولا ان دمعي من دم

بخيلا برش الورد من روض مغناه

And, were my tears not blood, I would not be

sparing in watering the roses in the garden of his abode.

وما كنت لولا ان قضى الطرف نحبه

لاحمل منا للسحاب بسقياه

And, had the eye not met its death, I would never

owe the cloud a debt of gratitude for its watering.