ساعرض عمن راح عني معرضا

ساعرض عمن راح عني معرضا

ولو لاح في برج الثريا طلوعه

ولو لاح في برج الثريا طلوعه

I shall turn away from one who went from me, turning away,

I shall turn away from the one who turned away from me,

Even if his rising should gleam in the constellation of the Pleiades.

Even if his rising shone in the tower of the Pleiades.

واكتم حبي في هواه ولوعتي

واكتم حبي في هواه ولوعتي

واظهر سلواني له واذيعه

واظهر سلواني له واذيعه

I shall conceal my love for him and my burning longing,

And I shall conceal my love for him and my burning anguish,

And make a show of having forgotten him, proclaiming it abroad.

And show him I have found solace, and proclaim it.

واحجر طرفي فيه وهو رسوله

واحجر طرفي فيه وهو رسوله

وامنع عنه الفكر وهو ضجيعه

وامنع عنه الفكر وهو ضجيعه

I shall restrain my gaze where he is concerned, though it is his messenger,

And restrain my gaze from him, though it is his messenger,

And keep thought away from him, though thought is his bedfellow.

And keep thought from him, though it is his bedfellow.

وابعد روحي منه وهي ظلاله

وابعد روحي منه وهي ظلاله

واهجر قلبي فيه وهو شفيعه

واهجر قلبي فيه وهو شفيعه

I shall distance my soul from him, though it is his very shadow,

And draw my soul away from him, though it is his shade,

And forsake my heart where he is concerned, though it is his intercessor.

And forsake my heart on his account, though it is his intercessor.

وكيف ترى عيني لمن لا يرى لها

وكيف ترى عيني لمن لا يرى لها

ويكتم سر سار باغ يشيعه

ويكتم سر سار باغ يشيعه

How can my eye look upon one who does not look toward it?

And how can my eye look kindly on one who has no regard for it?

How can a secret be concealed when it has traveled, while one bent on spreading it broadcasts it?

And how can a secret be kept when a malicious man goes about spreading it?

ويصلح لي من لا يراني صالحا

ويصلح لي من لا يراني صالحا

ويحفظ قلبي في الهوى من يضيعه

ويحفظ قلبي في الهوى من يضيعه

How can one be fit for me who does not deem me fit,

And how can one who does not deem me worthy be right for me?

And how can one guard my heart in love when he is the one who wastes it?

And how can one who squanders my heart safeguard it in love?

فاقسمت لا تجري دموعي على امرء

فاقسمت لا تجري دموعي على امرء

تطيب له ان شت عني ربوعه

تطيب له ان شت عني ربوعه

So I swore my tears would never flow over a man

So I have sworn: my tears shall not flow for a man

Who is content for his homesteads to lie far from me.

Whose dwellings please him if they lie far from me.

وهل دمعتي تجرى افتقادا لغائب

وهل دمعتي تجرى افتقادا لغائب

اذا كان لا تجري عليّ دموعه

اذا كان لا تجري عليّ دموعه

Would my tears flow from missing one who is absent

And would my tear flow in longing for one who is absent,

If his tears do not flow for me?

If his tears do not flow for me?