علمتم بأني مغرم بكم صب

علمتم بأني مغرم بكم صب

ودمعي سيلا فوق خدي ينصب

ودمعي سيلا فوق خدي ينصب

You know that I am passionately enamored of you—a love-struck man;

You knew that I was enamored of you, love-stricken,

And my tears pour like a flood down my cheek.

and my tears pour in a torrent over my cheek;

واني مولوه الفؤاد بحبكم

واني مولوه الفؤاد بحبكم

فعذبتموني والعذاب بكم عذب

فعذبتموني والعذاب بكم عذب

I am one whose heart is maddened by love of you;

and that my heart is distraught with love for you,

You have tormented me, yet torment from you is sweet.

so you tormented me—yet torment through you is sweet.

والفتم بين السهاد وناظري

والفتم بين السهاد وناظري

وقاطعتموني لا رسول ولا كتب

وقاطعتموني لا رسول ولا كتب

You have joined sleeplessness to my eyes,

And you joined sleeplessness to my eye,

And severed yourself from me—no messenger, no letters.

and cut me off: no messenger and no letters.

اسامر طول الليل فيكم مدامعي

اسامر طول الليل فيكم مدامعي

فلا دمعتي ترقى ولا زفرتي تخبو

فلا دمعتي ترقى ولا زفرتي تخبو

All night long I speak of you with my streaming tears;

I keep my tears company all night over you;

Neither do my tears cease, nor do my sighs subside.

so my tear never dries, nor does my sigh die down.

خذوا بالتجني كيف شئتم فانتم

خذوا بالتجني كيف شئتم فانتم

لكم ابدا في امري الوهب والسلب

لكم ابدا في امري الوهب والسلب

Treat me unjustly however you wish; for you

Wrong me as you please, for you

Forever hold, in my affair, the power to give and withhold.

have forever the power to give and take in my affairs.

على كل طور من جفاكم عرفتكم

على كل طور من جفاكم عرفتكم

احبة قلبي لا ملال ولا عتب

احبة قلبي لا ملال ولا عتب

In every guise of your estrangement I have known you

In every phase of your estrangement, I have known you

As my heart’s beloved, without weariness or reproach.

as my heart's beloveds, without weariness or reproach.

صدودكم وصل وسخطم رضا

صدودكم وصل وسخطم رضا

وقهركم لطف ومنعكم وهب

وقهركم لطف ومنعكم وهب

Your remoteness is union, and your displeasure favor;

Your aversion is union, and your displeasure contentment;

Your coercion is kindness, and your withholding a gift.

and your overpowering is kindness, and your withholding is giving;

ومحنتكم منح وجفوتكم وفا

ومحنتكم منح وجفوتكم وفا

وجودكم عدل وبعدكم قرب

وجودكم عدل وبعدكم قرب

Your trials are favors, and your estrangement fidelity;

and your trials are gifts, and your estrangement is faithfulness.

Your presence is justice, and your distance nearness.

Your presence is justice, and your distance is nearness.

متى سهرت عيني لغير هواكم

متى سهرت عيني لغير هواكم

وأرقها في غير معناكم حزب

وأرقها في غير معناكم حزب

If ever my eye kept vigil for a love other than yours,

If ever my eye keeps vigil for a love other than yours,

Or love for anything beyond your essence kept it wakeful,

and distress keeps it sleepless over any meaning but yours,

وسالت لمحبوب سواكم دموعها

وسالت لمحبوب سواكم دموعها

فلا برحت عيني ادمعها سكب

فلا برحت عيني ادمعها سكب

Or its blood flowed for any beloved but you,

and its tears flow for a beloved other than you,

Then may my eye never cease, its tears forever pouring.

may my eye never cease pouring tears.

لكم في فؤادي منزل مترفع

لكم في فؤادي منزل مترفع

لقد ضربت من دون سدرته الحجب

لقد ضربت من دون سدرته الحجب

For you there is an exalted dwelling within my heart;

You have a lofty dwelling in my heart;

Veils have indeed been hung before its lote-tree.

indeed, veils have been raised below its lote-tree.

تخافى بفيفاء الفؤاد محله

تخافى بفيفاء الفؤاد محله

عن العين لم تحلله سعدى ولا عتب

عن العين لم تحلله سعدى ولا عتب

Its station lies hidden in the heart’s open expanse,

Its site lies hidden in the heart's wilderness,

Beyond sight; neither Sa‘da nor ‘Utb has dwelt there.

from the eye; neither Sa‘da nor ‘Utb has dwelt there.

عسى اوبة بالشعب اقضى بها المنى

عسى اوبة بالشعب اقضى بها المنى

وابصركم والهم يمحق والكرب

وابصركم والهم يمحق والكرب

Perhaps a return to the mountain pass will fulfill my longings there,

May a return to the ravine let me fulfill my wishes,

And I may behold you, while care and anguish are erased;

and may I behold you, as grief and anguish are effaced;

ويجمع منا الشعب شملا مفرقا

ويجمع منا الشعب شملا مفرقا

لما كان قبل اليوم يجمعنا الشعب

لما كان قبل اليوم يجمعنا الشعب

Perhaps the pass may reunite our scattered company,

and may the ravine reunite our scattered company,

As that pass used to gather us before today.

for the ravine used to bring us together before today.

وما ذات فرخ بان عنها فاصبحت

وما ذات فرخ بان عنها فاصبحت

وللنار في اجزاء أحشائها الشهب

وللنار في اجزاء أحشائها الشهب

Nor is a mother bird whose fledgling flew from her, so that she became—

And no mother bird whose fledgling left her, leaving her

With brands of fire blazing in the recesses of her entrails,

with flames of fire throughout her entrails,

ترفرف خمصاء استشاط بها النوى

ترفرف خمصاء استشاط بها النوى

بذي التل ثكلى دأبها النوح والندب

بذي التل ثكلى دأبها النوح والندب

Fluttering, hollow-bellied, set ablaze within by separation,

fluttering, hollow-bellied, inflamed by separation,

Bereft at Dhu al-Tall, forever wailing and lamenting—

bereaved at Dhu al-Tall, ever wailing and lamenting,

بأشوق من قلبي اليكم فليتني

بأشوق من قلبي اليكم فليتني

يعفر وجهي من رحابكم الترب

يعفر وجهي من رحابكم الترب

More ardent in yearning than my heart is for you—if only

is more full of longing than my heart for you; would that I

The dust of your courtyards might bedaub my face!

might have my face covered by the dust of your courtyards.

وليت اذا لم يمكن القرب منكم

وليت اذا لم يمكن القرب منكم

قضيت اسى أو ليت لم يخلق الحب

قضيت اسى أو ليت لم يخلق الحب

And if nearness to you cannot be, would that

And would that, if nearness to you is impossible,

I might die of grief—or that love had never been created.

I might die of grief—or would that love had never been created.

اذا نادمتني مقلتاه وكاسه

اذا نادمتني مقلتاه وكاسه

يطيب لقلبي في الهوى اللثم والشرب

يطيب لقلبي في الهوى اللثم والشرب

When her two eyes and his cup caroused with me,

When his eyes and his cup become my drinking companions,

Kissing and drinking grew sweet to my heart in passion.

kissing and drinking are sweet to my heart in love.

فان فزت بالتقبيل والشرب منهما

فان فزت بالتقبيل والشرب منهما

ملكت مكانا دونه الشرق والغرب

ملكت مكانا دونه الشرق والغرب

If I win kisses and drink from them both,

If I attain kissing and drinking from them both,

I attain a station beneath which East and West lie.

I possess a station above both East and West.

يعاقبني بالذنب والذنب ذنبه

يعاقبني بالذنب والذنب ذنبه

ويشهد لي في ذلك العجم والعرب

ويشهد لي في ذلك العجم والعرب

He punishes me for the sin, though the sin is his;

He punishes me for the sin, though the sin is his,

Non-Arabs and Arabs alike bear witness for me in this.

and non-Arabs and Arabs bear witness for me in this.

ولكن متى حكمت قلبي بامره

ولكن متى حكمت قلبي بامره

فيرجع مغفورا له ولي الذنب

فيرجع مغفورا له ولي الذنب

Yet whenever I appoint my heart to judge his case,

But whenever I make my heart judge in his case,

He returns forgiven, while the guilt is laid upon me.

he comes away forgiven, and the guilt is mine.

ولما سكنت القلب لم يبق موضع

ولما سكنت القلب لم يبق موضع

سقيم به الا وادركه طب

سقيم به الا وادركه طب

When you made the heart your home, no place remained

And when you dwelt in my heart, no place remained

For a sufferer there, except one whom a cure reached.

sick within it that healing did not reach.

ولم يبق جزء أي وحقك بعد ذا

ولم يبق جزء أي وحقك بعد ذا

بجسمي حتى ود لو انه قلب

بجسمي حتى ود لو انه قلب

Nor did any part remain—yes, by your truth—after this

And after that, yes, by your right, no part remained

Within my body, though it wished that it were a heart.

in my body that did not wish it were a heart.

اذا افتر جادت بالمدامع مقلتي

اذا افتر جادت بالمدامع مقلتي

وراحت سماء الروح تزهو به الشهب

وراحت سماء الروح تزهو به الشهب

Whenever he smiles, my eye pours forth its gathered stores,

When he smiles, my eye pours forth tears,

And the spirit’s sky glitters through him with shooting stars.

and the stars begin to shine through him in the soul's sky.

فيا ضاحكا ابكى لبارق ثغره

فيا ضاحكا ابكى لبارق ثغره

كذا عند لمع البرق تنهمر السحب

كذا عند لمع البرق تنهمر السحب

O laughing one! I weep at the flash of his front teeth;

O laughing one, at the lightning of whose mouth I weep:

Thus, when lightning flashes, the clouds pour down.

so clouds pour down when lightning flashes.

لحى الله قلبا لا يهيم صبابة

لحى الله قلبا لا يهيم صبابة

ويخطفه وجدا لاهل الحمى الدرب

ويخطفه وجدا لاهل الحمى الدرب

May God curse a heart that does not wander madly with yearning,

May God curse a heart that neither wanders mad with love

Nor is swept away in ecstasy by the road to the sanctuary’s people;

nor is snatched away by the road in longing for the sanctuary's folk;

ولبا لريم الطف لم يمض طائرا

ولبا لريم الطف لم يمض طائرا

وصبا الى تلك المنازل لا يصبو

وصبا الى تلك المنازل لا يصبو

And a mind that did not fly like a bird toward the gazelle of al-Ta’if,

and a mind that has not flown to the gazelle of al-Taff,

And a lover who does not yearn for those abodes.

and a lovesick one who does not yearn for those dwellings.

الا يا نسيما هب من ارض حاجر

الا يا نسيما هب من ارض حاجر

فهيمني من نشره ذلك الهب

فهيمني من نشره ذلك الهب

Ah, O breeze—blow from the land of Hajir,

Ah, O breeze that blew from the land of Hajir,

And enrapture me with the waft of that fragrance.

that gust drove me love-mad with its fragrance.

مررت باطراف الاجارع طيبا

مررت باطراف الاجارع طيبا

نشدتك هل سرب الحمى ذلك السرب

نشدتك هل سرب الحمى ذلك السرب

You passed fragrant along the edges of the sandy expanses;

You passed, fragrant, along the edges of the sandy tracts;

I adjure you: is that flock the sanctuary’s flock?

I adjure you: is the sanctuary's herd still that same herd?

وهل شجرات بالاثيل انيقة

وهل شجرات بالاثيل انيقة

يروح لها قلب ويغدو لها لب

يروح لها قلب ويغدو لها لب

And are the trees at al-Athil luxuriant,

And are there graceful trees at al-Uthayl

Those toward which a heart journeys at evening and a mind at dawn?

to which a heart goes at evening and a mind at morning?

قلوب والباب هي الركب نحوها

قلوب والباب هي الركب نحوها

يروح ويغدو مستظلا بها الركب

يروح ويغدو مستظلا بها الركب

Hearts are at the door—the caravan bound toward her;

Hearts and minds are the caravan bound toward them;

The caravan journeys evening and morning, seeking shade beneath them.

the caravan goes at evening and morning, sheltering in their shade.

رعى الله دارا بالمحصب من منى

رعى الله دارا بالمحصب من منى

لها الساحة القعساء والمرتع الخصب

لها الساحة القعساء والمرتع الخصب

May God preserve a dwelling at al-Muhassab in Mina,

May God guard a dwelling at al-Muhassab in Mina,

With its spacious courtyard and fertile pasture.

with its impregnable courtyard and fertile pasture.

وحي الحيا الخلان في ايمن الغضا

وحي الحيا الخلان في ايمن الغضا

خليين من رعي الذمام ولا ذنب

خليين من رعي الذمام ولا ذنب

And may life-giving rain revive the friends at Ayman al-Ghada,

And may the rain greet the friends on the right of the ghada grove,

Heedless of keeping covenant, yet innocent of blame.

unconcerned with keeping faith, yet free of blame.

جفوني وكانوا واصلين فاعرضوا

جفوني وكانوا واصلين فاعرضوا

دلالا وعجبا والعجيب له العجب

دلالا وعجبا والعجيب له العجب

They shunned me, though once they kept close, and turned away

They shunned me, though once they kept close, then turned away

In coyness and pride—and wonder itself marvels at it.

in coquetry and pride—the wondrous one has cause for pride.

بذلت لهم روحي فراحوا تهجما

بذلت لهم روحي فراحوا تهجما

يرومون قتلي عامدين وهم صحب

يرومون قتلي عامدين وهم صحب

I offered them my soul, but they went away scowling,

I offered them my soul, and they brazenly went on

Deliberately seeking my death, though they are friends.

seeking to kill me deliberately, though they are friends.

فليتهم عدل ودهري جائر

فليتهم عدل ودهري جائر

وليتهم سلم وكل الورى حرب

وليتهم سلم وكل الورى حرب

Would that they were justice itself, though my fortune is tyrannical;

Would that they were just, though my fate is unjust,

Would that they were peace itself, though all mankind is at war.

and would that they were peace, though all creation were war.