غرام لا يقابل غرام

وعين من بعادك لا تنام

A love met with no answering love,

and an eye that cannot sleep for your absence,

وقلب قد تقلب فوق جمر

وعقل قد أحاط به الهيام

and a heart that has writhed upon embers,

and a mind encompassed by infatuation.

سقى المولى زماناً كنت فيه

جليسي والحديث له انتظام

May the Lord water those days when you were

my companion, and conversation flowed in harmony,

وكاسات السرور تدور فينا

بمعنى لا يماثله مدام

and cups of joy passed among us,

with a meaning no wine could match;

وأوقات صفت ووفت بائس

ولطف لا العتاب ولا الملام

and hours that grew serene and kept faith with a wretched soul,

and tenderness, with neither reproach nor blame.

وحيا مربعاً كنا قعوداً

لديه وللهوى فيه قيام

And may He bless a dwelling—we used to sit

beside it, while love stood upright there,

وأطيار المحبة فيه تشدو

ونيران الشجون لها اضطرام

and the birds of love sang within it,

and the fires of sorrow blazed;

وآلام يزينها أنين

به نخرت من الجسد العظام

and pains adorned by groaning,

through which the body's bones decayed;

وإحراق لها لهفات قلب

يحاربها من العين انسجام

and burning, with a heart's anguished longings,

battled by tears streaming from the eye;

وغيبة فكرة وذهول لب

يقابلها وقار واحترام

and absent thought and bewildered reason,

met with dignity and respect;

وساعات لعمري ما أحيلي

مجالسها وسكر واصطلام

and hours—by my life, how sweet

their gatherings! And intoxication and overwhelming rapture;

وأيام لها منها ليالٍ

تطول إذا بك انعقد الكلام

and days whose nights

grow long whenever talk turns to you.

حبيبي إنني لك مت لهفاً

وشوقاً والفراق له حسام

My beloved, I have died of yearning for you,

and longing—and separation has a sword.

وجرح البعد قرح لب قلبي

فهل بالقرب يدركه التئام

The wound of distance has ulcerated my heart's core;

will nearness bring it healing?

وهل بعد الجفا يحيا بوصل

تكون به السلامة والسلام

And after estrangement, will it live through reunion

that brings well-being and peace?

لعمري إنما الدنيا خيال

وكل بداية فلها ختام

By my life, this world is only an illusion,

and every beginning has an ending,

وكل قضية فلها انقضاء

وكل نهاية فلها تمام

and every matter has a conclusion,

and every ending has its completion.

فسامحني وأنعم لي بقرب

وواصلني وإن أعداي لاموا

So pardon me, and favor me with nearness,

and keep union with me, even if my enemies blame.

ولا تقطع بسيف الهجر ظهري

على أن الفؤاد لك المقام

Do not sever my back with the sword of abandonment,

although my heart is your abode.

فإن يك قطع حبلي عن ذنوبي

فهذا العمر عفو وانتقام

If my cord is severed because of my sins,

then this life holds pardon and vengeance.

ومثلك سيدي للعفو أهل

ومثلي من يساعده الكرام

One like you, my master, is fit to pardon,

and one like me is someone the noble aid.

كلفت ضنى وذوبني غرامي

وأنت وحق طلعك المرام

I was burdened with wasting sickness, and my passion melted me;

and you, by the sanctity of your countenance, are my desire.

سكنت فؤادي المشغوف لكن

تنحت فيك عن عيني الخيام

You inhabited my love-stricken heart, but

the tents withdrew with you beyond my sight.

وقد أبكيتني وضحكت مني

فكيف وأنت جانبك الحرام

You have made me weep and laughed at me;

how can that be, when your precinct is sacred?

ولست بظالم وظلمت مضني

لعشقك راح يرحمه الأنام

You are no oppressor, yet you wronged one wasted

by love of you, whom all mankind has come to pity.

عليك مولع باك نهارا

وفيك يجن إذ جن الظلام

Infatuated with you, he weeps by day,

and goes mad for you when darkness falls.

إليك يموت أشجاناً ويحيا

وذا عجب وجود وانعدام

For you he dies of sorrow and lives—

a marvel: existence and nonexistence.

إذا ذكر التباعد والتلاقي

أحاط به بكاء وابتسام

When he recalls separation and reunion,

weeping and smiling surround him.

يقطع بالهموم سبيل فكر

عليل فيك أمرضه الغرام

Through cares he traverses a path of thought,

ailing for you, made sick by love.

وعنك لصبره خيل ورجل

يشتتها الجوى فلها انهزام

In your absence, his patience has cavalry and footmen;

heartache scatters them, and they are routed.

إلى اللَه أشتكي من مكروقت

خؤون ما لصحبته دوام

To God I complain of time's treachery,

faithless, with no permanence to its companionship,

وساعات تقد حبال وصل

لأحباب وهم عمد عظام

and hours that sever bonds of union

between beloved friends, though they are mighty pillars.

بلا خجل تصيرهم فرادى

وكم قومٍ ببابهم تراموا

Shamelessly they leave them solitary,

and how many people once flung themselves at their doors!

وتلقاهم على فرش التأسي

سكارى والأنين لهم طعام

You find them on beds of consolation,

intoxicated, with groaning for their food.

ألا ليت الزمان كما تعامى

عن الأخيار يعرف ما اللئام

Ah, if only time, just as it turned a blind eye

to the virtuous, knew the base for what they are!

لأهل الجهل إحسان ووصل

وللفضلاء فقرٌ وانفصام

For the ignorant, kindness and union;

for the worthy, poverty and severance.

كذا حظ الأماجد ما عليه

بهم عتب على الحظ الملام

Such is the lot of the noble; no blame for it

rests on them—the reproach falls on fortune.

فهل حظ يقوم بوصل فإن

لمن يهوى ويندفع الضرام

Will fortune bring reunion [text unclear]

to one who loves, and the blaze be quenched,

وتسكن زفرة وتطيب نفس

مولعة ويحصل ما يرام

and a sigh be stilled, and a soul be soothed—

a lovesick soul—and what is desired be attained,

ويعطف غاية المقصود فضلاً

وألا فالبعاد هو الحمام

and the one most sought turn kindly, out of grace?

Otherwise, separation is death.

وحق هواك يا من أنت روحي

وذا قسم له عندي ذمام

By the sanctity of your love, O you who are my soul—

an oath that binds my honor—

غرامك قد تسلطن في ضميري

وأشغلني فها أنا مستهام

your love has become sovereign in my innermost heart,

and engrossed me: here I am, bewildered by love.

ومن لهفي أغرا عليك مني

وأدهش حين يلثمك اللثام

In my yearning, I am jealous over you even of myself,

and am astounded when the veil kisses you.

وأذهل إن صدفتك في طريق

إلى أن يستقر بي المقام

I am dazed if I chance upon you on a road,

until I settle in my place.

فجل كرماً بقبلة شمس خد

علي كأنها بلد حرام

So show your bounty with a kiss of the sun of your cheek,

which, to me, is like a forbidden land.

وإن تممتها بشرابٍ ريق

أقول تمامها مشك ختام

And if you complete it with a draught of saliva,

I shall say, 'Its completion is a seal of musk.'