سرى والحب أمر لا يرام

سرى والحب أمر لا يرام

وقد أغرى به الشوق الغرام

وقد أغرى به الشوق الغرام

He journeyed by night, though love is beyond attainment.

The secret of love is an uncontrollable affair,

Passion surged by night, though love is a forbidding command,

And longing had unleashed passion upon him.

Into which longing and passion have led astray.

While yearning had goaded infatuation to consume him.

وأغفى أهلها إلا وشاة

وأغفى أهلها إلا وشاة

ذا نام العواذل لا تنام

ذا نام العواذل لا تنام

Her household slept, except the tale-bearers.

While all were asleep, the night sentinel remained awake,

Her people slumbered, save for the slanderers;

When the reproachers sleep, the tale-bearers stay awake.

When lovers sleep, she does not sleep.

For even when critics sleep, malice stays awake.

وما أخفاه بين القوم إلا

وما أخفاه بين القوم إلا

ضناه وربما نفع السقام

ضناه وربما نفع السقام

And nothing concealed him among the people except

What he hid from the people could only be jealousy,

Nothing concealed him among the crowd except

His wasting sickness—and illness sometimes helps.

And perhaps it may cure the sick.

His own wasting away—for sickness may sometimes serve a need.

فنال بها على قدر مناه

فنال بها على قدر مناه

وبين القبض والبسط القوام

وبين القبض والبسط القوام

So with her he attained as much as he wished.

He obtained through it as much as he wished,

Thus he attained through her the measure of his desire;

And between withholding and giving lies moderation.

And between holding back and letting go is moderation.

A balance struck between restraint and release.

واشهى الوصل ما كان اختلاسا

واشهى الوصل ما كان اختلاسا

وخير الحب ما فيه احتشام

وخير الحب ما فيه احتشام

And the sweetest union is a stolen one.

The most delicious union is what is stolen,

The most delicious union is that stolen by stealth,

And the best love is that marked by modest reserve.

And the best love has an element of modesty.

And the finest love is that which holds a modest grace.

وما أحلى الوصال لو انّ شيئا

وما أحلى الوصال لو انّ شيئا

من الدنيا للذّته دوام

من الدنيا للذّته دوام

And how sweet union would be, if anything

How sweet union would be if something,

How sweet the reunion would be, if only

In this world had delight that lasted!

Of this life had permanence for pleasure.

Any worldly pleasure possessed the gift of permanence.

بكيت من الفراق بغير أرضي

بكيت من الفراق بغير أرضي

وقد يبكي الغريب المستهام

وقد يبكي الغريب المستهام

I wept at parting in a land not my own.

I cried over separation in a foreign land,

I wept from separation in a land not my own,

And the stranger distraught with love may well weep.

A stranger may weep over isolation.

For the lovelorn stranger is prone to weeping.

ألائمي وقد فارقت إلفي

ألائمي وقد فارقت إلفي

أمثلي في صبابته يلام

أمثلي في صبابته يلام

O my reproacher, now that I have parted from my beloved,

Do I blame myself for leaving my friends?

O you who blame me, when I have parted from my mate—

Is one like me to be blamed for his yearning?

Or do I blame those similar to me in youth?

Is one like me to be rebuked for such ardor?

أأفقده فلا أبكي عليه

أأفقده فلا أبكي عليه

يكون ارق من قلبي الحمام

يكون ارق من قلبي الحمام

Am I to lose him and not weep for him?

Shall I lose him and not weep for him,

Shall I lose him and shed no tears for him?

Then the doves would be more tender than my heart.

Would that not harden my heart more than a rock?

Then the dove would possess a heart more tender than mine.

أأنساه فأحسبه كصبري

أأنساه فأحسبه كصبري

وهل ينسى لمحبوب ذمام

وهل ينسى لمحبوب ذمام

Am I to forget him, reckoning him like my patience?

Shall I forget him and think I have patience,

Shall I forget him, deeming him vanished like my patience?

And can the duty owed a beloved be forgotten?

Can the keeper ever forget the preserve?

Can the sacred covenant of a beloved ever be forgotten?

رويدا إن بعض اللوم لؤم

رويدا إن بعض اللوم لؤم

ومثلي لا ينهنهه الملام

ومثلي لا ينهنهه الملام

Be gentle: some reproach is baseness.

Gently, some blame is misplaced,

Gently now—for some blame is but cruelty,

And reproach cannot restrain one like me.

And one like me cannot be scolded into silence.

And one such as I cannot be deterred by reproach.

ويوم نوى وضعت الكف فيه

ويوم نوى وضعت الكف فيه

على قلب يطير به الهيام

على قلب يطير به الهيام

And on a day of parting I laid my palm

On the day he intended to leave, I placed my hand,

On the day of parting, I placed my hand

On a heart swept aloft by love's frenzy.

Over a heart that flutters with love.

Upon a heart nearly taking flight from passion.

ولو لا أن مسحت به جفونا

ولو لا أن مسحت به جفونا

تفيض دما لأحرقها الغرام

تفيض دما لأحرقها الغرام

And had I not used it to wipe eyelids

Had I not wiped my overflowing tears,

Had I not wiped with it eyelids

Streaming blood, passion would have burned it.

Passion would have burnt them.

Overflowing with blood, desire would have burned them to ash.

وليل بته كالدهر طولا

وليل بته كالدهر طولا

تنكر لي وعرفه التمام

تنكر لي وعرفه التمام

And a night I spent, as long as eternity,

The night of his departure was endless as time,

And a night I endured, long as an eternity;

Turned strange to me, yet the full moon knew it.

It forgot me and morning recognized it.

It turned against me, though its fullness was familiar.

كأن سماءه روض تجلى

كأن سماءه روض تجلى

بزهر الزهر والشوق الكمام

بزهر الزهر والشوق الكمام

As though its sky were a garden unveiled

As if its sky was a meadow that unveiled,

As if its sky were a garden unveiled,

With star-blossoms, and longing as their calyxes.

The flowers of flowers and the vine of yearning.

Blooming with stars for flowers, with yearning for the buds.

كأن البدر تحت الغيم وجه

كأن البدر تحت الغيم وجه

عليه من ملاحته لئام

عليه من ملاحته لئام

As though the full moon beneath the clouds were a face

As if the moon under the clouds was a face,

As if the full moon beneath the clouds were a face

Upon which, for its beauty, are base men.

Ashamed by its beauty and blame.

Wearing a veil woven of its own beauty.

كأن الكوكب الدري كأس

كأن الكوكب الدري كأس

وقد رق الزجاجة والمدام

وقد رق الزجاجة والمدام

As though the brilliant star were a cup,

As if the starry goblet was a cup,

As if the glittering star were a goblet,

With the glass and wine both grown delicate.

Polished by the flowing wine.

Where the glass and the wine have turned to pure light.

كأن سطور أفلاك الدراري

كأن سطور أفلاك الدراري

قسي والرجوم لها سهام

قسي والرجوم لها سهام

As though the lines of the brilliant stars' orbits

As if the lines of the glittering constellations,

As if the orbital lines of the shining spheres

Were bows, and the shooting stars their arrows.

Were bows and the stars were their arrows.

Were bows, with shooting stars serving as arrows.

كأن مدار قطب بنات نعش

كأن مدار قطب بنات نعش

نديّ والنجوم به ندام

نديّ والنجوم به ندام

As though the circuit of Banat Naʿsh's pole

As if the orbit of the North Star were a bier of a young woman,

As if the polar circuit of the Great Bear

Were a gathering place, and the stars there boon companions.

Swaying while the stars mourn her.

Were a gathering place, and the stars its drinking companions.

كأن بناته الكبرى جوار

كأن بناته الكبرى جوار

جوار والسهى فيها غلام

جوار والسهى فيها غلام

As though its greater daughters were maidens,

As if its major stars were young maidens,

As if its Greater Daughters were maidens running,

Neighbors, with al-Suha a boy among them.

Maidens, and the comet was their young man.

Coursing along, with Alcor attending as their page.

كأن بناته الصغرى جمان

كأن بناته الصغرى جمان

على لباتها منه نظام

على لباتها منه نظام

As though its lesser daughters were pearls,

As if its minor stars were two cranes,

As if its Lesser Daughters were pearls,

A necklace of them upon their throats.

Arranged on their necks orderly.

Strung in order upon a cosmic throat.

كواكب بت ارعاهنّ حتى

كواكب بت ارعاهنّ حتى

كأني عاشق وهي الذمام

كأني عاشق وهي الذمام

Stars I spent the night watching, until

The planets stayed awake to watch over them,

Stars I watched over like a shepherd through the night,

I seemed a lover, and they a sacred trust.

As if I was a lover and they were the keepers.

As if I were a lover, and they the sacred vow.

إلى أن مزقت كف الثريا

إلى أن مزقت كف الثريا

جيوب الأفق وانجاب الظلام

جيوب الأفق وانجاب الظلام

Until the hand of the Pleiades tore

Until the Pleiades ripped open the sleeves,

Until the hand of the Pleiades tore open

The horizon's bosoms, and darkness fell away.

Of the horizon and the darkness emerged.

The pockets of the horizon, and the darkness lifted.

فما خلت انصداع الفجر إلا

فما خلت انصداع الفجر إلا

قرابا ينتضى منها حسام

قرابا ينتضى منها حسام

So I thought dawn's breaking nothing but

No sooner had the dawn broken,

I deemed the breaking of the dawn to be nothing but

A scabbard from which a keen sword was drawn.

Than a sword was unsheathed from it.

A scabbard from which a sharp sword is drawn.

وما شبهت وجه الشمس إلا

وما شبهت وجه الشمس إلا

بوجهك أيها الملك الهمام

بوجهك أيها الملك الهمام

And I likened the sun's face to nothing but

And I did not compare the face of the sun,

And I likened the face of the sun to nothing

Your face, O magnanimous king.

To any other than yours, O noble king.

But your face, O high-minded King.

وإن شبهته بالبدر يوما

وإن شبهته بالبدر يوما

فللبدر الملاحة والتمام

فللبدر الملاحة والتمام

And if I likened it one day to the full moon,

If I likened it to the full moon one day,

And if one day I compared it to the full moon,

Then the full moon has beauty and fullness.

The moon has only borrowed light and perfection.

It is because the moon possesses both beauty and perfection.