يا واردا من ليلى قف متصاغيا

قصة ذا الخليل الأريح

O you arriving from Layla, stop and listen attentively.

The tale of this generous friend.

أعظم به رزءا أتاح مصائبا

فت القلوب ووشاح

What a great calamity it is, bringing misfortunes!

It shattered hearts—and a sash.

واستفت غادية صبا هل صافحت

مثل التراح مثخنا بتراح

And ask the morning east wind: has it clasped hands—

With the like of the sorrowful one, sorely stricken by grief?

هذا قد بدل شربه لبلغة

باهت مساجد بلوان فصراح

This one has exchanged his drink for mere sustenance.

He confounded mosques—[unclear word]—then openness.

سلبت الحجا لما اغتدت

بجمار ذر لم يثنه فلاح

She stole reason away when she went forth at dawn—

With embers of dust that no success turned aside.

فجلست في حسن البسوط مفاخرا

في قبة تحت الأساطين ناجح

So I sat among the beautiful carpets, boasting,

In a domed chamber beneath the pillars, successful.

والمزن مرخية لذيل دموعها

في كل وقت لا يغيب سياح

And the rain clouds let down the trailing hem of their tears,

At every moment, a wanderer is never absent.

ها الأرض قد لبست جمالا أخضرا

والغصن معتلى للإصباح

Behold, the earth has clothed itself in green beauty,

And the branch is raised toward daybreak.

سغق البقيع بدعة

وغدت تسيل دموعها بصراح

[Unclear word] al-Baqiʿ—a novelty.

And she began to let her tears flow openly,

فوق الرؤوس بغزوة

وابتلت الأثواب دون فساح

Over the heads, in a raid,

And the garments grew wet, with no open space.

فنهضت مسلوب البشاشة مقسما

ألا وطيت محاجر الوقاح

So I rose, robbed of cheerfulness, swearing—

That I had not trodden the eye sockets of the shameless.

فعجبت للبحر المحيط بجفرة

هل غاب حقا أو عراه سباح

So I marveled at the sea surrounding a hollow:

Had it truly vanished, or had a swimmer come upon it?

قسما بغصن البان في عذاباته

وبأبلج بالمسك خط طواح

I swear by the bān-tree branch in its torments,

And by a radiant one drawn in musk by a wanderer.

ما كنت أعلم قبل بل ثيابنا

أن الجلا أبصرت بوضاح

I did not know, before our garments grew wet,

That I had beheld clarity in a radiant one.

ولقد عرفت خليلة ستحية

فيها الأمان لساكن ومراح

And I indeed knew a beloved, [unclear word],

In her are safety for a dweller and a place of rest.

لم انسها من بينهن وقد انثنت

وقد أثناه حواء لها بداح

I did not forget her among them, as she bent,

And Hawwa had bent it double; for her, an open expanse [syntax unclear].

تشكو إصابتها وأشكو صبوتي

شكوى العميد من الهوى لمرتاح

She laments her affliction, and I lament my longing,

The lament of one stricken by love to one at ease.

ماذا أقول وأنت صنع الله من

في الآراء كنز فتاح

What shall I say, when you are God's handiwork, one who—

In counsel, is a treasure, an opener.

ولقد أقام أحبتي خل لذا

كان اليمين لها وكنت طواح

And my loved ones indeed appointed a friend for this;

He was her right hand, and I was a wanderer.

فجلا ظلام الظلم عنها واكتست

أنوار صبح القول فيها صفاح

So he dispelled the darkness of injustice from her, and she donned

The lights of the dawn of speech within her—[unclear ending].