أرقني سقم النوى

والجسم ذاب من جوى

The sickness of separation kept me sleepless.

And the body melted with inward anguish.

الليل جن ونوى

من بعد ذاك البلج

Night grew dark and resolved,

After that radiance.

بهاؤه عطر نسيم

كنرجس منه قديم

His splendor is the perfume of a breeze,

Like an ancient narcissus from him.

دعني أشم ذا الشميم

من شمر فاض البهج

Let me breathe this fragrance:

From fennel, joy overflowed.

تملك الجسم العليل

فالسحر منه في الكحيل

He possessed the ailing body,

For his magic lies in the kohl-dark eye.

أصابني سهم كليل

من رونقيه الدعج

A blunt arrow struck me,

From his two dark splendors.

ثناؤه حشو الحشا

والقلب ذاب دهشا

Praise of him fills the heart,

And the heart melted in amazement.

يا ليتني زرت الرشأ

الوصل منه علج

Oh, if only I had visited the fawn!

Union with him is [unclear: a burly stranger].

جماله زهر يفوح

كسوسن منه يلوح

His beauty is blossom that wafts its scent,

Like an iris gleaming from him.

الورد منه في جنوح

ها شادن في دلج

The rose from him leans aside:

Behold a young gazelle traveling by night.

حوى الظبا ربع الحمى

وجزعها مأوى الظما

The sanctuary's encampment held the gazelles,

And her valley bend is thirst's refuge.

السمك منها في سما

في ظلها منعرج

Her height reaches into the sky;

In her shade lies a winding path.

خيامها في بيد طي

وضرعها كثبان طي

Her tents are in Tayy's deserts,

And her udder is the dunes of Tayy.

عرج أخي نحو حي

لروضها المؤرج

Turn aside, my brother, toward an encampment,

To her fragrant garden.

دام الهناء والسرور

بين الموالي في القصور

May happiness and joy endure,

Among the patrons in the palaces.

الصبح عنا صاح نور

من مبسميه الأرج

Away from us, dawn cried out light,

From his two fragrant smiling mouths.

ذاب الفؤاد والحذق

من ومضه بين الغسق

The heart and acumen melted,

From his glimmer amid the dusk.

الكحل منه في حرق

وروحه في هرج

His kohl is aflame,

And his spirit is in turmoil.

رق الزجاج كالهوى

والعشق في قلبي كوى

The glass grew delicate as passion,

And love seared within my heart.

الراح في الكأس دوى

من وصب ذاك الوهج

The wine resounded in the cup,

From the ache of that blaze.

زار الغزال في المنام

والطيف مني في ملام

The gazelle visited in a dream,

And the apparition from me is amid reproach.

الجفن مني في غرام

من بين آس سمج

My eyelid is steeped in passionate love,

From amid unsightly myrtle.

طار الفؤاد في القرى

والغمض قد خزى الكرى

The heart flew through the villages,

And closing the eyes had shamed slumber.

السهم في الجسم انبرى

والنار فيه عجج

The arrow sprang forth within the body,

And the fire within it roared.

ظبي حمى ربع الحلك

فتت في سير الفلك

A gazelle guarded the abode of darkness,

Shattered in the course of the celestial sphere.

النجم صار لي فلك

من نعمة الممتزج

The star became my celestial sphere,

Through the blessing of the mingled one.

كتمت حبي يا عذول

وبت في شمس الأفول

I concealed my love, O reproacher,

And spent the night in the setting sun.

ليل لي الصبح يصول

من ثغر ذاك الفلج

Night is mine; dawn charges forth,

From that mouth of spaced teeth.

لما بدا منه الصباح

همت هناك في فرح

When morning appeared from him,

I was enraptured there with joy.

ذاب الفؤاد وانجرح

من شدة اللذخرج

The heart melted and was wounded,

From the intensity of [unclear].

قد كنت في سقم الخفا

والبين مني شططا

I had been sick with concealment,

And separation from me was extreme.

أردت منه الهبطا

فأومأن لا تعج

I sought a descent from him,

Then he signaled, 'Do not cry out.'

نحت على ذاك الخيال

وبت أرعى ذا الجمال

I lamented over that apparition,

And spent the night watching over this beauty.

لعل ذاك لي أمل

من وصمة المنجدرج

Perhaps that is a hope for me,

From the stigma of [unclear].

صاح العليل في نقا

يا محنتي دام البقا

The ailing one cried out on a sandhill,

O my affliction, may life endure!

يا هاجري كن لي مقا

فلحظنا ذو سرج

O my forsaker, be [unclear] for me.

For our glance bears lamps.

ظل الكئيب في ترج

يا مالك القلب الشرح

The sorrowful one remained in [unclear].

O master of the joyful heart,

صب غدا نحو الطرح

في شط ذاك اللجج

A lovesick lover went toward rejection,

On the shore of those deeps.

على الكئيب أسل

بسحر لحظ خضل

Let it flow upon the sorrowful one,

By the magic of a dewy glance.

السهم فيه زحل

من أجل ذاك درج

The arrow shifted within him;

Because of that, he passed on.

غاب الرقيب والنكد

والوقت طاب ما عند

The watcher and misery vanished,

And time grew pleasant; it was not obstinate.

رق النسيم والجسد

يا رب لا عاد الريج

The breeze and the body grew tender.

O Lord, may [unclear] never return!

فقت الطباع والثبات

لما نظرت ذا الحياة

I surpassed temperaments and steadfastness,

When I beheld this life.

يا فرحتي في ذا السعات

هذا النسيم يعج

O my joy in these expanses!

This breeze roars.

قال الوصال مرحبا

سلوني في ذاك الصبا

Union said, 'Welcome!'

Ask me about that youthful passion.

إذا سلوت في صبا

فكل ذاك همج

If I forget amid youthful passion,

Then all of that is rabble.

سار البعير في جنان

والظبي قد حبي الجنان

The camel traveled through gardens,

And the gazelle was granted the heart.

ظبي على ظبي الجيان

منه المغنى نفج

A gazelle above the gazelle of [unclear],

From him, the dwelling swelled.

شممت منه ذا العبير

عند اللقاء بيسير

I breathed this perfume from him,

At the meeting, with ease.

فأومأن أنت الخبير

يا ليت ليلي يفرج

Then he signaled, 'You are the one who knows.'

Oh, if only my night would clear!

همت على ربع الظلل

والفقر منه في امل

I wandered in love over the abode of shades,

And poverty from him is steeped in hope.

تعبت بالصد الزلال

فأحرق القلب الشجي

I grew weary of limpid rejection,

Then the sorrowful heart was burned.

ولي الحمام الكاذب

والصبر منه هارب

And a false death is mine,

And patience flees from him.

ذاب الفؤاد الكاعب

من مقلتيه وهج

The budding heart melted;

A blaze came from his two eyes.

يا غيدا يا غيدا

يا من في روحي رغدا

O graceful woman, O graceful woman!

O you who are comfort within my soul,

مضى ملامك سرمدا

بحق هذا البرج

Your reproach went on forever,

By the right of this tower.

أرقه سقم النوى