من أعظم البلواء والشحناء

جور الهوى بمحبة الغبناء

Among the greatest afflictions and enmities

Is passion's tyranny in the love of the foolish.

ومن العجائب والعجائب جمة

ودّي له والصد منه جزائي

And among the wonders—and wonders are many—

Is my affection for him, while his rejection is my reward.

لا تنكروا جزعي وكثر تلهفي

دائي تمادى ما عرفت دوائي

Do not condemn my anguish and the abundance of my yearning.

My illness has persisted; I have not found my cure.

لا تعذلوا من لو أطاق تحيلا

لسخي بنور العين والأحشاء

Do not reproach one who, if he could devise a way,

Would give freely of his eye's light and his innermost parts.

بئس الحياة حياة مثلي إنني

من جملة الموتى في الأحياء

Wretched is life, the life of one like me; indeed, I

Am counted among the dead amid the living.

وعجبت أشكوه وأشكر فعله

عكس الهوى فعل الخطا بثنائي

And I marvel: I complain of him, yet thank him for his deed.

Passion has turned wrongdoing into praise from me.

هيهات من ذاق المحبة لم يذق

طعم الحياة حلية بهناء

Far from it! Whoever has tasted love has never tasted

Life's savor adorned with happiness.

طاق الهوى المعقول يا أسفي على

عقل زكيّ رادع لهوائي

Passion has mastered reason—alas for

A pure mind that restrained my passion.

قد جدّ بي حزني لبعدك يا فتى

فأنا أسير بلابل وشجاء

My grief has grown fierce within me because you are far away, O youth.

So I am a captive of anxieties and sorrow.

يا مامتي ألقى الصفى من فاتني

يا خيبتي يا حسرتي وعنائي

O my mother, the one who eluded me has cast away pure affection.

O my disappointment, O my regret and suffering!

صبت عليّ من الصبابة محنة

تكسو ضياء الشمس ثوب دجاء

An ordeal of passionate longing has poured down upon me,

Clothing the sun's radiance in a robe of darkness.

لا لوم يلحق مهجتي إن هي جرت

بعد الدموع من البكا بدماء

No blame touches my soul if it should flow,

After tears, with blood from weeping.

لِلّه ما من منصف من ذي الهوى

أصلاً وهل من قاهر الرقباء

By God, there is no fair-minded soul among those in love

At all; and is there anyone to subdue the watchers?

تبت يدا عواذلي قد أردفوا

بملامهم بلوى على بلوائي

Perish the hands of my reproachers! They have heaped

With their blame, affliction upon my affliction.

ما أنصفوا لو أنصفوا لم يعذلوا

أيلومني من لم يذوق هوائي

They were not fair; were they fair, they would not reproach.

Does one who has never tasted my passion blame me?

هل يستوي صاح وسكران وهل

يدري الصحيح بعلة المرضاء

Are the sober and the drunken equal? And does

The healthy one know the sick people's malady?

هيهات ما ذوق العنا مثل الغنا

كلا ولا الضرّاء كالسرّاء

Far from it! The taste of hardship is not like wealth,

No indeed; nor is adversity like prosperity.

إني لعمرك يا أهيل مودّتي

عفت الكرا من عينك الوسناء

Indeed, by your life, O dear folk of my affection,

I have shunned sleep because of your drowsy eye.

لا والذي أولاك حسن مناطق

ومباسم ومراشف لعساء

No, by Him who bestowed on you beauty of speech,

And smiling mouths and dusky lips,

ما خنت قطّ مودّتي أو صحبتي

لي همة تعلو على الجوزاء

I have never betrayed my affection or companionship.

Mine is an aspiration that rises above al-Jawza.

فبأيّ ذنب حلتم عن صحبتي

وبأيّ شرع باح نقض وفاء

For what sin, then, have you turned from my company?

And by what law is a breach of faith allowed?

جودوا عليّ بفضلكم يا سادتي

وتداركوني وارحموا شكوائي

Be generous to me with your bounty, O my masters,

And rescue me, and have mercy on my complaint.

أيجوز أن أظما وماء غديركم

عذب رحيق منه كلّ شفائي

Is it right that I thirst, while your pool's water

Is sweet nectar, the source of all my healing?

تسقون من قد شئتم من مائكم

وأنا أموت بلوعتي وظمائي

You give drink from your water to whomever you choose,

While I die of my anguish and thirst.

ماذا فعال الأكرمين إذا هم

سئلوا ولا ذي شيمة الفضلاء

This is not the conduct of the most generous when they

Are petitioned, nor is this the way of the noble.

جودوا ورقوا وارحموا وتفضلوا

بلقاكم عليّ أنال منائي

Be generous, be tender, show mercy, and graciously bestow

A meeting with you upon me, that I may attain my wish.

سهل وربي شاهد لو أنكم

تستسلمون لقاكم بفنائي

It would be easy—my Lord bears witness—if only you

Would consent to let me meet you in my courtyard.

إي والذي أجرى النسيم ومن به

نور النجوم مزين لسماء

Yes, by Him who set the breeze in motion, and by Him through whom

The light of the stars adorns the sky,

مازال نفسي في الترائب لم أكن

أقطع من اللقياء قط رجائي

My breath still dwells within my breast; never have I

Cut off my hope of meeting.

طمعت نفسي مطمعاً وأظنه

صعب وعند اللَه حسن عزائي

My soul has aspired to a goal, and I think it

Hard to attain; with God I find good consolation.

يا ربّ إن لم تقض لي بزيارة

من حبتي فاغفر جميع خطائي

O Lord, if You do not decree for me a visit

From my loved ones, then forgive all my errors.

أستغفر اللَه العظيم فانني

مستعصم بالعروة الوثقاء

I seek forgiveness from God the Most Great, for I

Hold fast to the firmest handhold,

بالهاشمي المصطفى خير الورى

وشفيعنا ذي الرحمة العظماء

To the Hashemite, the Chosen One, the best of creation,

And our intercessor, endowed with the greatest mercy.

قد شاهد الربّ العظيم بعينه

صدقاً عياناً ليس في الرؤياء

He has beheld the Lord, the Most Great, with his own eye,

In truth, with direct sight, not in a dream.

لولاه ما كان الطريق لجنة

مسلوكة للأتقيا النجباء

Were it not for him, the path to Paradise would not be

Trodden by the pious and noble,

العابدين الحامدين أولى الحجا

والتاركين الفضل في الدنياء

The worshippers, the praisers, possessors of wisdom,

And those who renounce excess in this world.

يا ربّ بالهادي الحبيب محمد

وبآله واصحابه الكملاء

O Lord, through the beloved guide, Muhammad,

And through his family and his perfect companions,

اغفر ذنوبي كلها ومثالبي

أيضاً وعشني عيشة السعداء

Forgive my sins, all of them, and my faults

As well, and let me live the life of the blessed.

ثم الصلاة عليك من ربّ السما

يا أعلم العلماء والحكماء

Then may blessings be upon you from the Lord of heaven,

O most learned of scholars and sages.