1. أذاهبةٌ بين القطيعة والوصْلِ

    بِعَقْلي أما يرضيكِ شيءٌ سِوى عَقْلي

    Are you, between estrangement and union, making off

    with my reason? Will nothing satisfy you but my reason?

  2. وَمَانِعَتي حتّى على النأيِ وصْلَها

    لعلَّكِ قد صارَمتِ طَيْفكِ في وصلي

    And she who denies me union with her even from afar—

    perhaps you have broken with your phantom for visiting me.

  3. وقاضِيةً بالهجرِ بيني وبينها

    كأنَّكِ لم تَلْقَيْ سبيلاً إلى العدل

    And she who decrees estrangement between herself and me—

    as though you had found no path to justice.

  4. ألا بأبي تلك الشمائلُ حلوةً

    وإنْ تَرَكَتْنِي غَيْرَ مُجْتَمع الشَّمْل

    Ah, may my father ransom those sweet ways,

    though they have left me bereft of reunion.

  5. ويا حبّذا ذاكَ الدلالُ مُعَشّقاً

    وإن كنتُ منهُ سائرَ اليومِ في شُغل

    And how lovely that coyness is, inspiring love,

    though it keeps me preoccupied all day.

  6. وحسنُ حديثٍ كلما قلتُ أحْزَنَتْ

    ثَناياهُ أفْضَتْ بي إلى كَنفِ سهْل

    And lovely talk: whenever I said it had grown rugged,

    its winding passes led me to a gentle refuge.

  7. كذلك حتى أشْرَفت بي على شفاً

    هو الجِدُّ لا ما كنت فيه من الهزل

    So it went, until it brought me to a brink:

    this was earnestness, not the jesting I had been engaged in.

  8. وَشعْشَعَ لي مما هناكَ مُدامةً

    مذاقَتُهَا تُغْري ونَكْهَتُها تُسْلي

    And he mixed me wine from what was there,

    its taste enticing, its fragrance consoling.

  9. وما عِفْتُها بل سافَهَتْ فَرَدَدْتُها

    فقالَ العفافُ اشربْ فإنَّك في حِلِّ

    I did not loathe it; it grew insolent, so I sent it back.

    Then chastity said, 'Drink; you are free of blame.'

  10. أَتَتْني ولم أرتبْ بِوُدِّك ضجرة

    أخوذٌ بأنفاس الرُّسَيْلاتِ والرُّسْل

    A fit of vexation came upon me, though I never doubted your affection,

    snatching the breath of little letters and messengers.

  11. وَسَمْتَ بها هذا الزمانَ فإنْ يَتِهْ

    فغيرُ بديعٍ مِنْ سَجِيَّتِهِ الغُفْل

    You branded this age with it; if it strays,

    that is nothing new in its heedless nature.

  12. إلا بأَبِي هاتِ اعتزازَكَ كُلّهَ

    ودونك ذُلي لم تَدَع لي سِوَى ذلي

    Ah—my father be your ransom—bring forth all your pride,

    and take my abasement: you have left me only abasement.

  13. أمولايَ لا أني أقِرُّ لغيرهِ

    بها غيرَ تَمْوِيهِ الخديعةِ والختل

    O my master—not that I grant to anyone else

    that title, except as a sham of deception and guile.

  14. ويا كُحْلَ أجفاني وإن غَلَبَ الكرى

    عليها وقد تَقَذَى الجفونُ من الكُحْلِ

    And O kohl of my eyelids, though slumber overcomes

    them—and eyelids may indeed smart from kohl—

  15. أصِخْ غيرَ مأمورٍ لإمرارِ لَوْعَةٍ

    إذا مارَ دَمْعِي فارَ مِرْجَلُهَا يَغلي

    listen—no command intended—to the outpouring of a burning grief:

    when my tears surge, its cauldron seethes and boils.

  16. صَدَقْتَ أنا الجاني فهلْ من بقيّةٍ

    تُشِيرُ إلى استْحياءِ مِثْلِكَ من مثلي

    You spoke truly: I am the offender. Is there any remnant

    that calls for one like you to feel shame before one like me?

  17. ولا بدَّ من عُذرٍ وليس بِوَاضِحٍ

    ولكنْ لكَ الفَضْلُ المُحَكّمُ في الفَضْل

    There must be an excuse, though it is not plain;

    but yours is the generosity that decides matters of generosity.

  18. أرَيْتَكَ من تحنو عليه وغنه

    لكالغيثِ أو أنّي لَكالْبَلَدِ المحل

    Tell me, whom do you treat tenderly? [The final word is unclear.]

    Truly like rain—or am I truly like barren land?

  19. أحينَ دعاني وادَّعَاني ولم أجِدْ

    سوى حُكْمِهِ طَوْراً عليَّ وَطوْراً لي

    Was it when he called me and claimed me, and I found nothing

    but his judgment, now against me and now for me,

  20. قبلتُ الأذى منه كأنّيَ قابضٌ

    على الماءِ أوْ ساعٍ على اثر الظِلِّ

    that I accepted harm from him, as though grasping

    water, or pursuing a shadow's trace?

  21. أنَازِعُهَا حَبْلَ الهَوَى وَتَلُفُّهُ

    وقَدْ وَرِمَتْ كفّايَ منْ أثَر الحَبْلِ

    I struggle with her for love's rope while she winds it,

    and my two palms have swollen from the rope's marks.

  22. تَرُوْحُ وَتَغْدثو كلّما قلتُ قد دَنَتْ

    وما قولُهَا قَوْلي ولا فِعْلُهَا فعلي

    She goes and comes whenever I say, 'She has drawn near,'

    but her words are not my words, nor her deeds my deeds.

  23. وكنتُ وَمَنْ أهْوَى وأنت جنيتها

    وعلى صِيْرِ أمْرٍ ما يُمرُّ ولا يُحْلي

    I and the one I love were—you brought this about—

    at the outcome of an affair neither bitter nor sweet.

  24. وواللهِ ما أنكرْتُ سَبْقَك للعلا

    ولكنّني حتى لحِقْتُ على رسْلِ

    By God, I never denied your lead toward the heights,

    but I moved at leisure until I caught up.

  25. حَنَانَيْكَ لا تُطْمِحْ مَطَالِبَ جَرْوَلِي

    فَنُشْقي بها أهلَ القُريّةِ من ذُهْلِ

    Have mercy! Do not send my Jarwal's demands soaring,

    lest we afflict the people of Dhuhl's little village with them.

  26. وماليَ من ذَنْبٍ إليكَ عَلْمتُهُ

    سوى رِقّةٍ تأتي على رأيِكَ الجزل

    I know of no offense of mine against you,

    save a tenderness that undermines your firm judgment.

  27. أعرنيَ قلباً مثلَ قلبكَ صابراً

    تجدْني إذا قلتَ البدارَ على رجْل

    Lend me a patient heart like your own:

    you will find me on my feet when you say, 'Make haste!'

  28. ودونك ما أحْبَبْتَ غَيْرِي وَغَيْرَهُ

    ولستُ على شيءٍ تُحِبُّ بِمُعْتَلِّ

    And take whatever you wish, apart from me and him;

    I will plead no excuses over anything you desire.

  29. فإن تأبَ إلى العَجْلَ حين مَلَكْتَهُ

    عليَّ فَقَدْ شَطّتْ حَنِيفَةُ عن عجل

    If you insist on haste, now that you wield it

    against me, Hanifa has indeed strayed far from Ijl.

  30. وإن تكُنِ الأُخْرَى وأنت مُهَاجِرٌ

    فما لكَ لا تَبْكي بِشَجْوٍ إلى الفَضْلِ

    And if it is the other course, and you are Muhajir,

    why do you not weep in sorrow to al-Fadl?

  31. لكَ اللهُ لا يَذْهَبْ بِكَ الغيظُ مَذهَباً

    يَرُوعُكَ بي بَينَ المطيَّةِ والرَّحْل

    God be with you: let not rage carry you down a path

    that alarms you on my account, between camel and saddle.

  32. وإن تَكُ أوْلى بالتَّمَاسُكِ والنُّهَى

    أكُنْ أنا أولى بالغوايَةِ والجهل

    And if you have the better claim to self-restraint and reason,

    I have the better claim to waywardness and folly.