تملَّكتموا عقلي وطرفي ومسمَعي

تملَّكتموا عقلي وطرفي ومسمَعي

وروحي وأحشائي وكلي بأجمعي

وروحي وأحشائي وكلي بأجمعي

You have possessed my mind, my sight, and my hearing,

You have taken possession of my mind, my gaze, and my hearing,

My spirit, my innermost being—my whole self, all of me.

And my soul, my entrails, and my whole self, entirely.

وتيّهتُموني في بديع جمالِكُم

وتيّهتُموني في بديع جمالِكُم

ولم أدر في مجر الهوى أينَ موضعي

ولم أدر في مجر الهوى أينَ موضعي

You left me bewildered in your wondrous beauty,

And you have left me lost in your wondrous beauty,

And I knew not where I stood in love’s flowing course.

And I did not know where I stood in the course of love.

وأوصَيتُموني لا أبوح بسرِّكُم

وأوصَيتُموني لا أبوح بسرِّكُم

فباحَ بما أخفي تفيضُ أدمعي

فباحَ بما أخفي تفيضُ أدمعي

You charged me not to disclose your secret,

And you instructed me not to divulge your secret,

But my streaming tears divulged what I concealed.

Then my overflowing tears revealed what I conceal.

ولمّا فنى صبري وقلَّ تجلُّدي

ولمّا فنى صبري وقلَّ تجلُّدي

وفارَقتني نومي وحُرِّمَت مضجعي

وفارَقتني نومي وحُرِّمَت مضجعي

And when my patience was spent and my endurance grew frail,

And when my patience was spent and my fortitude waned,

Sleep forsook me, and my bed was forbidden me.

And my sleep forsook me, and my bed was forbidden to me,

أتَيت لقاضي الحبِّ قُلتُ أحبِّتي

أتَيت لقاضي الحبِّ قُلتُ أحبِّتي

جفوني وقالوا أنت في الحبِّ مدّعي

جفوني وقالوا أنت في الحبِّ مدّعي

I went before love’s judge and said, “My beloved

I came to the judge of love and said: My beloveds

Have shunned me, and they say: ‘You are but a pretender in love.’”

Have shunned me and said, “You are a pretender in love.”

وعندي شهودٌ للصَبابةِ والأسا

وعندي شهودٌ للصَبابةِ والأسا

يزكّونَ ذعوايَ إذا جئتُ أدعي

يزكّونَ ذعوايَ إذا جئتُ أدعي

Yet I have witnesses to my passion and sorrow

And I have witnesses to my ardent longing and sorrow,

Who attest my claim whenever I come to plead:

Who attest to my claim when I come to plead:

سهادي ووجدي واكتئابي ولوعتي

سهادي ووجدي واكتئابي ولوعتي

وشوقي وسقمي واصفراري وأدمعي

وشوقي وسقمي واصفراري وأدمعي

My sleeplessness, my ecstasy, my grief, and my anguish,

My sleeplessness, my passion, my dejection, my burning anguish,

My yearning, my sickness, my pallor, and my tears.

And my longing, my sickness, my pallor, and my tears.

ومن عجبٍ أني أحنُّ إليهِم

ومن عجبٍ أني أحنُّ إليهِم

واسألُ شوقاً عنهم وهمُ معي

واسألُ شوقاً عنهم وهمُ معي

How strange that I yearn for them

And it is a wonder that I yearn for them,

And, longing, ask about them while they are with me;

And I ask about them out of longing, though they are with me.

وتبكيهُم عيني وهم في سوادِها

وتبكيهُم عيني وهم في سوادِها

ويشكو النوى قلبي وهم بين أضلُعي

ويشكو النوى قلبي وهم بين أضلُعي

My eye weeps for them while they dwell in its dark pupil,

And my eye weeps for them, though they are in its black pupil,

And my heart laments their distance while they are within my ribs.

And my heart laments separation, though they are between my ribs.

فإن طلبوني في حقوقِ هواهُم

فإن طلبوني في حقوقِ هواهُم

فإني فقيرٌ لا عليَّ ولا معي

فإني فقيرٌ لا عليَّ ولا معي

If they demand of me what their love is owed,

Then if they demand from me the dues of their love,

I am a pauper, with nothing upon me and nothing in my possession.

I am poor: I owe nothing and have nothing.

وإن سجنوني في سجونِ جفاهُم

وإن سجنوني في سجونِ جفاهُم

دخَلتُ عليهم بالشفيعِ المُشَفَّعِ

دخَلتُ عليهم بالشفيعِ المُشَفَّعِ

And if they imprison me in the prisons of their estrangement,

And if they imprison me in the prisons of their estrangement,

I enter their presence with the intercessor whose plea is granted.

I will enter their presence with the intercessor whose intercession is accepted.