أَشابَ رَأسي قَبلَ أَترابي

أَشابَ رَأسي قَبلَ أَترابي

حُبّي لِمَن حُبّيهِ أَزرى بي

حُبّي لِمَن حُبّيهِ أَزرى بي

My head was grayed before my peers’

My hair turned gray before my peers

My head has turned to gray before my peers,

By my love for one—my love for him has brought me low.

My love for the one I love grew over the years

For love of one whose love has brought me low.

عَلِقتُ مِن حَيني وَمِن شِقوَتي

عَلِقتُ مِن حَيني وَمِن شِقوَتي

أَخا مُزاحٍ يَتَمَرّى بي

أَخا مُزاحٍ يَتَمَرّى بي

I fell in love, through my ill fate and my misery,

Since my youth and all its toil

Through doom and misery I became ensnared

With a jester who toys with me,

A joking brother playing with me

By a jester who makes mockery of me.

لابِسَ سيما قائِلٍ صادِقٍ

لابِسَ سيما قائِلٍ صادِقٍ

مَخبورُهُ مَخبورُ كَذّابِ

مَخبورُهُ مَخبورُ كَذّابِ

Wearing the guise of a truthful speaker;

Wearing the marks of honesty

He wears the aspect of a truthful man,

His tested character is that of a liar.

His knowledge comes from reading

But tested, proves a liar through and through.

تُخبِرُني عَن قَلبِهِ كُتبُهُ

تُخبِرُني عَن قَلبِهِ كُتبُهُ

إِنَّ بِهِ أَعظَمَ مِمّا بي

إِنَّ بِهِ أَعظَمَ مِمّا بي

His letters tell me of his heart:

He tells me of his heart through his writing

His letters bring me tidings of his heart,

That his passion is greater than mine,

That it holds more than mine could ever grasp

Claiming his passion far exceeds my own,

حَتّى كَأَنّي واجِدٌ حِسُّهُ

حَتّى كَأَنّي واجِدٌ حِسُّهُ

أَو مَسَّهُ مِن دونِ أَطرابي

أَو مَسَّهُ مِن دونِ أَطرابي

Until I seem to sense his presence

Until I feel I know his essence

Until I seem to feel his very sense,

Or his touch, apart from my own raptures.

Or touched him without my unease

Or touch him, closer than my closest friends.