1. مُحب وَفى وَحَبيب غدر

    وَدَهر تَجافى وَحَرٌّ صَبر

    A lover was faithful, and a beloved betrayed.

    And time grew aloof, and a noble man endured.

  2. لَقَد أَبَدل الدَهر مِنكَ الوَفا

    بِالغَدر وَالغَدر لا يَغتفر

    Time has indeed replaced your faithfulness

    with betrayal—and betrayal is not forgiven.

  3. وَما الغَدر إِلّا وصال السوى

    وَلَو بِالتَبَسُم أَو بِالنَظَر

    And betrayal is nothing but union with another,

    even through a smile or a glance.

  4. وَلَيسَ الوَفاءُ مِن المُستَها

    م إِلّا إِلتِزام البُكا وَالسَهَر

    And faithfulness in one stricken by love is nothing

    but devotion to weeping and sleeplessness,

  5. وَإِن لا يُواصل غَير الحَنين

    وَإِن لا يُصاحب إِلّا الفكر

    even if he communes with nothing but longing,

    and even if he keeps company with nothing but thought.

  6. لَقَد كانَ لي في الضَنا وَالنَحول

    مَوعِظة فيكَ بَل مزدجر

    In sickness and wasting, I surely had

    an admonition concerning you—rather, a deterrent.

  7. رَقيب العِدا وَرَقيب العَفا

    ف وَبي حَر شَوق يُذيب الحَجَر

    The foes' watcher, and the guardian of chastity—

    and within me, the heat of longing melts stone.

  8. فَكَيفَ الخَلاص وَقَد سَقَ القَضا

    بِفَنائي وَأَينَ المَفَر

    How, then, can I escape, when fate has already decreed

    my destruction—and where is there refuge?

  9. وَمَن لي بِذاك وَلَو بِالرَدى

    وَلَكِنَّهُ لا بَرد القَدر

    And who will grant me that, even through death?

    Yet it cannot turn back fate.

  10. نَعم قَد أَمَل عَليَّ النسي

    م حَديث ملالك لَكن أَسَر

    Yes, the breeze has dictated to me

    the tale of your weariness, but confided it in secret.

  11. وَإِن وِدادَك لَم تَبق مِنهُ

    كَجسمي وَصَبري اللَيالي أَثَر

    And indeed, your affection has been left without a trace

    by the nights, like my body and my patience.

  12. وَقَد كانَ هَجرك لا يَختشى

    فَأَصبَح وَصلَك لا يَنتَظر

    Once, your desertion was not feared;

    now union with you is no longer awaited.

  13. نَأَيت بِقَلبك وَالود لا

    بِوَجهك عَني وَهَذا أَضَر

    You withdrew your heart and affection, not

    your face, from me—and that is worse.

  14. فَما أَنس القَلب ذِكرى جَفا

    ك إِلّا تَطاير مِنهُ الشَرَر

    Whenever the heart recalls your coldness,

    sparks fly from it.

  15. خَليليَّ بِاللَه لا تَعذلا

    فَقَد مَلَّ سَمعي حَديث البَشَر

    My two dear friends, by God, do not reproach me:

    my hearing has grown weary of human talk.

  16. وَقَد ملت الروح هَذا الهَوى

    وَاِنكُر طَرفي هَذي الصُوَر

    And the soul has wearied of this love,

    and my gaze has rejected these images:

  17. وَجوه بروقك فيها النَظَر

    وَلَكن يَسوك عَنها الخَبَر

    faces whose sight delights you,

    but reports of them distress you.

  18. رَأَيت الزَمان عَدو الكِرام

    لا يُبلغ الحَرّ فيهِ وَطَر

    I have seen time as the enemy of the noble:

    a noble man attains no desire within it.

  19. فَلَيتَ نَفسي عَن سلمهِ

    وَحارَبتُهُ وَرَكبت الخَطَر

    So would that my soul were far from peace with it,

    and I had fought it and ridden into danger.

  20. إِلى كَم تُطيل عِتاب الزَما

    ن وَطَبع الزَمان الجَفا وَالكَدر

    How long will you prolong your reproach of time,

    when time's nature is harshness and gloom?

  21. وَما زالَ يَسفح ماء الشُؤ

    ن بَينَ الخُطوب وَبَينَ العِبَر

    And it has never ceased pouring out the tear ducts' water,

    amid calamities and lessons.

  22. وَما زالَ صَرفاً إِذا شاءَ سا

    بلا علة وَإِن شاءَ سر

    And it has ever been capricious: if it wishes, it saddens,

    without cause; and if it wishes, it gladdens.