جَدَّ الضَنا وَيَد الأَشواق تَلعَب بي

جَدَّ الضَنا وَيَد الأَشواق تَلعَب بي

وَذبت مِن شدة الأَحزان وَالكَرب

وَذبت مِن شدة الأَحزان وَالكَرب

Wasting sickness has grown fierce, and the hand of longing toys with me.

The affliction has become severe and the hands of longing play with me

And I have melted away from the intensity of sorrow and anguish.

I am wasted from intense sorrows and distress

وَغبت عَني مِن الأَوصاب وَالأَلَم

وَغبت عَني مِن الأَوصاب وَالأَلَم

وَعَن تَذكر مِن أَهواهُ لَم أَغب

وَعَن تَذكر مِن أَهواهُ لَم أَغب

And sickness and pain have made me lose awareness of myself,

And I became absent from companions and pain

Yet I have never ceased remembering the one I love.

Yet I did not become absent from remembering my beloved

تَفديك نَفسي وَقلَّ ذاكا

تَفديك نَفسي وَقلَّ ذاكا

يا مَن تَحرّى لي الهَلاكا

يا مَن تَحرّى لي الهَلاكا

May my soul ransom you—and even that is little.

May my soul ransom you, yet that is little

O you who have sought my destruction!

O you who plotted my demise

يا مَن جَفاني بِلا ذَنب وَلا سَبب

يا مَن جَفاني بِلا ذَنب وَلا سَبب

إِلّا لَما نَقل الواشي مِن الكذب

إِلّا لَما نَقل الواشي مِن الكذب

O you who have shunned me without fault or cause,

O you who abandoned me without sin or cause

Except for the lies the slanderer relayed.

Except for what the slanderer conveyed of lies

بَلغت منيَ بِالأَعراض يا سَكَني

بَلغت منيَ بِالأَعراض يا سَكَني

ما لَو جَناهُ عَدوّي كانَ يَرحَمُني

ما لَو جَناهُ عَدوّي كانَ يَرحَمُني

By turning away, O my solace, you have inflicted on me

You have scorned me, O my bliss

What even my enemy, had he done it, would pity me for.

In ways that even if my enemy had done them, he would have pitied me

إِن كانَ يُرضيك يا مَولايَ سَفك دَمي

إِن كانَ يُرضيك يا مَولايَ سَفك دَمي

فَاِفعَل فَغَير الَّذي تَهواهُ يُؤلِمُني

فَاِفعَل فَغَير الَّذي تَهواهُ يُؤلِمُني

If spilling my blood pleases you, O my master,

If shedding my blood pleases you my master

Then do it, for anything other than what you desire pains me.

Then do it, for anything else you desire pains me

أَحرَقَني الوَجد وَالغَليل

أَحرَقَني الوَجد وَالغَليل

أَغرَقَني المَدمَع الهَمول

أَغرَقَني المَدمَع الهَمول

Passionate longing and burning thirst have scorched me.

Passion and anguish have incinerated me

Copiously flowing tears have drowned me.

Copious tears have drowned me

فَإِنظُر إِلى قَلب صب صيغَ مِن لَهَب

فَإِنظُر إِلى قَلب صب صيغَ مِن لَهَب

يَضمُهُ جَسَد قَد صيغَ مِن وَصَب

يَضمُهُ جَسَد قَد صيغَ مِن وَصَب

Then look upon a lover's heart, fashioned from flame,

So look upon a heart forged from flames

A body fashioned from sickness encloses it.

Held in a body forged from embers

أَرفق بِقَلبي قَليلاً تُعذبهُ

أَرفق بِقَلبي قَليلاً تُعذبهُ

وَكَم عَلى الجَمر يا سؤلي تَقلبهُ

وَكَم عَلى الجَمر يا سؤلي تَقلبهُ

Be a little gentle with my heart; you torment it.

Have a little mercy on my heart that you torture

And how often, O my heart's desire, you turn it over on the embers!

And how much upon embers, O my torment, you toss it

أَمَرت بِالسُهد أَجفاني فَلم أَنَم

أَمَرت بِالسُهد أَجفاني فَلم أَنَم

وَملَني النجم مِما بِتُ أَرقبهُ

وَملَني النجم مِما بِتُ أَرقبهُ

You commanded my eyelids to be sleepless, so I did not sleep.

You commanded my eyelids to sleep but I did not sleep

And the star grew weary of me for watching it through the night.

The stars tired me with how I watched them

أَسهر لَيلي في حُب راقد

أَسهر لَيلي في حُب راقد

حَتّى كَأَني للنجم راصد

حَتّى كَأَني للنجم راصد

I pass my night awake, in love with one who sleeps,

I stay up all night in the love of one sleeping

Until I seem a watcher of the star.

As if I were an observer of the stars

تَرتاح مِن سَهَري ظُلماً وَمِن تَعَبي

تَرتاح مِن سَهَري ظُلماً وَمِن تَعَبي

فَصارَ عِندي الكَرى ضَرباً مِن الريب

فَصارَ عِندي الكَرى ضَرباً مِن الريب

You unjustly find comfort in my sleeplessness and my weariness,

You rest from my sleeplessness and my toil

So sleep has become, for me, a kind of uncertainty.

So suspicion has become a kind of doubt to me

يا بَد تَمٍّ جَلا لي ظُلمة السدف

يا بَد تَمٍّ جَلا لي ظُلمة السدف

يا مَن تَنَزَه عَن نَقص وَعَن كَلَف

يا مَن تَنَزَه عَن نَقص وَعَن كَلَف

O full moon that dispelled for me the darkness of night,

O perfect excellence that the darkness of the tent has revealed to me

O you free from imperfection and dark blemishes,

O you who are above any deficiency or burden

أَفي قَضاياك يا خَصمي وَيا حُكمي

أَفي قَضاياك يا خَصمي وَيا حُكمي

بِإِن حُبك يَفضي بي إِلى التَلَف

بِإِن حُبك يَفضي بي إِلى التَلَف

Is it among your decrees, O my adversary and my judge,

In your judgments, O my adversary and my judge

That loving you should lead me to ruin?

Is it that your love leads me to ruin?

بِما بِعَطفيكَ مِن دَلال

بِما بِعَطفيكَ مِن دَلال

وَما بحديكَ مِن صِقال

وَما بحديكَ مِن صِقال

By the coquettish grace in your flanks,

With your charm

And by the gleam upon your cheeks,

And your beauty's polish

رُحماكَ قَد أَشرَفَت نَفسي عَلى العَطب

رُحماكَ قَد أَشرَفَت نَفسي عَلى العَطب

أَلَيسَ إِحيائُها مِن أَقرَب القُرب

أَلَيسَ إِحيائُها مِن أَقرَب القُرب

Have mercy! My soul has reached the brink of ruin.

May your mercy lift up my soul from malady

Is not reviving it among the deeds that bring one closest to God?

Is not reviving it one of the greatest acts of kindness?

كانَّ قَلبيَ لَم يَخلق وَلَم يَكُن

كانَّ قَلبيَ لَم يَخلق وَلَم يَكُن

إِلّا لِوَقع سِهام الأَعيُن الوَسَن

إِلّا لِوَقع سِهام الأَعيُن الوَسَن

As though my heart had not been created, nor ever existed,

My heart was not created nor did it exist

Except to receive the impact of arrows from drowsy eyes.

Except to be struck by arrows from beautiful eyes

فَخَلِّ يا عاذِلي نَصحي وَلا تَلُم

فَخَلِّ يا عاذِلي نَصحي وَلا تَلُم

فَلَيسَ يَسلُك سَهم اللَوم في أَذني

فَلَيسَ يَسلُك سَهم اللَوم في أَذني

So cease advising me, O my reprover, and do not blame me,

So excuse my advice, O my reproacher, and do not blame

For the arrow of reproach does not enter my ear.

For the arrow of blame does not pass through my ear

وَجانب اللَوم وَالخِصاما

وَجانب اللَوم وَالخِصاما

وَخَلِّ أَحشايَ وَالسِهاما

وَخَلِّ أَحشايَ وَالسِهاما

And shun reproach and quarrelling,

And avoid blame and contention

And leave my vitals to the arrows.

And leave my insides and the arrows

وَأَنتَ يا قاتِلي بِالصَد وَالغَضَب

وَأَنتَ يا قاتِلي بِالصَد وَالغَضَب

عِش سالِماً مِن رَسيس الحُب يا بأَبي

عِش سالِماً مِن رَسيس الحُب يا بأَبي

And you, O you who kill me with rejection and anger,

While you, my slayer with coldness and anger

Live safe from love's lingering traces, O you whom I would ransom with my father.

Live in peace from the head of love, O my father