1. تَحجبت يا ناظِري

    عَن الناظر الساهر

    You have veiled yourself, O my eye,

    from the sleepless eye;

  2. فَما غَبت عَن خاطِري

    بِبَعدك عَن ناظِري

    yet you have not vanished from my thoughts,

    despite your distance from my sight.

  3. بِصورك الشَوق لي

    عَلى البُعد كَالحاضر

    Through your likenesses, longing brings you to me,

    despite the distance, as though present.

  4. وَيَسبقني بِالقِيا

    م قَلبيَ بَل سائِري

    And in rising I am outstripped

    by my heart—indeed, by all of me.

  5. لَقَد حارَ سَقمي عَلى

    ضَعيف بِلا ناصر

    My sickness has grown bewildered over

    a weakling with no helper;

  6. وَعلمهُ الفَتك لي

    شَبا طَرفك الساحر

    and it was taught to ravage me

    by the sharpness of your bewitching glance.

  7. فَلم يَبقَ غَير الغَلي

    ل وَالمَدمَع الماطر

    So nothing remains but burning thirst

    and the eye that rains tears,

  8. وَغَير صَفير الزَفي

    ر في عَظمِيَ الناخر

    and the whistling of sighs

    in my decaying bones.

  9. وَعلمت نَومي الصُدود

    بِصَدك يا هاجِري

    You taught my sleep to shun me

    by shunning me, O my forsaker;

  10. فَما مَرَ لي خاطِراً

    بِجفن وَلا خاطر

    so it never flits

    across my eyelid or my mind.

  11. أَضفت اِعتِكار الهُموم

    إِلى لَيلي العاكر

    You added the gathering gloom of cares

    to my murky night.

  12. تَرى قَبل مَوتي أَرا

    ك يا هاجِري زائِري

    I wonder: before I die, shall I see

    you, my forsaker, visiting me?

  13. وَيا عَذّلي في الهَوى

    أَما لِيَ مِن عاذر

    And O you who reproach me for love,

    is there none to excuse me?

  14. وَيا لَيل هَجر الحَبيب

    أَما لَك مِن آخر

    And O night of the beloved's desertion,

    have you no end?

  15. وَواحربي يا ظَلو

    م مِن حُكمك الجائر

    And alas, my anguish, O cruel one,

    at your unjust judgment!

  16. بِحَق السقام الصَحيح

    في جفنك الفاتر

    By the true sickness

    in your languid eyelid,

  17. وَبِالوَرد في وَجنَتي

    ك يا فتنة الناظر

    and by the roses on the two cheeks

    of yours, O enchantment of the beholder,

  18. أَحيني مِما يَفيك

    مِن قرقف عاطر

    revive me with what suffices you

    of fragrant wine—

  19. أَقَلَّ إِذا ما بَخلت

    مِن نَغمة الطائر

    even less, if you begrudge it,

    than a bird's note.

  20. وَإِن شئت فاسفك دَمي

    وَلا تَخشَ مِن واتر

    And if you wish, spill my blood,

    and fear no avenger.

  21. يا عابِثاً بِدَم المُتَيم

    أَتَرى يَحل لَكَ المحرم

    O you who toy with the lovesick one's blood,

    do you think the forbidden is lawful for you?

  22. لا تَخشَ مِن حَرج فَفي

    دين المَحبة لَستُ تَأثم

    Fear no guilt, for in

    the religion of love you commit no sin.

  23. يا مُعرِضاً عَني بِغي

    ر جِناية وَاللَهُ يَعلم

    O you who turn away from me without

    any offense of mine—and God knows it—

  24. يا لابِساً حُلَلَ الجَما

    ل الفَرد وَالحُسن المُتَمم

    O wearer of the robes of beauty,

    peerless, and of perfected loveliness;

  25. يا مَلبسي ثَوب الضَنا

    وَالدَمع يَرقمهُ بِعَندَم

    O you who clothe me in the robe of wasting sickness,

    while tears embroider it in crimson;

  26. يا مَن تَضيءُ لَهُ الدِيا

    جر أَن تَبسم أَو تَكلم

    O you for whom the darkness lights up

    when you smile or speak;

  27. ما بال أَيّامي بِهَجرك

    مِن ظَلام اللَيل أَظلَم

    why are my days, through your desertion,

    darker than the darkness of night?

  28. أَنا يا رَفيق الوَجنَتين

    رَقيق عارضك المُنمنم

    I, O you of gentle cheeks,

    am a slave to your finely adorned cheek.

  29. لِمَ لا يرق فُؤادَهُ القاسي

    لِمدنفِهِ وَيَرحَم

    Why does his hard heart not soften

    toward his lovesick one, and show mercy?

  30. يا مَن يَكاد مِن اللَطا

    فة جِسمَهُ بِاللَحظ يَتهم

    O you whose body, from such delicacy,

    is almost doubted by the gaze,

  31. وَتَكاد تُدمى وَجَنتا

    هُ لِكَونِها بِالوَهم تَلثَم

    and whose two cheeks almost bleed

    from being kissed in imagination;

  32. رِفقاً بِعان فيك مَن

    جَمر الصَبابة قَد تَجسم

    be gentle with one captive to you, in whom

    the embers of longing have taken flesh.

  33. يا مَن بِفَن السحر

    مُقلَته مِن الملكين أَعلَم

    O you whose eye, in the art of magic,

    knows more than the two angels,

  34. أَتراك تَدري أَن

    نَظمي فيكَ سحر لا يَحرم

    do you, I wonder, know that

    my verse about you is magic not forbidden?

  35. يا نافذ الأَحكام في

    كُل الجَوارح مُذ تَحكم

    O you whose decrees prevail in

    all the limbs since you took command,

  36. يا آمري إِن أَكتُم ال

    حُب المُبين وَلَيسَ بِكَتم

    O you who command me to conceal

    the love made plain, which cannot be hidden,

  37. قَد خالفتَكَ مَدامِعي

    وَيَعزُّ ذاكَ عَلَيَّ فَاِعلَم

    my tearful eyes have indeed disobeyed you,

    and that pains me—know this.

  38. أَبدَت بِرَغمي ما أَمَر

    ت بِكتمِهِ وَالدَمع تَرجَم

    Against my will, they revealed what you commanded

    to be concealed; the tears gave it voice.

  39. فَالرَأي عِندي أَن يَمُرّ

    بِها الغُموض وَلَو تَلوم

    So my counsel is that sleep should pass

    over them, even if you reproach me.

  40. وَمُرِ الخَيال بِأَن يُعا

    تبها وَيُؤلمها وَيَألَم

    And command the dream-image to reproach

    them, to hurt them, and to feel pain,

  41. وَيَقول قَد خَضلت ذُيو

    لي في طَريقي مِنكَ بِالدَم

    and say, 'My skirts have been soaked

    with blood on my way from you.

  42. مَن زارَ صَبّاً دونَهُ ال

    أَخطار وَالأَهوال يَندَم

    Whoever visits a lovesick man, with

    dangers and terrors barring the way, regrets it.'

  43. فَعَسى تَخف دُموعَها

    وَيَعود أَمر الملك مُحكَم

    Then perhaps their tears will lessen,

    and the king's command be firm again.

  44. يا فاتِكاً بِمحبهِ

    إِن الأَعادي مِنكَ أَرحَم

    O you who slay your lover,

    indeed, enemies are more merciful than you.

  45. جَرعتهُ كَأس الرَدى

    ظُلماً فَماتَ وَما تَظلم

    You made him drink the cup of death

    unjustly; he died, yet you do no wrong.

  46. صاحَ الغَرام بِروحِهِ

    هَيا فَاسلمها وَسلَم

    Passion cried out for his soul:

    'Come!'—so he surrendered it and yielded.

  47. ما كانَ أَول مَن قَتل

    ت يَعيش قاتِلُهُ وَيَسلَم

    He was not the first of those you killed

    whose killer lives and goes unharmed.