1. بَدا مِن أَبي الفَضلِ الهَوى المُتَقادِمُ

    وَكُلُّ مَحِبٍّ داؤُهُ مُتَفاقِمُ

    Abu al-Fadl's long-standing love has come to light,

    and every lover's malady grows worse.

  2. بَكى الأَشقَرُ الشِهرِيُّ لَمّا بَدَت لَهُ

    سَرائِرُ تُبديها الهُمومُ اللَوازِمُ

    The chestnut Shihri horse wept when there appeared to him

    secrets that unrelenting cares lay bare.

  3. وَلَمّا رَآني طالَ بِالبابِ مَوقِفي

    أُسائِلُ عَن شَجوي مَتى هُوَ قادِمُ

    And when he saw me lingering long at the door,

    asking after my sorrow—when would it arrive?

  4. وَكُنتُ إِذا ما جِئتُ مَسَّحَ عُرفَهُ

    وَصائِفُ أَمثالُ الظِباءِ نَواعِمُ

    and whenever I came, his mane would be stroked

    by delicate maidservants, like gazelles—

  5. تَنَفَّسَ تَحتي وَاِستَهَلَّت دُموعُهُ

    وَحمحَمَ لَو تُغني هُناكَ حَماحِمُ

    he sighed beneath me, and his tears began to flow,

    and whinnied—if whinnies could avail there.

  6. فَوا كَبِدي مِن فَوزَ تَبكي صَبابَةً

    وَتَشكو إِلى أَترابِها ما نُكاتِمُ

    Ah, how my liver aches for Fawz, who weeps with longing

    and complains to her peers of what we conceal.

  7. وَقَد كُنتُ لَمّا آذَنَتني بِبَينِها

    وَمَرَّت بِذاكَ البارِحاتُ الأَشائِمُ

    And I, when she told me of her departure

    and with that the ill-omened birds passed,

  8. تَزَوَّدتُ مِنها بَعضَ ما فيهِ ريحُها

    وَزَوَّدتُها وَالقَلبُ حَرّانُ هائِمُ

    took from her, as provision, something bearing her scent,

    and gave her a keepsake, my heart burning and distraught.

  9. فَلي عِندَها بُردٌ تُسَكِّنُ قَلبَها

    بِهِ وَلَها عِندي حِقابٌ وَخاتَمُ

    With her is a mantle of mine; she soothes her heart

    with it, while I have a girdle and ring of hers.

  10. مِنَ القاصِراتِ الطَرفِ أَمّا وِشاحُها

    فَيَبكي وَأَمّا الحِجلُ مِنها فَصائِمُ

    She is among those who restrain their gaze; as for her sash,

    it weeps, while her anklet fasts.

  11. إِذا ما اِستَقَلَّت لِلقِيامِ تَكَفَّأَت

    وَأَسعَدَها حَتّى تَقومَ الخَوادِمُ

    Whenever she rises to stand, she sways,

    and the maidservants help her until she stands.

  12. وَوَاللَهِ ما شَبَّهتُ بِالوَردِ عَهدَها

    إِذا ما اِنقَضى فيما تَقومُ الأَعاجِمُ

    And by God, I have not likened her pledge to the rose

    when it fades, in the non-Arabs' reckoning;

  13. وَلَكِنَّني شَبَّهتُهُ الآسَ وَإِنَمّا

    يُلائِمُ وُدّي شَكلُها المُتَلائِمُ

    but I likened it to myrtle, and only

    her harmonious form accords with my love.

  14. وَإِنّي لَذو عَينَينِ عَينٍ شَجِيَّةٍ

    وَعَينٍ تَراها دَمعُها الدَهرَ ساجِمُ

    And I indeed have two eyes: one grief-stricken,

    and one whose tears you see forever streaming.

  15. أُعَذِّبُ عَيني بِالبُكاءِ كَأَنَّني

    عَدُوٌّ لَعَيني جاهِداً لا أُسالِمُ

    I torment my eyes with weeping, as though I were

    an enemy to my eyes, striving hard and making no peace.

  16. فَطوبى لِمَن أَغفى مِنَ اللَيلِ ساعَةً

    وَذاقَ اِغتِماضاً إِنَّ ذاكَ لَناعِمُ

    Blessed is whoever dozes for an hour of the night

    and tastes sleep—such a one is truly at ease.

  17. عَجِبتُ لِطَرفي خاصَمَ القَلبَ في الهَوى

    وَذو العَرشِ بَينَ القَلبِ وَالطَرفِ حاكِمُ

    I marvelled at my gaze: it disputed with the heart over love,

    and the Lord of the Throne judges between heart and gaze.

  18. إِذا اِختَصَما كانَ الرَسولَ إِلَيهِما

    لِسانٌ عَنِ الجِسمِ النَحيفِ مُراجِمُ

    When the two dispute, the messenger to them is

    a tongue arguing on behalf of the wasted body.

  19. وَلَو نَطَقَت شَكوى الهَوى كُلُّ شَعرَةٍ

    عَلى جَسَدي مِمّا تُجِنُّ الحَيازِمُ

    And if love's complaint were voiced by every hair

    on my body, from what my breast conceals,

  20. لَظَلَّت تَشَكّى البَثَّ لَم تُخطِ كُنهَهُ

    فَقَد مَلَأَت صَدري البَلايا العَظائِمُ

    each would keep lamenting anguish, never missing its true depth;

    for immense calamities have filled my breast.

  21. يَبيتُ ضَجيعي في المَنامِ خَيالُها

    وَمِن دونِها غُبرُ الصُوى وَالمَخارِمُ

    Her image is my bedfellow through the night in dreams,

    though between us lie dust-grey waymarks and mountain passes.

  22. تَجَهَّمتُ فَوزاً في المَنامِ فَأَعرَضَت

    وَإِنّي عَلى ما كانَ مِنّي لَنادِمُ

    I scowled at Fawz in a dream, and she turned away;

    and I am truly remorseful for what I did.

  23. إِذا كانَ في الأَحلامِ ما يَشتَهي الفَتى

    فَوَاللَهِ ما الأَحلامُ إِلّا غَنائِمُ

    If dreams contain what a young man desires,

    then, by God, dreams are nothing but spoils.

  24. إِذا اِستَقبَلَتني الريحُ مِن نَحوِ أَرضِها

    تَنَشَّقتُها حَتّى تَرِقَّ الخَياشِمُ

    When the wind meets me from the direction of her land,

    I inhale it until my nostrils grow tender.

  25. فَإِنَّكِ لَو جَرَّبتِ تَسهيدَ لَيلَةٍ

    لَقُلتِ أَلا طوبى لِمَن هُوَ نائِمُ

    For if you experienced a single night of sleeplessness,

    you would say, 'Ah, blessed is whoever is asleep!'

  26. وَلَولاكِ لَم آتِ الحِجازَ وَأَهلَها

    وَلَم تَزوِ عَنّي بِالعِراقِ الكَرائِمُ

    Were it not for you, I would not have come to the Hijaz and its people,

    nor would the noble women in Iraq have turned away from me.

  27. يَطولُ عَلَينا عَدُّ ما كانَ مِنكُمُ

    لَعَمرُ أَبي إِنّي بِذاكَ لَعالِمُ

    It would take us long to count all you have done;

    by my father's life, I know that well.

  28. تَحَمَّل عَظيمَ الذَنبِ مِمَّن تَحِبُّهُ

    وَإِن كُنتَ مَظلوماً فَقُل أَنا ظالِمُ

    Bear great wrongdoing from the one you love,

    and if you are wronged, say, 'I am the wrongdoer.'

  29. فَإِنَّكَ إِلّا تَغفِرِ الذَنبَ في الهَوى

    يُفارِقكَ مَن تَهوى وَأَنفُكَ راغِمُ

    For unless you forgive wrongdoing in love,

    the one you love will leave you, your nose humbled in the dust.