ألم تَرني أبحتُ حَريمَ مالي

ألم تَرني أبحتُ حَريمَ مالي

مباحَ الهَجْرِ محظورَ الوِصَالِ

مباحَ الهَجْرِ محظورَ الوِصَالِ

Have you not seen me throw open the sacred reserve of my wealth?

Have you not seen me lay open the sanctuary of my wealth,

Abandonment is allowed, but union forbidden.

Open to abandonment, yet barred from union?

هواهُ أقرَّ بالمكروهِ عيني

هواهُ أقرَّ بالمكروهِ عيني

وعلَّمني التعلُّلَ بالمحالِ

وعلَّمني التعلُّلَ بالمحالِ

Love of him has made my eye accept what it loathes,

My love for him has gladdened my eyes with what I loathe,

and self-consolation with the impossible has soothed me.

And taught me to seek solace in the impossible.

وغادرَ نشوةً في أمِّ رأسي

وغادرَ نشوةً في أمِّ رأسي

فلستُ أُفيقُ غابرةَ الليالي

فلستُ أُفيقُ غابرةَ الليالي

It left my intoxication lodged in the very crown of my head,

And left a drunken rapture in the core of my head,

so I shall not sober through all the nights to come.

So I shall not sober up through all the nights to come.

أُسَرُّ بأن يبيتَ بخيرِ حالٍ

أُسَرُّ بأن يبيتَ بخيرِ حالٍ

ولو أني أبِيتُ بشرِّ حالِ

ولو أني أبِيتُ بشرِّ حالِ

I rejoice that he should pass the night in comfort,

I rejoice that he spends the night in the best of states,

even if I pass the night in the worst condition.

Even if I spend the night in the worst of states.

وأعذرُه على غَضَبِ التَّجَنّي

وأعذرُه على غَضَبِ التَّجَنّي

وأشكُره لهجرانِ الدلالِ

وأشكُره لهجرانِ الدلالِ

I excuse him for the anger of his capricious cruelty,

And I excuse him for his anger born of groundless blame,

and thank him for the desertion born of coyness.

And I thank him for his coy abandonment.

وتُعجبُنِي المواعدُ كاذباتٍ

وتُعجبُنِي المواعدُ كاذباتٍ

لتردادي إليه على المِطالِ

لتردادي إليه على المِطالِ

Even false promises delight me,

And promises delight me, false though they are,

for they keep me returning to him despite his long delays.

Because I keep returning to him despite his stalling.