لهُ في الحشا مثواهُ يمسكُ ذاته

لهُ في الحشا مثواهُ يمسكُ ذاته

إذا سال من لين المعاطف قدّهُ

إذا سال من لين المعاطف قدّهُ

His dwelling in my heart holds his very being,

In the wilderness lies his abode, his being he withholds

when his figure flows from the suppleness of his limbs.

When smooth covers make his neck yield

يسرى خدّه بالخال كأس مُدمة

يسرى خدّه بالخال كأس مُدمة

حلتهُ ختام المسك مسك يمدُه

حلتهُ ختام المسك مسك يمدُه

The left side of his cheek, with its mole, is a cup of wine;

His cheek is graced by a beauty mark like a cup of wine

it adorned him with a seal of musk; musk sustains him.

His garb is sealed by the musk's scent, the musk it exhales

ولم لم يكن مسكا لما كان ريّهُ

ولم لم يكن مسكا لما كان ريّهُ

غزالا وفي سُود اللّواحظ هنده

غزالا وفي سُود اللّواحظ هنده

And why was he not musk, when his appearance was

Why would it not be musk when his guide is fragrance?

that of a gazelle, with his Hind in his dark glances?

A gazelle, and in the black of eyes there lies its India

ترى هل به الأيّامُ تسمح ليلة

ترى هل به الأيّامُ تسمح ليلة

وحظّي بعد النّحس يسعدُ جدّه

وحظّي بعد النّحس يسعدُ جدّه

I wonder, will the days grant a night with him,

Do you see if days with him a night they’d bless?

and my fortune, after ill luck, have its luck turn fair?

And after ill-fate, my luck makes his granddad glad

أدير يد النهى حجازا لخصره

أدير يد النهى حجازا لخصره

فيعطف لي غورُ الحجاز ونجدُه

فيعطف لي غورُ الحجاز ونجدُه

I wind the hand of reason as a girdle around his waist,

Let the hand of prohibition wrap his waist as a barrier

so the Hijaz's lowlands and uplands bend toward me.

So the Hijaz's gorge will incline towards me and guide me to it

إذا لاح صبحٌ من ثناياهُ يهتدي

إذا لاح صبحٌ من ثناياهُ يهتدي

بها في الدُّجى السّاري وفي الصّبح حمده

بها في الدُّجى السّاري وفي الصّبح حمده

When dawn gleams from his front teeth, they guide

When dawn peeks out from his folds, I find guidance

the night-traveler through darkness; at dawn he praises him.

Through it in the dark night and in the morn I praise it

لقد ضلّ رُشد النّوم فيه وما اهتدى

لقد ضلّ رُشد النّوم فيه وما اهتدى

بشيبه من لم يبلغ الحلم رُشدُهُ

بشيبه من لم يبلغ الحلم رُشدُهُ

Sleep's good sense has indeed strayed over him; nor was guidance found

Surely sleep's sanity strayed in him and did not find guidance

in his gray hair by one whose judgment had not reached maturity.

By his gray hair when sanity did not reach his mind’s maturity

إذا مال غصن مُرسلٌ من فروعه

إذا مال غصن مُرسلٌ من فروعه

فليلى به في المرسلات أعدُّهُ

فليلى به في المرسلات أعدُّهُ

If an unbound branch from his tresses bends,

When a loose branch from his boughs inclines

then I count my night, through it, among the sent-forth ones.

Layla counts it among her missives as most precious

عجبت لوقد النار من برد ثغره

عجبت لوقد النار من برد ثغره

أيُجمع ضدّ في محلّ وضدُّهُ

أيُجمع ضدّ في محلّ وضدُّهُ

I marveled at fire blazing from the coolness of his mouth.

I'm amazed that fire kindles from the cold of his mouth

Can an opposite and its opposite be joined in one place?

How can an opposite gather in a place with its opposite?

ثنى سلوتي حتّى فنيت فإن يكن

ثنى سلوتي حتّى فنيت فإن يكن

من الجوهر الثّاني فإني فردُهُ

من الجوهر الثّاني فإني فردُهُ

He thwarted my solace until I vanished; so if he is

I doubled my night talk until I was spent, so if it happens

of secondary substance, then I am its individual instance.

To be from the second essence, then I am its sole exemplar

فجسمي كمعنى دقّ عن ذهن ناقد

فجسمي كمعنى دقّ عن ذهن ناقد

وإن كان ذهن الترجمان ونقدهُ

وإن كان ذهن الترجمان ونقدهُ

So my body is like a meaning too subtle for a critic's mind,

Thus my being is like a meaning refined in the mind of a critic

even if it be the interpreter's mind and his critical judgment.

Even if the translator's mind and his appraisal fathom it