1. تَضاعُفُ ما ألقاه غيرُ بديعِ

    ولي كَبِدٌ للبينِ ذاتُ صدوعِ

    The doubling of what I endure is nothing new;

    And I have a liver fissured by separation.

  2. سلامٌ على أُنسي وقلبي وراحتي

    وطيفِكمُ بعدَ النوى وهجوعي

    Farewell to my solace, my heart, and my repose,

    And to the phantom of you after separation, and my slumber—

  3. سلامٌ امرئٍ أمسى رهينَ صبابةٍ

    وشوقٍ إلى رؤايكمُ وولوعِ

    The farewell of a man become captive to longing,

    And to yearning to see you, and ardent attachment.

  4. قنوعٍ بما تُهدي الرياحُ وطالما

    تفيّأَ ظلَّ الوصلِ غيرَ قنوعِ

    Content with what the winds bestow—though often

    He sheltered in union's shade, never content.

  5. يَحِنُّ إذا ما شامَ ومضةَ بارقٍ

    على عَذّباتِ الأبرقَينِ لموعِ

    He yearns whenever he sights a flash of lightning,

    Gleaming over the crests of al-Abraqayn,

  6. حنينَ المطايا الهيمِ من بعدِ ظِمئها

    الى طيبِ وردٍ بالحِمى وشروعِ

    With the yearning of thirst-crazed mounts, after their thirst,

    For sweet watering in the protected pasture, and entry into the water.

  7. إِذا نكَّبتْ ماءَ العُذَيبِ فِإنَّهُ

    على ثقةٍ منها بماءِ دموعي

    If they turn aside from al-Udhayb's water, it is

    Because they trust the water of my tears.

  8. يوزَّعهُ البينُ المشتَّتُ ظالماً

    على جيرةٍ بالمنحنى وربوعِ

    Scattering separation unjustly parcels it out

    Among neighbors at the bend and among encampments.

  9. صَحِبْتُهمُ والعيشُ في عُنفوانِه

    شهيَّ المبادي والشبابُ شفيعي

    I kept their company while life was in its prime,

    Sweet in its beginnings, and youth was my intercessor,

  10. لياليَ لم يقدحْ زِنادَ فراقهم

    ضِرامُ الهوى العذريَّ بينَ ضلوعي

    On nights when the flints of parting from them were not struck

    By the blaze of chaste love between my ribs.

  11. متى شئتُ غازلتُ الغزالَ مُقرَّطا

    على غِرَّةِ الواشي وباتَ ضجيعي

    Whenever I wished, I wooed the gazelle adorned with earrings,

    Unbeknown to the tale-bearer, and he lay beside me all night,

  12. مُدِلاً بأبرادِ الشبابِ مباعداً

    بعزَّتها عن ذِلَّةٍ وخضوعِ

    Proud in the robes of youth, keeping far

    Through their glory from abasement and submission,

  13. إلى أن تبدَّتْ للمشيبِ أوائلٌ

    تشيرُ على غَيَّ الهوى بنزوعِ

    Until the first signs of gray hair appeared,

    Urging withdrawal from love's waywardness.

  14. تبدَّلتُ عن ليلِ الشبيبةِ مُكْرَهاً

    بصبحٍ مِنَ الشيبِ المُلِمَّ فظيعِ

    Against my will I exchanged youth's night

    For a dreadful dawn of encroaching gray hair.

  15. بدا طالعاً راعَ الشبابَ نهارُه

    ومَنْ لي به لو دامَ بعدَ طلوعِ

    It appeared, rising; its daylight frightened youth,

    And who could secure it for me, were it to endure after rising?

  16. سأبكي بِدّرَّ الدمعِ ماضي شبابِه

    فاِنْ لم يُفِدْ بكيَّتُه بنجيعِ

    I shall weep pearls of tears for its bygone youth;

    And if that avails nothing, I shall weep for it in blood—

  17. ربيعَ زمانِ العمرِ والوصلُ مكثِبٌ

    وناهيهما مِن نعمةٍ وربيعِ

    The springtime of life's span, with union close at hand:

    And what a blessing and a springtime those two were!

  18. فما ذُخِرَتْ تلكَ الدموعِ واِنْ غلتْ

    لغيرهما في حِنْدِسٍ وصديعِ

    For those tears, however precious, were not saved

    For anything but those two, in deep darkness and daybreak.

  19. ومما شجاني البرقُ يهتزُّ ناصعاً

    لموعاً كمطرورِ الغِرارِ صنيعِ

    And among what grieves me is lightning, quivering bright,

    Flashing like a finely wrought blade with a sharpened edge.

  20. فحتامَ بالبرقِ الحِجازيَّ مَوْهِناً

    وبالصبحِ لا أنفكُّ غيرَ مروعِ

    So how long shall Hijazi lightning late at night,

    And dawn, leave me no escape from fright?

  21. أُراعُ بنارَيْ بارقِ وصبابةٍ

    مقيلُهما مِن مزنةٍ وضلوعِ

    I am frightened by the two fires of lightning and longing;

    Their resting places are a raincloud and my ribs.

  22. وأرتاحُ أن هبَّ النسيمُ مُعنبَراً

    رقيقَ حواشي البُردِ بعدَ هزيعِ

    And I rejoice that the breeze has blown, scented with ambergris,

    Soft at the edges of its cloak, after a watch of the night,

  23. كأنَّ الصَّبا قد بشَّرتْني بأوبةٍ

    لِمَنْ بانَ عن روضِ الحمى ورجوعِ

    As though the east wind had brought me glad tidings of a homecoming

    And return for those who left the protected pasture's meadow.

  24. وهيهاتَ لا ظِلُّ الشبابِ وقد نأوا

    ظليلٌ ولا مرعى الهوى بِمَريعِ

    But alas! With them far away, youth's shade is no longer

    Sheltering, nor is love's pasture lush.

  25. وخَرْقٍ جزعنا بالمطيَّ سرابَهُ

    وما فوقَها للبينِ غيرُ جَزُوعِ

    And many a wilderness—we crossed its mirage on mounts,

    With none upon them but those distraught by parting.

  26. تجولُ مِنَ الضُّمرِ النسوعُ واِنَّنا

    لأنحفُ مِن جُدْلٍ لها ونسوعِ

    Girth-straps slip about on the lean mounts, and we

    Are indeed thinner than their twisted cords and girth-straps.

  27. عليها رجالُ الوجدِ لم تلقَ فيهمُ

    لفادحِ خطِب البينِ غيرُ قريعِ

    Upon them are men of longing; among them you found none

    But champions against the grievous calamity of parting.

  28. متى صُمَّ عن داعي الغرامِ عصابةٌ

    فما فيهمُ في الوجدِ غيرُ سميعِ

    If some band is ever deaf to love's call,

    Yet among these men, in longing, there are none but listeners.

  29. بكَوا في رسومٍ غيرَّتْها يدُ البِلى

    بدمعٍ على أطلالهنَّ هموعِ

    They wept amid traces altered by the hand of decay,

    With tears streaming down upon their ruins—

  30. بكاءَ مشوقٍ في الديارِ مُوَلَّهٍ

    سميعٍ لأحكامِ الفراقِ مطيعِ

    The weeping of a yearning man, distraught amid the dwellings,

    Heeding and obeying separation's decrees.

  31. أضاعَ عهودَ القومِ لمّا أذاعَها

    بدمعٍ لأسرارِ الغرامِ مذيعِ

    He betrayed the people's pledges when he divulged them,

    With tears revealing the secrets of passion.