ألَمْ تَرَني أُدنِيتُ عمداً إِلى رَمْسي

ألَمْ تَرَني أُدنِيتُ عمداً إِلى رَمْسي

وأُلْبِستُ أثوابَ الضنا أيَّما لُبْسِ

وأُلْبِستُ أثوابَ الضنا أيَّما لُبْسِ

Have you not seen me deliberately brought close to my grave,

Did you not see me draw near on purpose to Ramla

and utterly clothed in the garments of wasting sickness?

And don the garments of distress, whatever the dress?

أروحُ كما أغدو كئيباً متيَّماً

أروحُ كما أغدو كئيباً متيَّماً

من الضُرِّ والبلوى وأُضحى كما أُمسي

من الضُرِّ والبلوى وأُضحى كما أُمسي

I go at evening as I go at morning, sorrowful and enslaved by love,

I go as I come, sad and yearning,

from suffering and affliction; I pass the forenoon as I pass the evening.

From harm and tribulation, and I become in the evening as I was in the morning.

أأعرضَ سُؤلي حين قيلَ هَجَوْتُه

أأعرضَ سُؤلي حين قيلَ هَجَوْتُه

فيا ليتَهُ يَرْضَى وأَهجو له نفسي

فيا ليتَهُ يَرْضَى وأَهجو له نفسي

Did my heart's desire turn away when it was said I had lampooned him?

Did you spurn my question when it was said I satirized you?

So, if only he would be pleased—and I would lampoon myself for his sake!

Oh, would that you be pleased, and I would satirize my own soul for you.

فكيف أعيبُ البدرُ من غيرِ علَّةٍ

فكيف أعيبُ البدرُ من غيرِ علَّةٍ

يُعابُ بها بل كيف أُزري على الشمس

يُعابُ بها بل كيف أُزري على الشمس

How, then, could I fault the full moon without a blemish

So how can I find fault with the full moon without cause?

for which it could be faulted? Rather, how could I disparage the sun?

With what could he be blamed? Nay, how could I be hostile to the sun?

أأهجو الذي لو كُلِّفَ الخُرسُ مَدْحَهُ

أأهجو الذي لو كُلِّفَ الخُرسُ مَدْحَهُ

لما عَجَزَتْ عن مَدْحِه أَلْسُنُ الخُرْس

لما عَجَزَتْ عن مَدْحِه أَلْسُنُ الخُرْس

Would I lampoon one whom, if the mute were charged with praising him,

Shall I satirize him whom if the mute were charged to praise,

the tongues of the mute would not fail to praise?

The tongues of the mute could not praise him enough?

عدوتُ إِذن في الحبِّ قدري وَجُزْتُ في

عدوتُ إِذن في الحبِّ قدري وَجُزْتُ في

هوائيه عن سُبْلِ البيانِ إلى اللَّبس

هوائيه عن سُبْلِ البيانِ إلى اللَّبس

I would then have overstepped my bounds in love and strayed, in

I am incapable, then, in love of my lot, and in my passion for him

my passion for him, from the paths of clarity into confusion.

I have swerved from the ways of eloquence into perplexity.

لقد فاق حُسْنَ الحور حُسنُ محمدٍ

لقد فاق حُسْنَ الحور حُسنُ محمدٍ

فما ظَنُّكمْ يا قومُ بالجنِّ والإِنس

فما ظَنُّكمْ يا قومُ بالجنِّ والإِنس

Indeed, Muhammad's beauty has surpassed the beauty of the houris;

The beauty of Muhammad surpassed the beauty of the houris,

what, then, do you think, O people, of the jinn and humankind?

So what think ye, O people, of the jinn and mankind?

لئن ظلَّ عندي من صدودكَ مأتمٌ

لئن ظلَّ عندي من صدودكَ مأتمٌ

لما زِلْتُ دهراً من وصالِكَ في عرس

لما زِلْتُ دهراً من وصالِكَ في عرس

Even if a mourning gathering has lingered with me because you turned away,

If estrangement from you has left for me a place of grief,

I have long remained at a wedding feast through union with you.

I would never for a day have desisted from union with you at a wedding feast.

تمنَّيتُ أني لا أعيشُ إلى غدٍ

تمنَّيتُ أني لا أعيشُ إلى غدٍ

حِذارَ الذي لاقيتُهُ منك بالأمس

حِذارَ الذي لاقيتُهُ منك بالأمس

I wished I would not live to see tomorrow,

I wished I did not live until tomorrow,

for fear of what I suffered from you yesterday.

For fear of that which I encountered from you yesterday.

بكى قلمي حُزْناً وكفّي كليهما

بكى قلمي حُزْناً وكفّي كليهما

لما كتبا حتى لقد أبكيا طِرْسي

لما كتبا حتى لقد أبكيا طِرْسي

My pen and my hand both wept in sorrow

My pen wept from sorrow, and both my hands,

when they wrote, until they made even my page weep.

When they wrote, until they made my pages bleed.