دعني وبأسي قد قنعتُ بياسي

دعني وبأسي قد قنعتُ بياسي

لا تَثْنِ راسي لستَ تملكْ راسي

لا تَثْنِ راسي لستَ تملكْ راسي

Leave me with my distress; I have accepted my despair.

Leave me be, for I'm content with my sorrow

Do not bend my head; you do not control my head.

Do not make me bow my head, you cannot make my head bow

مالي ولابن الحاضريِّ يبيحني

مالي ولابن الحاضريِّ يبيحني

سَهَري ويحميني لذيذَ نعاسي

سَهَري ويحميني لذيذَ نعاسي

What have I to do with Ibn al-Ḥāḍirī, who allows me

I care not for the son of al-Hadhri, who vilifies me

my sleeplessness but denies me my sweet drowsiness?

My wakefulness guards me, the sweetness of my slumber

هيهات ألبسُ حُلَّةَ الوسواسِ إِذ

هيهات ألبسُ حُلَّةَ الوسواسِ إِذ

ألقيتُ عنِّي حلَّةَ الوسواس

ألقيتُ عنِّي حلَّةَ الوسواس

Far be it from me to wear the robe of obsessive worry, when

Alas! Shall I wear the garb of obsession when

I have cast the robe of obsessive worry off myself.

I have cast off the garb of obsession

لمَ أَصطفي قَذَراً من الأقذار بل

لمَ أَصطفي قَذَراً من الأقذار بل

لمَ أرتضي رجساً من الأرجاس

لمَ أرتضي رجساً من الأرجاس

Why should I choose a filthy thing among filthy things? Rather,

Why would I choose the foulest of the foul, rather

why should I accept a foul thing among foul things?

I would not accept any filth from filths

أتراه خاطَ ولن يخيطَ م استِهِ

أتراه خاطَ ولن يخيطَ م استِهِ

ما كان مزَّقَ أيرُ حبّ الآس

ما كان مزَّقَ أيرُ حبّ الآس

Do you think he has sewn up—and he never will—the part of his anus

Does he think he sewed while he did not sew his tear

that Ḥabb al-Ās's cock had torn?

That which was torn by the cloth of love and intimacy

لما أتى الحمّامَ بين ثيابِهِ

لما أتى الحمّامَ بين ثيابِهِ

خوطٌ كخوطِ البانةِ الميَّاس

خوطٌ كخوطِ البانةِ الميَّاس

When he came to the bathhouse, amid his clothes

When the dove came among its clothes

was a shoot like the bān tree's swaying shoot.

With lines like the lines of the embroideress's awl

ألقى القميصَ فقال ذاك لنفسه

ألقى القميصَ فقال ذاك لنفسه

هذا المدادُ لذلك الأنقاس

هذا المدادُ لذلك الأنقاس

He cast off his shirt, and that one said to himself:

It cast off its shirt and said to itself

"This ink is for that ink.

This ink for that tattoo

إِن كان بالكافور طافَ قياسُه

إِن كان بالكافور طافَ قياسُه

فأنا الذي بالمسكِ طاف قياسي

فأنا الذي بالمسكِ طاف قياسي

If his comparison has revolved around camphor,

If its measurement circulated with camphor

then I am the one whose comparison has revolved around musk."

Then I am the one whose measurement circulated with musk

وبدا يفوِّقُ سَهمَهُ حتى إذا

وبدا يفوِّقُ سَهمَهُ حتى إذا

خلاَّه أَنفذَ رُقْعَةَ البُرْجاس

خلاَّه أَنفذَ رُقْعَةَ البُرْجاس

And he began nocking his arrow, until, when

And it began to bend its arrow until when

he loosed it, he pierced the patch on the target.

It emptied it, it patched its hole

مترادفَ الحركاتِ ممتدَّ المطا

مترادفَ الحركاتِ ممتدَّ المطا

من فوقه متحافز الأنفاس

من فوقه متحافز الأنفاس

With movements following one another, his back stretched out,

Flowing in its motions, outstretched in its course

on top of him, his breaths coming in hurried bursts.

Panting from above it, breaths racing

تتعاورُ الأقداسُ منه هامةً

تتعاورُ الأقداسُ منه هامةً

هي في صلابتها من الأقداس

هي في صلابتها من الأقداس

Buckets take turns battering his head,

The spirits vie in passionate zeal for it

which is as hard as the buckets themselves.

In their firmness, they are of the spirits

والناسُ في تخليصِ بينهما فقلْ

والناسُ في تخليصِ بينهما فقلْ

ما أسهلَ التخليصَ بين الناس

ما أسهلَ التخليصَ بين الناس

And people were trying to separate the two; so say:

And the people are engaged in freeing between them, so say

"How easy it is to separate people!"

How easy is freeing between people!

لصقا فلم ينقذَّ ذا من ذا ولو

لصقا فلم ينقذَّ ذا من ذا ولو

قدُّوه بالمنشار أو بالفاس

قدُّوه بالمنشار أو بالفاس

They stuck fast; this one would not come free of that one, even if

Stuck together, this one did not save that one, even if

they cut him through with a saw or an axe.

They stretched it with a saw or an axe

حتى إذا عادت قساوةُ أيرِهِ

حتى إذا عادت قساوةُ أيرِهِ

ليناً ورُبَّتما يلينُ القاسي

ليناً ورُبَّتما يلينُ القاسي

Until, when the hardness of his cock had turned

Until when the hardness of its cloth returned

to softness—and sometimes the hard grows soft—

Soft and supple, for the harsh may soften

خلاَّهُ كالحبلى لتسعةِ أشهرٍ

خلاَّهُ كالحبلى لتسعةِ أشهرٍ

لكنه حبَلٌ بغير نفاس

لكنه حبَلٌ بغير نفاس

he left him like a woman nine months pregnant;

It emptied it like a pregnant woman after nine months

but it was a pregnancy without childbirth.

But it was pregnant with something other than childbirth