رجونا قطع هجرك بالوصال

رجونا قطع هجرك بالوصال

فأخرجك الدلال إلى الملال

فأخرجك الدلال إلى الملال

We hoped to end your estrangement through union.

We hoped your estrangement would end with reunion

But coyness led you into weariness.

But the guide led you to boredom instead

وهب نسيم عاذلك المعنى

وهب نسيم عاذلك المعنى

فمال وغصن قدك في الميال

فمال وغصن قدك في الميال

And the breeze of your tormented reprover blew;

A reproaching breeze blew your meaning away

So it swayed, while your figure's bough was among the swaying boughs.

So you leaned, and your slender body swayed

رحلت إلى الصبا فنزلت منه

رحلت إلى الصبا فنزلت منه

بمجتمع المحاسن والجمال

بمجتمع المحاسن والجمال

You journeyed into youth and alighted within it

You traveled to the breeze, and made it your abode

At the meeting-place of charms and beauty.

The gathering-place of beauty and grace untold

فجودي قبل رحلته وعودي

فجودي قبل رحلته وعودي

فقاطنه سريع الانتقال

فقاطنه سريع الانتقال

So be generous before its departure, and return;

So be generous before you travel, and promise

For its dweller is quick to move on.

The one who is quick to move and change residence

وهذا الورد يذبل في خدود

وهذا الورد يذبل في خدود

تناهى مثل شعشعة الذبال

تناهى مثل شعشعة الذبال

And this rose withers upon cheeks,

These roses wilt on cheeks

Having reached its height like the gleam of lamp-wicks.

That have withered like the shaking of tree branches

وما ظل الشباب وإن تمادت

وما ظل الشباب وإن تمادت

لياليه بمأمون الزوال

لياليه بمأمون الزوال

Nor is youth's shade, however long

The days of youth, however long their nights

Its nights may last, safe from vanishing.

Are not immune from decline and loss

عذرتك في جفائك لي فإني

عذرتك في جفائك لي فإني

رأيت الغدر من خلق الليالي

رأيت الغدر من خلق الليالي

I excused you for your coldness toward me, for I

I pardoned your coldness to me, for I saw

Saw treachery as part of the nature of nights.

Treachery was the making of nights

طرقن بشيب رأسي منك طرقاً

طرقن بشيب رأسي منك طرقاً

كأن قذاء لحظك من قذالي

كأن قذاء لحظك من قذالي

They struck my head with gray hair, a blow on your account,

You knocked white hairs into my head

As though the mote in your glance came from the back of my head.

As if the glances of your eyes were my grays

يقلقلني سواد في فؤادي

يقلقلني سواد في فؤادي

فبالي من سواد الهم بالي

فبالي من سواد الهم بالي

A darkness in my heart unsettles me;

A blackness troubles my heart

So my mind is worn by the darkness of sorrow.

So my mind is distressed by the gloom of cares

ولو حمل الزمان ثقيل همي

ولو حمل الزمان ثقيل همي

على متنيه ضج من الكلال

على متنيه ضج من الكلال

And were Time to bear the weight of my grief

If my heavy sorrow rode upon time's back

Upon its back, it would cry out from exhaustion.

It would groan under the burden and halt

وكم لي في بنيه من خليل

وكم لي في بنيه من خليل

يراودني بعين الاحتيال

يراودني بعين الاحتيال

And many a friend I have among its sons,

How many friends I have among its sons

Who courts me with a scheming eye.

Who beguile me with deceitful eyes

أهيب إلى الوفاء به فيأبى

أهيب إلى الوفاء به فيأبى

ويعدل عن طريق الاعتدال

ويعدل عن طريق الاعتدال

I call upon him for loyalty, but he refuses,

I urge them to be faithful, but they refuse

And turns aside from the path of uprightness.

And turn away from the path of moderation

صبرت عليه محتملاً إلى أن

صبرت عليه محتملاً إلى أن

تعلم حسن صبري واحتمالي

تعلم حسن صبري واحتمالي

I bore with him, enduring, until

I was patient with them, enduring, until

He learned the worth of my patience and endurance.

They knew my excellent patience and endurance

وقلت له أرحها من مراح

وقلت له أرحها من مراح

يؤول به السمين إلى الهزال

يؤول به السمين إلى الهزال

And I told him: give her relief from a pen

And I said to them, "Set it free from ties

Where the fat dwindle into leanness.

That would make the fat one gaunt and frail"

وأمطيها وأنشطها فإنا

وأمطيها وأنشطها فإنا

مللنا من عقال واعتقال

مللنا من عقال واعتقال

And I mount her and untether her, for we

Urge it along and rouse it, for we

Are weary of hobbles and confinement.

Are weary of halter and withholding

أبارك في مباركها بياتاً

أبارك في مباركها بياتاً

تبيت عراصه ملقى الرحال

تبيت عراصه ملقى الرحال

I encamp overnight in her kneeling-grounds;

I bless its blessings in lodgings

By night his courtyards are a place for laying down saddles.

Where it spends nights with luggage strewn

ومن عمر عمارة كل ظن

ومن عمر عمارة كل ظن

خراب ألحقته كل تال

خراب ألحقته كل تال

And from 'Umar comes the rebuilding of every hope

Of a lifetime whose every thought

To which each succeeding turn has brought ruin.

Was ruin that each successor brought

ومن لم يغن ملجؤه فإني

ومن لم يغن ملجؤه فإني

إلى عمر بن لاجين مآلي

إلى عمر بن لاجين مآلي

And whoever is not enriched by his refuge—as for me,

He whose refuge did not enrich him—

My final resort is 'Umar ibn Lajin.

To Omar ibn Al-Farid my course is set!