قالوا تَعَشَّقتَها عَمياءَ قُلتُ لَهُم

قالوا تَعَشَّقتَها عَمياءَ قُلتُ لَهُم

ما شانَها ذاكَ في عَيني وَلا قَدَحا

ما شانَها ذاكَ في عَيني وَلا قَدَحا

They said, “You fell in love with her, though she is blind.” I said to them:

They said you've fallen blindly in love with her

That neither marred her in my eyes nor diminished her.

I said to them, what's it to do with her eyes and finding fault?

بَل زادَ وَجدِيَ فيها أَنَّها أَبَداً

بَل زادَ وَجدِيَ فيها أَنَّها أَبَداً

لا تُبصِرُ الشَيبَ في فودي إِذا وَضَحا

لا تُبصِرُ الشَيبَ في فودي إِذا وَضَحا

Rather, my passion for her has grown because she never

Rather, my passion for her grew because she'll never

sees the gray hair at my temples when it shows.

See the gray hair in my hairline as it becomes exposed

إِن يَجرَحِ السَيفُ مَسلولاً فَلا عَجَبٌ

إِن يَجرَحِ السَيفُ مَسلولاً فَلا عَجَبٌ

وَإِنَّما عَجَبي مِن مُغمَدٍ جَرَحا

وَإِنَّما عَجَبي مِن مُغمَدٍ جَرَحا

If a sword wounds when drawn, there is no wonder;

It's no wonder if an unsheathed sword wounds

but I marvel only at a sheathed one that has wounded.

What amazes me is a sheath that wounds

كَأَنَّما هِيَ بُستانٌ خَلَوتُ بِهِ

كَأَنَّما هِيَ بُستانٌ خَلَوتُ بِهِ

وَنامَ ناظِرُهُ سَكرانَ قَد طَفَحا

وَنامَ ناظِرُهُ سَكرانَ قَد طَفَحا

As though she were a garden where I was alone,

It's as if she were a garden I was alone in

and its keeper lay asleep, drunk beyond measure.

And its keeper slept drunk once overflowing

تَفَتَّحَ الوَردُ فيهِ مِن كَمائِمِهِ

تَفَتَّحَ الوَردُ فيهِ مِن كَمائِمِهِ

وَالنَرجِسُ الغَضُّ فيهِ بَعدُ ما اِنفَتَحا

وَالنَرجِسُ الغَضُّ فيهِ بَعدُ ما اِنفَتَحا

The roses within it have unfurled from their bud sheaths,

The roses bloomed from their buds there

while the tender narcissus within it has not yet opened.

And the soft narcissus after it had just bloomed