قَضيتُ هَزيعَين من لَيلَتي

وَحيداً أُسامِرُ نَرجيلَتي

I spent two miserable nights

Alone, conversing with my hookah

وَكانون في خارِج الدار يَبكي

فَيشتدُّ فيهِ دجى الظُلمةِ

While the brazier wept outside the house

Intensifying the darkness

وَضَعتُ عَلى رُكبَتَيَّ حَراماً

وَصِرتُ أُنغِّمُ في فَرشَتي

I rested the pipe on my knees

And started humming on my bed

إِذا برياحٍ من البابِ هبَّت

وَأَطفَأَتِ النورَ من شَمعَتي

When suddenly winds blew from the door

And extinguished the light of my candle

فَلَمّا أَحاطَت بي الدامِساتُ

وَبطَّن أَسوَدُها حُجرَتي

When the darkness surrounded me

And its blackness filled my room

تَبسَّم ثَغرٌ لِنَرجيلَتي

كَعبدٍ تبسَّمَ في العَتمَة

A mouth smiled at my hookah

Like a slave who smiled in the dark

فَما كانَ أَجملَ من ثَغرِها

وَما كانَ أَعجَبَ مِن حيرَتي

And nothing was more beautiful than her mouth

And nothing more wondrous than my bewilderment

تَحفَّ بتنبكِها زرقةٌ

تُحاكي مراشِفَ نوريةِ

She was cloaked in a bluish hue

Resembling the pillows of light

وَلكِن رَاَيتُ بِها جاذِباً

يُحَرِّكُ في داخِلي صبوَتي

But I saw in her an alluring pull

That stirred my passion within

فَقَرَّبتُ من نارِها مرشفي

وَأَسمَعتُها تقسة القبلَةِ

So I brought my pipe closer to her flame

And heard the harshness of her kiss

وَلَو لَم يَكُن ثَغرها محرقاً

لكنتُ اِمتَصَصتُ من الجَمرَةِ

And had her mouth not been so scorching

I would have sipped from the embers

لِأَنّي لَم أَدرِ ماذا بِها

مِن العَذبِ يشبهُ محبوبَتي

Because I did not know what sweetness in her

Resembled my beloved

فَقُلتُ لَها إِنَّ بي لَوعَةً

وَأَطلَقتُ في جَوفِها زَفرَتي

I said to her that I was suffering

And let out my sigh into her depths

فَأَسمَعني صَدرُها زَفَراتٍ

أَثارَت شُجونِيَ في مُهجَتي

And her chest echoed sighs

That stirred sorrows in my soul

أَإِبنَةَ طهمازَ لَم تَزفري

نَ وَأَنتِ أَنيسيَ في وَحشَتي

Daughter of Taoma, why do you not sigh

As you are my companion in my solitude

رَأَيتُك رَمزاً لِكُلِّ شقِيٍّ

رَماه الهَوى في لظى الشَقوَةِ

I saw you as a symbol of every wretched one

Cast by love into the heat of misery

أَجابَت أَنا الآنَ في نِعمَةٍ

لِأَنَّ حَبيبيَ في نِعمَةِ

She replied, "I am now in bliss

Because my beloved is in bliss

وَلكِنَّني بَعد وَقتس قَصيرٍ

أُغادَرُ وَحدِيَ في خُلوَتي

But soon after a short while

I will be left alone in my solitude

فَيَبعدُ عَنِّيَ ثُغرُ مُحِبّي

وَيَسلو الَّذي كانَ مِن لَوعَتي

Then the mouth of my lover departs from me

And what assuaged my suffering is gone

لِذاكَ تَرانِيَ أَبكي زَماناً

سَأصبِحُ فيهِ بِلا زَهوَةِ

That is why you see me crying for ages

Where I will be in without allure

فَإِنَّ الهَوى صدقُه كاذِبٌ

يُشَبِّهُهُ العَقلُ بِالنِجمَةِ

For the truth of love is a liar

That reason compares to a star

فَلا يَقبل الفَجرُ حَتّى تَراها

أَمامَ عساكِرِهِ وَلَّتِ

So dawn does not come until you see it

In front of its retreating troops

وَإِذ ذاكَ راود جَفني النعاسُ

فَأَطيقَ أَنمُلُهُ مُقلَتي

And then slumber beguiled my eyelids

So that I could barely sustain my gaze

وَلَمّا اِستَتبتَّ الكَرى في جُفوني

شاهَتُ في الحُلمِ نَرجيلَتي

And when my eyes were covered in sleep

I dreamed of my hookah