1. كانَ شَفيقٌ لم يَزَل مُختَلي

    في الجِهَةِ اليُسرى من الهَيكَلِ

    Shafiq was still alone,

    on the left side of the sanctuary,

  2. مُفَكِّراً في حُبِّهِ المُقفَلِ

    يُسائِلُ القَلبَ فَلا يَنطِقُ

    pondering his locked-away love.

    He questioned his heart, but it did not speak;

  3. وَالقَلبُ سِرٌّ في الهَوى يَخفِقُ

    فَمذ رَأى فُلَّتَهُ الذاوِيَه

    and the heart is a secret throbbing in love.

    Then, when he saw his withering jasmine blossom—

  4. غَلواءَ ذاتَ الكبدِ الدامِيه

    باقِيَةً تَضرَعُ في الزاوِيَه

    Ghalwa, with her bleeding liver—

    still supplicating in the corner,

  5. قالَ أَفِق يا حُبُّ من هَجعِتك

    فَسيِّدُ الآلامِ في بيعَتِك

    he said: Awake, O Love, from your slumber;

    for the Lord of Sorrows, in your church,

  6. أَحبَّ حَتّى مريَمَ الزانِيَه

    ثُمَّ دَنا مِنها وَفي مُقلَتِه

    loved even Mary the harlot.

    Then he approached her, and in his eye

  7. دَمعٌ يَطوفُ الحُبُّ في مَوجَتِه

    كَحِطمَةٍ تُقذَفُ من مُهجَتِه

    were tears, with love circling in their wave,

    like a splinter hurled from his heart.

  8. فَاِنتَفَضَت غَلواءُ من ذُعرِها

    وَثارَت الأَنفاسُ في صَدرِها

    Ghalwa shuddered with fright,

    and her breaths surged within her breast,

  9. كَأَنَّها البُركانُ في ثَورَتِه

    فَقالَ عَفواءً هذِهِ أَدمُعي

    as though she were a volcano in eruption.

    He said spontaneously: These are my tears;

  10. تَشفَعُ يا غَلواءُ بي فَاِشفَعي

    قَطَرتُها من قَلبِيَ الموجِعِ

    they intercede for me, O Ghalwa; so intercede.

    I drew them, drop by drop, from my aching heart.

  11. تَحمِلُ موجاتِها من دَمي

    حَديثَ حُبٍّ لَم يَرِد من فَمِ

    Their waves bear, from my blood,

    a tale of love that never issued from a mouth,

  12. وَلم يَقَع مِن قَبلُ في مِسمَعِ

    أَمامَ هذا الهَيكَلِ الأَطهَرِ

    nor ever before fell upon an ear.

    Before this most pure sanctuary,

  13. أَمامَ عَينِ البائِسِ الأَكبَرِ

    أَمام شَمعِ المَعبَدِ الأَصفَرِ

    before the eye of the greatest sufferer,

    before the temple's yellow candles,

  14. وَهذِهِ الأَشِعَّةِ الذائِبَه

    من فِلذَةِ الغَزالَةِ الشاحِبَه

    and these melting rays

    from a sliver of the pallid sun,

  15. عَلى رُخامِ المَذبَح النَيِّر

    أَمام أَوجاعي أَمامَ الأَلَم

    upon the luminous altar's marble,

    before my agonies, before pain,

  16. أَمام هذا الضُعفِ هذا السَقَم

    وَهذِهِ العَينِ الَّتي لَم تَنَم

    before this weakness, this sickness,

    and this eye that has not slept,

  17. أَطرَحُ قَلبي لِلهَوى مجمَرَه

    فَغَمغَمَت غَلواءُ ما اكفَرَه

    I cast my heart down as a brazier for love.

    Ghalwa murmured: How impious it is!

  18. هذا الهَوى يَمضي وَيَأتي النَدَم

    وَحَدَّقَت حيناً إِلى المَغرَمِ

    This love passes, and remorse comes.

    She gazed a while at the enamored man,

  19. وَقَلبُها في صَدرها المظلِمِ

    يَمشي من الآلامِ في مَأتمِ

    and her heart, within her dark breast,

    walked, in anguish, in a funeral procession.

  20. ثمَّ أَمالَت عَينها الساهِيَه

    عن عَينه الكَئيبَة الباكِيَه

    Then she turned her distracted eye

    away from his sorrowful, weeping eye,

  21. وَاستَغرَقَت في حُلمٍ مُبهَمِ

    فَقالَ لا لا تُعرِضي فَالشَقا

    and sank into an obscure dream.

    He said: No, no—do not turn away, for misery

  22. أَرادَ يا غَلواءُ أَن أُخلَقا

    أَن أَعرِفَ الحُبَّ وَأَن اعشَقا

    willed, O Ghalwa, that I be created,

    that I should know love and fall in love.

  23. فَأَيُّ سِرٍّ في دُجاكِ استَتَر

    تُفشيهِ عَيناكِ لِهذي الصُوَر

    What secret, then, lies hidden in your darkness,

    which your eyes reveal to these images,

  24. وَعن فُؤادي لَم يَزَل مُغلَقا

    وَلَم يَكَد يَصمُتُ حَتّى سَجَد

    yet remains closed to my heart?

    Scarcely had he fallen silent when he bowed down.

  25. قُدسُ الهَوى ما ذَلَّ فيه أَحد

    كَأَنَّ في مُقلَتها هَيكَلَه

    Love's sanctuary—no one is abased within it.

    As though his sanctuary were in her eye,

  26. يَرى عَلَيهِ سَيِّدَ الجَلجَله

    يَفتَحُ لِلحُبِّ جِراحاً جُدَد

    he saw upon it the Lord of Golgotha,

    opening fresh wounds for love.

  27. وَقالَ غَلواءُ هنا مَعبَدي

    في صَدرِك المُنطَفىءِ الموقَدِ

    He said: Ghalwa, here is my temple,

    in your breast, extinguished yet kindled,

  28. وَعَينكِ الغَرقى بِبَحرِ الغَدِ

    وَصادَفَت مُقلَتُهُ المَذبحا

    and in your eye, drowned in the sea of tomorrow.

    And his eye came upon the altar,

  29. عَلَيهِ ذَيلٌ من شُعاعِ الضُحى

    وَصورَةَ العَذرا فَقالَ اِشهَدي

    upon which lay a train of morning radiance,

    and the Virgin's image; he said: Bear witness.

  30. قالَ اِشهَدي إِنَّ الهَوى يَشهَدُ

    يا صورَةً لِمَريَمٍ تُعبَدُ

    He said: Bear witness, for love bears witness,

    O worshipped image of Mary,

  31. يا مَوقِداً لِلحُبِّ لا يَحمَدُ

    الحُبُّ نيرانٌ تُنيرُ السَما

    O hearth of love that offers no praise,

    Love is fires that light the heavens,

  32. فَتُرسِلُ النورَ لنا كُلَّما

    حانَ مع اللَهِ لنا مَوعِدُ

    and send light to us whenever

    the time comes for our meeting with God.

  33. أَشِعَّةٌ من مُقلَةِ الخالِقِ

    تَذوبُ في الاِكبادِ من حالِقِ

    Rays from the Creator's eye

    melt into livers from on high,

  34. فَتَمزُجُ الخالِقَ بِالعاشِق

    وَاللَهُ ما أَبدَعَ قَلبَ البَشَر

    mingling the Creator with the lover.

    And God did not fashion the human heart

  35. حَتّى يَظَلَّ خامِداً كَالحَجَر

    فَالنارُ في عُنصُرِهِ الخافِق

    to remain inert as stone;

    for fire is in its beating substance.

  36. قالَ لَها قَلبُكِ ما أَفجَعَه

    أَلِلَّهَ ما أَقساهُ ما أَوجَعَه

    He said to her: Your heart—how grievous it is!

    O God, how cruel it is, how painful!

  37. تَكَلَّمي أَودُّ أَن أَسمَعَه

    أَوَدُّ أَن أَحني لَهُ أَضلُعي

    Speak; I long to hear it.

    I long to bend my ribs for it,

  38. قَوساً من الحُبِّ فَيَبقى مَعي

    ما بَقِيَ العُمرُ وَأَبقى مَعَه

    into an arch of love, so it may remain with me

    as long as life endures, and I remain with it.

  39. أَوَدُّ أَن أَفرُشَ عَينَيَّ لَه

    هذا دَمعي أَوَدُّ ان يَأكُلَه

    I long to spread out my eyes for it.

    Here are my tears; I long for it to devour them.

  40. إِنَّ الهَوى يَهوِّنُ الجَلجَلَه

    لَيسَ الهَوى يا أُختَ روحي سوى

    Indeed, love makes Golgotha easier to bear.

    Love, O sister of my soul, is nothing but

  41. قُربانَةِ الاِرواحِ لَيسَ الهَوى

    فَغَمغَمَت غلوا سوى مهزَلَه

    the souls' communion wafer; love is nothing—

    Ghalwa murmured: But a farce.

  42. وَغادَرتُهُ في اسمىً موغِلِ

    من مُشكِلٍ يُزَجى الى مُشكِلِ

    And she left him in deepening sorrow [reading uncertain],

    driven from one perplexity to another,

  43. كَمُدلِجٍ في لَيلِهِ الأَليَلِ

    فَقالَ هذا الحُبُّ من أَنزَلَه

    like a night-traveler in his darkest night.

    He said: This love—who sent it down?

  44. فَرَنَّ في مِسمَعِهِ المهزَلَه

    وَرَجَّعتَها قُبَّةُ الهَيكَلِ

    And “farce” rang in his ear,

    and the sanctuary's dome echoed it back.