أَبى القَلبُ إِلّا أُمَّ عَمروٍ وَما أَرى

أَبى القَلبُ إِلّا أُمَّ عَمروٍ وَما أَرى

نَواها وَإِن طالَ التَذَكُّرُ تُسعِفُ

نَواها وَإِن طالَ التَذَكُّرُ تُسعِفُ

My heart refuses all but Umm ʿAmr, yet I do not think

My heart craved only Umm ‘Amr, though I saw not

The heart refuses all but Umm Amr, though I see not her distance granting relief, no matter how long the memory.

her intent will favor me, however long remembrance lasts.

Her abode, however long my remembrance lingered hopefully.

The turns of time dragged on until she became estranged, for distance wears out the union, and so it weakens.

وَجَرَّت صُروفُ الدَهرِ حَتّى تَنكَّرَت

وَجَرَّت صُروفُ الدَهرِ حَتّى تَنكَّرَت

وَقَد يُخلِقُ النأَيُ الوِصالَ فَيَضعُفُ

وَقَد يُخلِقُ النأَيُ الوِصالَ فَيَضعُفُ

And time's vicissitudes dragged on until she grew estranged;

The vicissitudes of fate have flowed until they altered,

There was no hidden love reckoned like mine, nor an intimate companion to whom I was as close.

and distance may wear the bond of union thin, until it weakens.

And separation can create communion, which then grows weak.

One of the fair ones, seeking her does not console one's cares; is there a place for youth now that sorrow has prevailed?

وَقَد كُنتُ لا حُبٌّ كَحُبّيَ مُضمَرٌ

وَقَد كُنتُ لا حُبٌّ كَحُبّيَ مُضمَرٌ

يُعَدُّ وَلا إِلفٌ كَما كُنتُ آلَفُ

يُعَدُّ وَلا إِلفٌ كَما كُنتُ آلَفُ

And once no secret love like mine

Never was a secret love like my secret love,

Full-figured, as if her gown rests upon a shifting sand dune, yet slender is the waist her sash embraces.

could be reckoned, nor a beloved like the one I cherished

That could be counted, nor an intimacy like what I shared.

Smooth is her cheek where the tear flows; satisfied with her union is the most fastidious and demanding seeker.

مِنَ البيضِ لا يُسلي الهُمومَ طِلابُها

مِنَ البيضِ لا يُسلي الهُمومَ طِلابُها

فَهَل لِلصِّبا إِذ جاوَزَ الهَمَّ مَوقِفُ

فَهَل لِلصِّبا إِذ جاوَزَ الهَمَّ مَوقِفُ

among fair-skinned women; pursuing her does not soothe my cares.

Of the white ones, whose seekers sorrow comforts not,

It is as if her front teeth and the coolness of her gums, shortly after slumber, have strong wine flowing over them.

So has youthful passion any stopping-place once it has outstripped grief?

Can the ardent youth have, when care has outstripped him?

A chilled vintage, as if musk were mixed with its fragrance, enclosed within a dark, speckled wineskin.

رَداحٌ كأَنَّ المِرطَ مِنها بِرَملَةٍ

رَداحٌ كأَنَّ المِرطَ مِنها بِرَملَةٍ

هَيامٍ وَما ضَمَّ الوَشاحانِ أَهيَفُ

هَيامٍ وَما ضَمَّ الوَشاحانِ أَهيَفُ

Full-hipped, as though her mantle lay upon a sandhill,

A pasture it seems, as if the irrigation’s source therein

Diluted with the water of rain clouds in the shadow of a rock, shielded from debris by a fierce, cold wind.

loose and shifting; yet slender is the waist her two sashes clasp.

Were a sand-heap, and the pressed folds held nothing rich.

No dark-eyed doe with her fawn, appearing graceful at the bottom of a valley where the torrent winds,

أَسيلَةُ مَجرى الدَمعِ يَرضى بِوَصلِها

أَسيلَةُ مَجرى الدَمعِ يَرضى بِوَصلِها

مُطالِبُها ذو النيقَةِ المُتَطَرِّفُ

مُطالِبُها ذو النيقَةِ المُتَطَرِّفُ

Smooth-cheeked; content with her love

A torrent course for tears to flow, its seeker pleased

Is more beautiful than she was the day she stood, while her eye poured forth tears from the anguish of separation.

is her fastidious, novelty-seeking suitor.

With joining it, he of the softness and dangling tresses.

Many a night I traversed to meet Umm Amr, a journey the boldest night-traveler would dread.

كأَنَّ ثَناياها وَبَردَ لِثاتِها

كأَنَّ ثَناياها وَبَردَ لِثاتِها

بُعَيدَ الكَرى تَجري عَليهِنَّ قَرقَفُ

بُعَيدَ الكَرى تَجري عَليهِنَّ قَرقَفُ

As though over her front teeth and cool gums,

As though her trace and scent of departure were

With the sides of my shirt torn, looking like a polished, slender blade emerging from the scabbard's lining.

just after slumber, wine were flowing:

Far off perfumes drifting over them ceaselessly.

I stood fixed—while sleep was sweet in the eye of the sleeper—for your memory, while the enslaved lover is consumed.

شَمُولٌ كأَنَّ المِسكَ خالَطَ ريحَها

شَمُولٌ كأَنَّ المِسكَ خالَطَ ريحَها

وَضُمِّنَها جَونُ المناكِبِ أَكلَفُ

وَضُمِّنَها جَونُ المناكِبِ أَكلَفُ

a wine whose scent seems mingled with musk,

An embrace as if the musk were mixed with her breath,

and held in a dark-shouldered, dusky-brown wineskin.

And the slope of her shoulders gathered up languor.

تُشابُ بِماءِ المُزنِ في ظِلِّ صَخرَةٍ

تُشابُ بِماءِ المُزنِ في ظِلِّ صَخرَةٍ

تَقيها مِنَ الأَقذاءِ نَكباءُ حَرجَفُ

تَقيها مِنَ الأَقذاءِ نَكباءُ حَرجَفُ

It is mixed with rain-cloud water in a rock's shade,

She rivals rainwater in the shade of an overhang,

where a fierce, cold crosswind shields it from debris.

Sheltering her from the burning sun of midday’s heat.

وَما مُغزِلٌ أَدماءُ تُضحي أَنيقَةً

وَما مُغزِلٌ أَدماءُ تُضحي أَنيقَةً

بِأَسفَلَ وادٍ سَيلُهُ مُتَعَطِّفُ

بِأَسفَلَ وادٍ سَيلُهُ مُتَعَطِّفُ

Nor is a white doe with her fawn, lovely in the morning,

No spindle ever of maidens’ blood was sacrificed more fair

in the lower reaches of a valley whose floodwater winds,

In the depths of a valley whose torrent winds tortuously.

بِأَحسَنَ مِنها يَومَ قامَت وَعينُها

بِأَحسَنَ مِنها يَومَ قامَت وَعينُها

بِعَبرَتِها مِن لَوعَةِ البَينِ تَذرِفُ

بِعَبرَتِها مِن لَوعَةِ البَينِ تَذرِفُ

lovelier than she was the day she rose, while her eye

Fairer than she, that day she rose and her eye with

shed its tears from the burning anguish of parting.

Her tears of the anguish of separation flowed over.

وَلَيلٍ لألقى أُمَّ عَمروٍ سَرَيتُهُ

وَلَيلٍ لألقى أُمَّ عَمروٍ سَرَيتُهُ

يَهابُ سُراهُ المُدلِجُ المُتَعَسِّفُ

يَهابُ سُراهُ المُدلِجُ المُتَعَسِّفُ

And many a night I traversed to meet Umm ʿAmr,

And night, I met Umm ‘Amr’s tent, dreading

whose passage even the night-traveller crossing trackless ground fears.

Its main poles, and that arrogant, encroaching night.

وَمُنشَقِّ أَعطافِ القَميصِ كأَنَّهُ

وَمُنشَقِّ أَعطافِ القَميصِ كأَنَّهُ

صَقيلٌ بَدا مِن خِلَّةِ الجَفرِ مُرهَفُ

صَقيلٌ بَدا مِن خِلَّةِ الجَفرِ مُرهَفُ

And many a man with his shirt split at the sides, as though he were

The slit shoulder seams of her shirt seemed

a polished, keen-edged blade emerging through a slit in a leather case,

Polished metal gleaming from the slit of her collar.

نَصَبتُ وَقَد لَذَّ الرُقادُ بِعينِهِ

نَصَبتُ وَقَد لَذَّ الرُقادُ بِعينِهِ

لِذِكراكِ والحِبُّ المُتَيَّمُ يشعَفُ

لِذِكراكِ والحِبُّ المُتَيَّمُ يشعَفُ

I wearied, though sleep had grown sweet to his eye,

I kept vigil though sleep tempted his eye,

in remembrance of you; the love-enslaved lover is consumed by passion.

Remembering you, while sad love kindled debilitatingly.