إِذا ما تأَملْت القَوام المُهَفْهَفا

إِذا ما تأَملْت القَوام المُهَفْهَفا

تأَمّلت سيْفاً بين جَفنيْه مُرْهَفا

تأَمّلت سيْفاً بين جَفنيْه مُرْهَفا

Whenever I gaze upon the slender figure,

When I contemplate that swaying figure

I gaze upon a keen-edged sword between his eyelids.

I see a sword between its eyelids unsheathed

بُليتُ بقاسي القلب لا عَطْفَ عنده

بُليتُ بقاسي القلب لا عَطْفَ عنده

أَما شِيمةٌ للغصن أَن يتعطَّفا

أَما شِيمةٌ للغصن أَن يتعطَّفا

I am afflicted with one hard of heart, with no tenderness in him;

I'm weary of that stony heart, without tenderness

Is it not a branch's nature to bend?

Is it the branch's nature not to bend?

وذِي صلفٍ يُغْريه بالتّيه صَمْتُهُ

وذِي صلفٍ يُغْريه بالتّيه صَمْتُهُ

إِذا سُمْته ردَّ السلامِ تَكَلَّفا

إِذا سُمْته ردَّ السلامِ تَكَلَّفا

And with a haughty one whose silence spurs his conceit;

The impudent man is led by his aimless wandering

When I ask him to return a greeting, he forces himself to do so.

When called, he returns the greeting artificially

وَطَرْفٍ تجلّى عن سَقامي سَقامُه

وَطَرْفٍ تجلّى عن سَقامي سَقامُه

فهلاّ شفا مَنْ بات منه على شَفا

فهلاّ شفا مَنْ بات منه على شَفا

And with a gaze whose languor lifted, revealing my sickness;

An eye that turned from my pains, its own pains turned from it

Then why did it not heal one who spent the night on the brink because of it?

Why doesn't it cure one it kept awake at night?

أُحِبُّ اقتضاء الوَصْل من كلِّ هاجرٍ

أُحِبُّ اقتضاء الوَصْل من كلِّ هاجرٍ

وإِنْ مَطَلَ الدينَ الغريمُ وسَوّفا

وإِنْ مَطَلَ الدينَ الغريمُ وسَوّفا

I love to exact union from everyone who shuns me,

I like to demand union from every distant one

Even if the debtor delays paying the debt and keeps postponing.

Even if the foe delays and procrastinates

وأَقْنعُ من وعد الحبيب بخُلْفِهِ

وأَقْنعُ من وعد الحبيب بخُلْفِهِ

ومِنْ كَلَفي أَن أَسأَلَ الوعد مُخْلِفا

ومِنْ كَلَفي أَن أَسأَلَ الوعد مُخْلِفا

And I am content even with my beloved's broken promise;

I'm content with the promise of a lover though he breaks it

And such is my infatuation that I ask a promise of a promise-breaker.

And that I ask a promise which he'll break

وما زلتُ موقوفَ الغرامِ على هوىً

وما زلتُ موقوفَ الغرامِ على هوىً

يُجدّد لي من عهد ظَمْياء ما عَفا

يُجدّد لي من عهد ظَمْياء ما عَفا

And my passion has ever remained bound to a love

I'm still stopped in passion for a love

That renews for me what has faded of my days with Ẓamyāʾ.

That renews for me from a time of dearth what was plentiful

أَخا كَلَفٍ لا يرهَب الليل زائراً

أَخا كَلَفٍ لا يرهَب الليل زائراً

إِذا ضلّ نهجَ الحيّ عنه تعسّفا

إِذا ضلّ نهجَ الحيّ عنه تعسّفا

A man of passion, unafraid of night when visiting,

A weary brother whom night doesn't awe as a visitor

If he loses the path to the camp, he presses on unguided.

When the path of life has strayed far from him

أُودّعُ لُبّي ذاهلَ القلب مُغْرَماً

أُودّعُ لُبّي ذاهلَ القلب مُغْرَماً

وأُودِع قلبي فاتر الطّرْف أَهْيفا

وأُودِع قلبي فاتر الطّرْف أَهْيفا

I bid my reason farewell, distracted at heart and enamored,

I bid farewell to an absent-minded heart enamored

And entrust my heart to a slender-waisted one with a languid gaze.

And bid farewell to a languid eye and downcast

تَقَضّى الصِّبا إِلاّ تذكُّرَ ما مضى

تَقَضّى الصِّبا إِلاّ تذكُّرَ ما مضى

وإِلاّ سؤالاً عن زمانٍ تَسَلَّفا

وإِلاّ سؤالاً عن زمانٍ تَسَلَّفا

Youth has passed, save for remembering what is gone,

Youth is gone except remembering what is past

And save for asking after a time gone by,

And questions about a time long gone

وإِلاّ شباباً فلَّلَ الشيبُ حَدَّهُ

وإِلاّ شباباً فلَّلَ الشيبُ حَدَّهُ

إِذا ما هفا نحو التّصابي تَلَهَّفا

إِذا ما هفا نحو التّصابي تَلَهَّفا

And save for youth whose edge gray hair has blunted:

And a lost youth which gray hairs have bounded

Whenever it turns toward youthful play, it sighs in regret.

When it sways eagerly towards youthfulness

وعاد عليَّ الدهرُ فيما سخا به

وعاد عليَّ الدهرُ فيما سخا به

فنغّص ما أَعطى وكدَّر ما صَفا

فنغّص ما أَعطى وكدَّر ما صَفا

And time turned against me in what it had freely given,

Fate has turned against me in what it was generous with

So it spoiled what it gave and clouded what was clear.

It spoiled what it gave and muddied what was clear

على أَنني خلّفتُ خَلْفي نوائباً

على أَنني خلّفتُ خَلْفي نوائباً

كفانيَ مجدُ الدين منهنّ ما كفى

كفانيَ مجدُ الدين منهنّ ما كفى

Yet I have left calamities behind me:

But I have left behind calamities

Majd al-Din spared me what he spared of them.

The glory of my faith sufficed me against them