1. أمِنْها سرَى طيفٌ إليّ حَبيبُ

    وليسَ سوَى نجْم السّماءِ رَقيبُ

    Was it from her that a dear phantom came to me by night,

    with none but the star of heaven keeping watch?

  2. أتى وظلامُ الليلِ يَسْحَبُ ذَيْلَهُ

    وللبَرْقِ ثغْرٌ في دُجاهُ شَنيبُ

    It came while the darkness of night dragged its train,

    and lightning had a pearly-toothed mouth within its gloom.

  3. تطلّعَ خفّاقَ الجَناحِ كأنّهُ

    فؤادُ مُحِبٍّ قد جفاهُ حَبيبُ

    It rose into view, fluttering its wings, as though it were

    the heart of a lover whose beloved had forsaken him.

  4. وهيْهاتَ يشفِي القَلْبَ طيْفُ خَيالِها

    وقد علِمَتْ أنّ الخَيالَ كَذوبُ

    Yet her spectral image is far from healing the heart,

    and she knows that the apparition is deceitful.

  5. إذا قرُبَ الإصْباحُ غادرَ بعْدهُ

    فؤاديَ يَصْبو والدّموعَ تَصوبُ

    When dawn draws near, it leaves in its wake

    my heart yearning, and tears streaming down.

  6. أبان غرامي يومَ بانَ عنِ الحِمى

    وقد بانَ من فوْدِ الظلامِ مَشيبُ

    It revealed my passion the day it left the sanctuary,

    and gray hair had appeared at the temple of darkness.

  7. فأذهبَ صبْري والفؤادَ وسَلوَتي

    فلمْ يَبْقَ إلا مدْمَعٌ ونَحيبُ

    So it took away my patience, my heart, and my solace,

    and nothing remained but a tearful eye and sobbing.

  8. ألا في سبيل الحُبّ قلبٌ مُقلَّبٌ

    مَشوقٌ لتَذْكارِ العُهودِ طَروبُ

    Behold, in love's cause, a heart is tossed about,

    yearning, enraptured by the remembrance of bygone days.

  9. ألا إنها الذّكرى وإنْ بعُدَ الحِمى

    تُجدُّ لديّ الوجْدَ حينَ تَثوبُ

    Behold, it is remembrance, though the sanctuary lies far away,

    that renews my longing whenever it returns.

  10. وإنّ التي قد هِمْتُ وجْداً بحُسْنِها

    وبالقلبِ منها لوعَةٌ ووجيبُ

    And indeed, she whose beauty has driven me mad with longing,

    and from whom my heart feels burning anguish and throbbing,

  11. لَتُخْجِلُ بدْرَ الوجْدِ وهْوَ مُتمّمٌ

    وتُزْري بغصْنِ البانِ وهو رَطيبُ

    surely shames the moon of longing, though it is full,

    and puts the bough of the ban tree to shame, though it is supple.

  12. فلولاكِ يا أخْتَ الغزالَةِ لم أهِمْ

    ولا رابَ قلْبي من هواكِ مُريبُ

    So, but for you, O sister of the gazelle, I would not have loved madly,

    nor would any disquiet from loving you have troubled my heart.

  13. إذا ألَّمَ المشتاقَ وجْدٌ على النّوى

    فليْسَ سِوى ذِكْر الحبيبِ طبيبُ

    When longing afflicts the yearning lover amid separation,

    then no physician exists but remembrance of the beloved.

  14. وكمْ عائِدٍ زادَتْ عِيادتُهُ الأسى

    ولوْ عُدْتِ قرّتْ أعيُنٌ وقُلوبُ

    And many a visitor to the sick has deepened sorrow with his visit,

    yet if you visited, eyes and hearts would find comfort.

  15. فذِكْرُكِ حظّ النّفسِ في كلّ خَطرةٍ

    فيا لَيْتَ حظَّ العَينِ منكِ قريبُ

    For remembrance of you is the soul's share in every passing thought;

    oh, would that the eye's share of you were near!

  16. عَجبتُ لمِثلي كيْفَ أصبحَ بالحِمى

    يُنادي وما بالحَيِّ منكِ مُجيبُ

    I marveled how one like me came to be in the sanctuary,

    calling out, with no answer from you in the encampment.

  17. على أنّ لفْظي لؤْلؤٌ مُتناسِقٌ

    لَدى النّظمِ عذْبٌ للوُرودِ شَروبُ

    Although my words are pearls harmoniously strung,

    when composed in verse, a sweet draught for those who come to drink.

  18. إذا أعمَلَتْهُ في الطروس يَراعَتي

    يروق مديحٌ أو يَرِقُّ نَسيبُ

    When my reed pen employs them upon the pages,

    a panegyric delights, or love verse grows tender.

  19. نَسيبيَ ممْدودٌ ولكنْ قَصَرْتُهُ

    على مَن لَها البدْرُ المُنيرُ نَسيبُ

    My love poetry stretches far, yet I have confined it

    to her whose kinsman is the shining full moon.

  20. ومدْحي على منْ جادَ قبلَ سُؤالِه

    ومنْ أرْكَبَ الآمالَ وهْيَ رَكوبُ

    And my praise is for him who gave generously before being asked,

    and who set hopes riding, though they themselves are mounts.

  21. هو الملِكُ الأعْلى الهُمامُ الذي غَدا

    لدَيْهِ مجالُ العِز وهْو رَحيبُ

    He is the supreme king, the magnanimous one, who now

    has a spacious field of glory before him.

  22. فيَهْمي نَداهُ كلّما بَخِلَ الحَيا

    وإن مطَلَ الإصْباحُ عنه يَنوبُ

    So his bounty pours down whenever the rain grows miserly,

    and if dawn delays, he takes its place.

  23. فتُسْعَفُ قُصّادٌ وتُقْضى مآرِبٌ

    ويمْرَعُ من ربْعِ العُفاةِ جَديبُ

    Thus petitioners are aided, and wishes are fulfilled,

    and barren ground in the supplicants' abode grows lush.

  24. ينِمُّ من الأمْداحِ طيب ثنائِهِ

    فتنعَمُ أسْماعٌ به وقُلوبُ

    The fragrance of praise for him wafts from the panegyrics,

    and ears and hearts delight in it.

  25. أمَوْلايَ عُذْراً إنّ وصْفَكَ مُعجِزٌ

    ولوْ جاءَ بشّارٌ به وحَبيبُ

    O my lord, pardon me: you are beyond description,

    even if Bashshar and Habib were to bring it forth.

  26. ولكنني أرجوكَ في كلّ حالةٍ

    على أنّ منْ يرْجوكَ ليسَ يَخيبُ

    Yet I place my hope in you in every circumstance,

    for whoever puts his hope in you is not disappointed.

  27. فكلّ مَرامٍ أبْتَغيه مُبلَّغٌ

    وكلّ بَعيدٍ أرتَجيهِ قَريبُ

    So every aim I seek is attained,

    and everything far off that I hope for is near.