1. عَفا اللَهُ عَن أَحباب قَلبي فَإِنَّني

    لبعدهُم قَد عفت ما ذقت مِن صبرِ

    May God pardon my heart's beloveds, for I

    have come to loathe, in their absence, the patience I have tasted.

  2. أَنا المفردُ المَهجور لما تَخلَّقوا

    خَلائِقَ أَهلِ الكسر للقلب لا الجبرِ

    I am the solitary, forsaken one, since they have adopted

    the ways of those who break the heart, not mend it.

  3. هَنيئاً لَهُم قَتلي وصفوُ مودّتي

    فَإِنَّهم الأَحبابُ في العسر واليسرِ

    May my slaying and the purity of my affection bring them joy,

    for they are the beloveds in hardship and ease.

  4. وَإِن كنتُ ممّن لا تضيعُ دماؤهم

    فَوَ الشَفعِ إِنّي قَد عفوت عَن الوترِ

    And though I am among those whose blood does not go unavenged,

    yet, by the even, I have forgiven the wrong.

  5. وَقالوا تبدَّل من هواهم بغيرهم

    فَقلت لَهُم هَل ينطفي الجمرُ بِالجَمرِ

    And they said, "Turn from loving them to loving others."

    So I said to them, "Can embers be extinguished with embers?"

  6. لئن مالَ إِنساني لرؤية غيرهم

    فَوَالعصر إِنّي بَعدَ ذا الصبر في خسرِ

    If my eye's pupil should turn to look at others,

    then, by Time, after this patience I am indeed in loss.

  7. وَإِنّي لأَرجو أَن تسامحني النوى

    بِوَصلهمُ من قبل أَن يَنقَضي عمري

    And I do hope that separation will show me mercy

    by reuniting me with them before my life ends.

  8. وَأَغيد من إِشراق خدّيه قَد بَدا

    دَليلٌ بأنّ الخدّ يَروي عَن الزهري

    And a graceful youth—from his cheeks' radiance there has appeared

    proof that the cheek narrates on al-Zuhri's authority.

  9. وَمذ لاح في الخدّ اِخَضرارُ عذاره

    تواتر عِندي ما رَواه عَن الخضرِ

    And since the greening of his cheek-down appeared upon his cheek,

    what it narrated from al-Khidr has become widely attested to me.

  10. وَيا طال ما أَغنى محيّاهُ عَن شَذا

    رياض وَأَلوان من الراح والزهرِ

    And oh, how often his face has spared me the need for the fragrance of

    gardens, and the hues of wine and flowers.

  11. فخدّاه تفاحي وَعَيناه نرجسي

    وعارضُه مسكي وريقتُه خمري

    For his cheeks are my apples, and his eyes my narcissi,

    and his cheek-down is my musk, and his saliva my wine.

  12. وَليلةَ بتنا وَالرَقيب بمعزلٍ

    وَلَم أَرَ مِن ناهٍ يُحاول عن أَمري

    And on a night we spent together, with the watcher far away,

    I saw no one forbidding me, seeking to turn me from my purpose.

  13. فَما زلت أُسقى راحَهُ ورضابه

    إِلى أَن عقلتُ العقلَ في مربط السكرِ

    So I kept being given his wine and his sweet saliva,

    until I tethered reason at the hitching-place of drunkenness.

  14. وخرّ صَريعاً لا حِراكَ به فَما

    تعفّفتُ عَن إِثم وَلَم أخلُ عَن وزرِ

    And it fell stricken, motionless; so I did not

    abstain from sin, nor was I free of guilt.

  15. عَفا اللَهُ عَنّي هَل أَقول قصيدة

    وَلا أَشتَكي فيها من الصدّ والهجرِ

    May God pardon me! Can I compose a poem

    without complaining in it of rebuff and abandonment?

  16. وَهَل لي يا بَدر الدُجى أَن أَراكَ قَد

    وَصلتَ فأَحيا باللقا ليلةَ البدرِ

    And may I, O full moon of the darkness, see that you have

    joined me, so I come alive at our meeting on the full-moon night?

  17. وَهَل تَنطَوي أَيّامُ بعدك باللّقا

    وَأَحيا إِذا حيَّيتَ قَلبي بالنشرِ

    And will the days of your absence be folded away by reunion,

    and shall I live when you greet my heart with resurrection?

  18. فَما لَكَ عذرٌ في جَفاء متيّمٍ

    أَقامَ عَلى ما سنّ شرع الهَوى العذري

    So you have no excuse for coldness toward one enslaved by love,

    who has abided by what the law of chaste, ʿUdhri love ordained.

  19. فَساعَةُ وَصلٍ منك بَل بَعضُ ساعةً

    أَودُّ شِراها لَو تيسّر بالعمرِ

    So an hour of union with you—rather, part of an hour—

    I long to buy, if possible, with my lifetime.