1. إِنَّ الَّذي بِجَحيم الصدّ عذّبني

    مذ بان عنّي لَم أظهر ولم أبِنِ

    Indeed, the one who tormented me in the hell of rejection—

    since he left me, I have neither appeared nor been seen.

  2. أَستودعُ اللَه بَدراً حينَ ودّعني

    وَسار للسقم وَالتَبريحِ أَودعني

    I entrusted a full moon to God when he bade me farewell,

    and he departed, consigning me to sickness and torment.

  3. من سرّهُ وَطَنٌ يَوماً أَقام بِهِ

    فَإِنَّني ساءَني مِن بَعدِهِ وَطَني

    If someone was ever gladdened by a homeland he dwelt in,

    my own homeland has grieved me since his departure.

  4. إِنَّ الغَريب الَّذي تنأى أَحِبَّتُهُ

    عَن طَرفِهِ لا الَّذي ينأى عَن السَكَنِ

    The true stranger is he whose loved ones are far

    from his sight, not he who is far from home.

  5. حَبيبُ قَلبي عَلى رغم العذول وَلا

    أَشُكُّ أَنّ عذولي فيهِ يَحسُدني

    He is my heart's beloved, despite the reproacher, and I do not

    doubt that my reproacher envies me for him.

  6. يا صاحبي وَالَّذي أَرجو مودَّتَه

    إِنّي اِمتُحِنتُ فساعدني لتسعدني

    O my companion, and you whose affection I hope for,

    I have been put to the test; help me, that you may gladden me.

  7. أَرِّخ بشهرِ سيوفٍ من لواحظه

    وَمستَهلِّ دُموعي أَوّل المِحَنِ

    Date, by the unsheathing of swords from his glances

    and the first flow of my tears, the beginning of my trials.

  8. وَاِروِ المسلسَل من دَمعي وَعارِضِهِ

    بالأوّليّة عَن عشقي وَعَن حَزَني

    And narrate the linked account of my tears and his cheek,

    as a first transmission, from my passion and my sorrow.

  9. كالبَدرِ لكن بِلا نقص وَلا كَلَفٍ

    في الحسنِ والسنّ والإِشراقِ وَالسننِ

    Like the full moon, but without waning or dark spots,

    in beauty, age, radiance, and appearance.

  10. أَخشى عَلَيهِ عيون الناس تنهبه

    إِذا بَدا طالِعاً وَالشمس في قرَنِ

    I fear that people's eyes will plunder him

    when he appears, rising, with the sun in conjunction.

  11. تَهتَزُّ كاليَزَنيّ اللَدنِ قامتُه

    وَإِنَّما لحظُهُ سَيفُ بنِ ذي يَزَنِ

    His stature sways like a supple Yazani spear,

    and his glance is none other than the sword of Ibn Dhi Yazan.

  12. أَقسمت منهُ بِلُطف في شمائلهِ

    أَيمانَ صدق بأَنّي فيهِ ذو شَجَنِ

    I swore by the gentleness found in his character,

    truthful oaths that I am filled with sorrow for him.

  13. أَظُنُّهُ لَيسَ يَدري مُنتَهى شجني

    عَلَيهِ فَهوَ بغير الوصل يكرِمُني

    I think he does not know the depth of my sorrow

    for him, for he honors me without granting union.

  14. أَهابُه وَهوَ طلقُ الوَجهِ مبتسِمٌ

    فَما أُسائلُه في أَن يواصِلَني

    I stand in awe of him, though he is bright-faced and smiling,

    so I do not ask him to grant me union.

  15. هَذا حَديثي وَحالي وَهوَ منبسِطٌ

    فَكَيفَ لَو كانَ بِالتَقطيب قابلني

    Such is my story and my state while he is cheerful;

    how would it be if he met me with a frown?

  16. وَما يَكاد بحسن الوَصل يُطمعني

    حَتّى يَعود بقبح الصدّ يوئسني

    Scarcely does he give me hope through the beauty of union

    before he returns to make me despair with ugly rejection.

  17. وَكَم تكلّم في ذمّي يُمازحني

    فَلَم تؤخّر لَهُ إِذناً إِذَن أُذني

    How often he has spoken ill of me in jest,

    and my ear then granted him leave without delay.

  18. لَقَد ضننتُ بِهِ حَتّى ضنيت فإن

    ساءلت مُكتفياً عَنّي يقال ضني

    I guarded him jealously until I wasted away; so if

    you ask about me, 'He has wasted away' is answer enough.

  19. فَقَدتُ طيبَ الكرى مِنه ومن عجبٍ

    فَقدي بنيّر وَجهٍ في الدُجى وسني

    Through him I lost the sweetness of sleep; and it is strange

    that a radiant face should rob me of slumber in the dark.

  20. يا سائقي لِلرَدى جوزيت صالحة

    إِذ كنت أمسي شَهيداً حينَ تَقتلني

    O you who drive me to death, may you be rewarded with good,

    for I would end the day a martyr whenever you killed me.

  21. وَيا يَدي وَهيَ اليمنى وَيا بصري

    لا بَل هوَ النور يَهديني ويرشدني

    And O my hand—my right hand—and O my sight!

    No—rather, he is the light that guides and directs me.

  22. بك المحبّ منَ الهجرانِ معتصم

    فالهَجرُ ليسَ عَلى صَبٍّ بمؤتَمَنِ

    In you the lover seeks refuge from separation,

    for separation cannot be trusted with one in love.

  23. سلبتَ نَومي فَإِن لَم تَرعَ لي سهري

    فَراعِ طيفَ خَيال منك يطرُقني

    You stole my sleep; if you will not heed my sleeplessness,

    then heed the phantom image of you that visits me by night.

  24. أَشكو إِلَيكَ غَراماً قَد أَمِنتُ لَهُ

    فَخانَني وَإِلى التَبريح أَسلَمَني

    I complain to you of a passion I had trusted,

    which betrayed me and delivered me to torment,

  25. وَمدمعاً كلّما اِستكتَمتُهُ خبري

    لَم يَكتم السرّ من عشقي وَلَم يصُنِ

    and of a tearful eye that, whenever I bade it conceal my story,

    neither hid my love's secret nor kept it safe.

  26. وجملةُ الأَمر إِن تقنع بجملتهِ

    فَإِنّ سرّ غَرامي غَيرُ مكتَمنِ

    And the sum of the matter, if its summary satisfies you,

    is that the secret of my passion is not hidden.

  27. ساعات قربك في الأَيّام نادرةٌ

    وَللضنا خَبَرٌ قَد طال في بَدَني

    The hours of your closeness are rare among the days,

    and wasting sickness has a long tale within my body.

  28. جِسمي أَخَفُّ مِن الريح العَليلة مَع

    أَنّي ثقُلتُ بضعف كاد يَقتلني

    My body is lighter than the languid breeze, although

    I am weighed down by weakness that nearly killed me.

  29. وَأَصلُ سقمي من لاحٍ يَرى غلطاً

    أَنّي أَرى حسناً ما لَيسَ بالحسنِ

    And my illness springs from a censurer who thinks it a mistake

    that I see as beautiful what is not beautiful.

  30. ومن عذول دنيء لا خَلاق لَهُ

    أَدنى إِلى اللوم من طرفٍ إِلى وَسنِ

    and from a base reproacher with no share of goodness,

    closer to blame than an eye is to slumber.

  31. أَضحى يشرّدني عمّن كلِفتُ بِهِ

    ظُلماً فَكانَ عَلى الحالين شرّدني

    He took to driving me from the one I adored,

    unjustly; so in both states he drove me away.

  32. كَلَّ اِصطباري لما كُلِّفتُ منه وَقَد

    عدِمتُ صبري وَعَزمي حين كلّفني

    My endurance failed under what he imposed on me, and I

    lost my patience and resolve when he burdened me.

  33. لا أَبعد اللَه أَحبابي الَّذين شرَوا

    رقّ المحبّ بما اِختاروا مِن الثَمنِ

    May God not banish my loved ones, who bought

    the lover's bondage at the price they chose.

  34. وَلا عدمت لَيالي وصلهم فَبِها

    مرحتُ وَهيَ شَبيهُ الروض كالغصُنِ

    And may I never lose the nights of union with them, for in them

    I rejoiced like a branch, while they resembled a garden.

  35. طابَت خَلائقُهم من صَفوها فَغَدت

    تُعزى إِلى عدنَ دَع تُعزى إِلى عدَنِ

    Their dispositions were sweet in their purity, and so came

    to be ascribed to Eden—leave their ascription to Aden aside.

  36. كَم قَد تغطّيت من دَهري بظلّهمِ

    فعدت لَو رام منّي السوء لَم يرني

    How often I sheltered from Time beneath their shade,

    so that, if it sought to harm me, it could not see me.

  37. وعدت لا أَختشي في الدهر من سقمٍ

    إِذ لَيسَ يدرك جسمي ناظر الزمنِ

    And I came to fear no sickness at any time,

    since Time's eye could not perceive my body.

  38. سَكَنتُ لَيلَ أَمانٍ في ظلال رضىً

    فَلَم تَذُق كأسُ طَرفي خمرةَ الوسنِ

    I dwelt through a night of safety in the shades of favor,

    and the cup of my eye did not taste the wine of sleep.

  39. فكلّما مرَّ في فكري تذكّرها

    ناديت من فرط وَجدي يا أَبا الحسنِ

    Whenever remembrance of them crossed my mind,

    I cried out in overwhelming longing: 'O Abu al-Hasan!'