عابوا الذي أعشقه بالنحول

عابوا الذي أعشقه بالنحول

فلم أطع فيه مقال العذول

فلم أطع فيه مقال العذول

They faulted the one I adore for his thinness.

They rebuked me for loving one so lean,

They faulted the one I adore for being slender,

So I did not heed the reproacher’s words about him.

But I did not heed the words of the critic.

Yet I paid no heed to the reproach of the censurer,

وإن غصنا أبداً لا تزول

وإن غصنا أبداً لا تزول

عليه شمس لحر بالذبول

عليه شمس لحر بالذبول

And indeed, a branch forever exposed

Though a branch never loses

For indeed, a bough upon which the sun never ceases

to the sun above it is surely prone to wither.

The sun's heat that makes it wither.

To shine is truly bound to wither.