1. في طاعَةِ النَّديمِ

    وَفِي هَوى الحِسَانْ

    In obedience to the boon companion

    and in love with the beautiful ones,

  2. عَصَيْتُ كُلَّ عاذِلْ

    ودِنْتُ بافْتِتانْ

    I disobeyed every reproacher

    and submitted to infatuation.

  3. أمَّا أنا فَما لي

    عَنِ الهَوى مَحِيْصْ

    As for me, I have no

    escape from love.

  4. فُتِنتُ في غَزالِ

    صَعْب الرِّضى حَريصْ

    I was bewitched by a gazelle,

    hard to please and grasping.

  5. ظَلْتُ عَلى احْتِيالي

    في كفِّهِ قَنِيصْ

    Despite my wiles, I remained

    captured prey in his palm.

  6. ذُو مَنْظرٍ وَسِيْمِ

    مِن فَوقِ خُوطِ بانْ

    He has a handsome countenance

    atop a slender bān-tree branch.

  7. يَخْتالُ في غَلائِلْ

    مالي بِها يَدانْ

    He struts in sheer robes

    that I have no strength to resist.

  8. يا مَنْ لِمُسْتهامِ

    مِنْ جَوْرِ ذا الغُلامْ

    Oh, who will help a lovesick man

    against this youth's tyranny?

  9. يَغْتالُني مَنامي

    يَسُومُني سَقامْ

    He ambushes me in my sleep;

    he afflicts me with sickness.

  10. قَدْ عاثَ في الأنامِ

    بأضْرُبِ الغَرامْ

    He has wrought havoc among humankind

    with passion's many forms.

  11. أجْوَرُ من سَدُوم

    يَعْدو مَدى الزَّمانْ

    More unjust than Sadūm,

    he makes his onslaught throughout time

  12. على فُؤادِ ذاهِلْ

    أطوَعَ مِنْ عِنانْ

    upon a bewildered heart,

    more obedient than a rein.

  13. عُلِّقْتُهُ غَزالا

    للرُّومِ مُنْتَهاهْ

    I fell in love with him, a gazelle

    whose lineage leads back to the Rūm.

  14. زَنَّارهُ اسْتَمالا

    حِلمي إلى صِباهْ

    His girdle drew

    my sober reason toward his youth.

  15. إن قالَ لي مَقالا

    لَمْ أدْرِ ما عَناهْ

    If he speaks a word to me,

    I do not know what he means;

  16. أوْ أشْتكي هُمُومي

    لم يَدْرِ ما عَنانْ

    or if I complain of my sorrows,

    he does not know what troubles me.

  17. فالقَلْبُ في حَبائِلْ

    أيدي هواهُ عانْ

    So my heart, in the snares

    of the hands of love for him, lies captive.

  18. أقْسَمتُ بالأناجِلْ

    وحُرْمَةِ المَسِيحْ

    I swore by the Gospels

    and by the sanctity of the Messiah:

  19. ما إنْ أُطِيْعُ عاذِلْ

    فيكَ ولا نَصيحْ

    I will obey no reproacher

    concerning you, nor any well-wisher.

  20. فكَمْ وكَمْ تُماطِلْ

    ذا لَوْعةٍ قَرِيحْ

    So how often, how often you put off

    a wounded sufferer of burning longing!

  21. قد امَّحَتْ رُسُومي

    سُقْماً عن العَيانْ

    My outlines have been erased

    from sight through sickness.

  22. فارْحَمْ أنين ناحِلْ

    لولاهُ ما اسْتَبانْ

    So pity the groaning of an emaciated man:

    without it, he would not be discerned.

  23. قلْ كيفَ يَسْتريحُ

    صَبٌّ متَيَّمُ

    Say, how can he find rest,

    a lovesick man enslaved by love,

  24. لِسانُهُ فَصيحُ

    والحُبُّ أعْجَمُ

    whose tongue is eloquent

    while love is foreign-tongued?

  25. ها حالَتِي تَلُوحُ

    فَهَلْ مُتَرجِمُ

    Here is my condition, plain to see;

    is there, then, an interpreter?

  26. صُبَيّ عَشَقتْ رُومي

    وِشْ نَحْفَظ اللسانْ

    I loved a Rūmī lad—

    how shall I learn the language?

  27. السَّاعَ ما نشاكِلْ

    عاشِقْ بِتُرْجُمانْ

    Now, what do I resemble?

    A lover with an interpreter!