قل لمن يشتكي الأرق

قل لمن يشتكي الأرق

يا أخا الوجد والقلق

يا أخا الوجد والقلق

Say to him who complains of sleeplessness:

Tell the one who complains of insomnia,

O brother of yearning and anxiety,

O companion of passion and anxiety,

أنا في الحب لا أرى

أنا في الحب لا أرى

مثل حالي ولا أرق

مثل حالي ولا أرق

in love I see no

That in love I see none

state like mine, nor one more tender.

Like my state, nor insomnia.

ايها الشادن الذي

ايها الشادن الذي

لي قد نم واسترق

لي قد نم واسترق

O young gazelle who

O you who for me has slept and rested,

has whispered secrets to me and enslaved me,

While Satan, my solace,

مه فشيطان سلوتي

مه فشيطان سلوتي

بشهاب الهوى احترق

بشهاب الهوى احترق

Enough! The demon of my forgetting

With the flame of passion has burned.

has burned beneath passion’s shooting star.

O beard of God, blaming

يا لحى الله عاذلا

يا لحى الله عاذلا

جاء بالافك واختلق

جاء بالافك واختلق

Ah, may God curse a reproacher

Came with superstition and nonsense.

who brought falsehood and fabricated lies!

He thought I was his solace,

ظن اني سلوته

ظن اني سلوته

وهواكم فما صدق

وهواكم فما صدق

He thought I had forgotten him;

While your love, he did not believe.

by my love for you, he spoke no truth.

If he came to me openly

انا لو جاء في الملا

انا لو جاء في الملا

بضروب من الملق

بضروب من الملق

I, even if he came before the assembly

With kinds of blame,

with every kind of flattery,

I would not have cracked the stick, and from

ما شققت العصا ومن

ما شققت العصا ومن

انزل الفجر والفلق

انزل الفجر والفلق

would not split the staff—by Him

The dawn and daybreak descended.

who revealed The Dawn and Daybreak.

By my father in passion a shower

بأبي في الهوى رشا

بأبي في الهوى رشا

لي سهم الجوى رشق

لي سهم الجوى رشق

My father be ransom for the fawn I love,

Upon me an arrow of love shot.

who shot the arrow of heartache at me.

In it I let flow my tears

فيه اطلقت مدمعي

فيه اطلقت مدمعي

فهو يجري على طلق

فهو يجري على طلق

For him I loosed my stream of tears,

As it runs in floods.

and it runs at full gallop.

And towards its inclination

ولنحو انعطافه

ولنحو انعطافه

جاء عطف على نسق

جاء عطف على نسق

And in the grammar of his swaying,

Came an inclination in harmony.

a bend came in ordered sequence.

Of soft stature, crescent his cheek,

لين قده قسا

لين قده قسا

قمر خده شفق

قمر خده شفق

His figure is supple, yet he grew cruel;

Sunset his blushing cheek.

a moon whose cheek is twilight’s glow.

If dawn saw his cheek,

لو رأى الفجر خده

لو رأى الفجر خده

منه لانشق وانفلق

منه لانشق وانفلق

If dawn saw his cheek,

It would split and crack from it.

it would split and cleave apart at the sight.

Or if the full moon saw his face,

او رأى البدر وجهه

او رأى البدر وجهه

غاب في التم وانمحق

غاب في التم وانمحق

Or if the full moon saw his face,

It would disappear in the darkness and vanish.

it would vanish at its fullness and be effaced.

Or if the branch saw his stature,

او رأى الغصن قده

او رأى الغصن قده

لاختفى الغصن في الورق

لاختفى الغصن في الورق

Or if the branch saw his figure,

The branch would hide in the leaves.

the branch would hide among the leaves.

What harm did his phantom do

ما الذي ضر طيفه

ما الذي ضر طيفه

لو لباب الكرى طرق

لو لباب الكرى طرق

What harm would befall his phantom

If to the door of the tavern it knocked?

if it knocked at the door of slumber?