1. لمَّا دعا في الرّكب داعي الفِرَاقْ

    لبّاه ماءُ الدَّمْعِ من كُل ماقْ

    When the caller of parting called among the caravan,

    the water of tears answered him from every eye-corner.

  2. يا دمعُ لم تَدْعُ سِوَى مُهْجَتي

    فَلِمْ تَطَفَّلْتَ بَهَذَا السباق

    O tears, none but my lifeblood was summoned;

    so why did you intrude by racing ahead?

  3. وإِن تكن خِفْتَ لَظَى زَفْرَتِي

    فأَنْتَ معذورٌ بِهذَا الإِبَاق

    And if you feared the blaze of my sigh,

    then you are excused for this flight.

  4. وإِن تكن أَسْرَعْت مِن أَنَّةٍ

    إِنَّ لَها من أَنَّتي أَلف رَاق

    And if you hastened away from a groan,

    indeed, among my groans it has a thousand charm-healers.

  5. مهلاً فما أَنت كَدَمْع جَرَى

    وَرَاقَ بل أَنتَ دِمَاءٌ تُراق

    Gently! For you are not like tears that flowed

    and became clear; rather, you are blood being shed.

  6. فقمت والأَجفانُ في عَبْرَةٍ

    والدمعُ من مَسْأَلتي في شِقَاق

    So I rose, my eyelids bathed in tears,

    and my tears at odds with my entreaty.

  7. أَسقِي بمزنِ الحُزْنِ روضَ اللَّوى

    يا قربَ ما أَثمَرَ لي بِالفِراق

    I water al-Liwā's meadow with sorrow's rainclouds.

    How swiftly it bore me the fruit of parting!

  8. وأُسْلِفُ التوديعَ سكري لكيْ

    يخدعَ قلبي بِتَلاقي التَّرَاق

    And I lend farewell my intoxication, so that

    it may deceive my heart with the meeting of collarbones.

  9. وما عِنَاقُ المرْء محبوبَه

    إِلاَّ لكي يلتَفَّ سَاقٌ بِسَاق

    And a man's embrace of his beloved

    is only so that leg may entwine with leg.

  10. لله ذاك اليوم كم مُقْلَةٍ

    غَرْقي وقَلْب بالجَوَى ذي احتراق

    God, what a day! How many an eye

    drowned, and how many a heart burned with yearning!

  11. ومعشر لاقوا وجُوهَ النَّوى

    وهي صِفاقٌ بِقُلُوبٍ رِقَاق

    And a company met separation's faces,

    hard faces met with tender hearts;

  12. ووالدٌ بَل سَيِّدٌ والهٌ

    سَقَاه توديعيَ كأَسَاً دهَاق

    and a father—nay, a master—distraught,

    whom my farewell made drink a brimming cup.

  13. يقول لي أَتعبتَ قَلْبي فلا

    لَقِيتَ مِنْ بَعْدِيَ ما القلْبُ لاَق

    He says to me: You have wearied my heart; may you not

    meet, after me, what my heart has met.

  14. قلت له والحقُّ ما قُلته

    والصدقُ ما زالَ لنُطقِي نِطاق

    I said to him—and what I said was the truth—

    and truthfulness has always girdled my speech:

  15. أَيقنت أَن آنَسَ في بلدة

    أَخلاق قَوْمٍ مَا لَهُم من خَلاَق

    I was certain I would encounter in a town

    the ways of a people with no share of virtue.

  16. هُمْ مَعْشرٌ دِقٌ فمن أَجل ذا

    أَضْحَت مَعَاني اللؤمِ فيهم دِقَاق

    They are petty folk, and for that reason

    the forms of baseness in them have grown subtle.

  17. لما سرت خَيْلي عَن أَرضِهم

    أَسميت قَلْبي بعَتِيق العِتَاق

    When my horses journeyed away from their land,

    I named my heart the noble steeds' freedman.

  18. وبَدْرُ تِمٍّ قال لي عاتباً

    قلَّلْت صَبْري يا كثير النفاق

    And a full moon said to me reproachfully:

    You have worn my patience thin, you so full of hypocrisy.

  19. خدعتني حتى إِذا حُزْتَني

    سلَّطْتَ بالبين عليَّ المحاق

    You deceived me until, once you had won me,

    you unleashed upon me, through parting, the moon's dark waning.

  20. قلت بدُورُ التِّم أَسرى السّرى

    فارْضَ بأَنِّي لَكَ يا بدرُ وَاق

    I said: Moons at their fullness are captives of night travel;

    so be content that I protect you, O moon.

  21. واقعد طليقاً ما نأَت دَارُه

    وَدَعْ أَسيراً سائراً في وثَاق

    And stay a free man whose home is not far,

    and leave a captive journeying in fetters.

  22. وربَّما كانت لنا عودةٌ

    وإِن تكن كانَ إِليك المَسَاق

    And perhaps there will be a return for us;

    and if it happens, the journey will lead to you.

  23. مذْ صُعِق القَلْب لتوديعهم

    وخرّ لم يبلُ فَلمَّا أَفاق

    Since my heart was thunderstruck at bidding them farewell

    and fell without recovering; then, when it came to:

  24. إِن كان وجدي غير فانٍ بهم

    فإِنَّ قلبي بَعْدَهُم غَيْرُ بَاق

    If my longing for them does not perish,

    then my heart will not survive after them.

  25. والله لا سَاوَى وإِن كَابَرُوا

    جورُ النَّوى عندي بيوم التَّلاق

    By God, though they stubbornly deny it, never

    has parting's cruelty equaled, for me, a day of reunion.