تَلاقَى تَلاقي سَوْرَةٍ ليس تُعْلَمُ

تَلاقَى تَلاقي سَوْرَةٍ ليس تُعْلَمُ

فمسَّتُه من هجره لي تُحكَّمُ

فمسَّتُه من هجره لي تُحكَّمُ

He met me with an unfathomable surge of fury;

A chance meeting, an encounter whose origin is unknown,

so his fit of madness, born of his desertion of me, is given sway.

His estrangement pained me, so I sought arbitration,

أَناظِرُه في الهجر كيف استَجازَه

أَناظِرُه في الهجر كيف استَجازَه

فيذكرُ بعضَ الحُسْنِ لي فأُسَلِّم

فيذكرُ بعضَ الحُسْنِ لي فأُسَلِّم

I debate with him over his desertion—how he deemed it permissible;

I look upon his aloofness, how gracefully he traverses it,

he mentions some of his beauty to me, and I concede.

Recalling some of the affection he once had for me, so I acquiesce,

ولمَّا تولَّى الخدَّ والي عِذارِه

ولمَّا تولَّى الخدَّ والي عِذارِه

رفَعْت إِليه قِصَّتي أَتَظَلَّم

رفَعْت إِليه قِصَّتي أَتَظَلَّم

When the governor of his cheek-down took charge of the cheek,

When he turned his cheek and excused himself from me,

I submitted my petition to him, complaining of injustice.

I raised my story to him, did I complain?

فوقَّع لي فيها بشَرْح صَبَابتي

فوقَّع لي فيها بشَرْح صَبَابتي

وقال لِيَ السلوانُ شيءٌ محرّم

وقال لِيَ السلوانُ شيءٌ محرّم

He wrote his ruling upon it for me, setting out my ardent longing,

He signed it for me, clarifying my youth,

and told me, “Forgetting is forbidden.”

And said to me, “Intimacy is forbidden,”

أَيلبسُ ثوبَ الخدِّ إِذ كان سَاذَجاً

أَيلبسُ ثوبَ الخدِّ إِذ كان سَاذَجاً

ويتركه لمَّا غَدَا وهو مُعْلَمُ

ويتركه لمَّا غَدَا وهو مُعْلَمُ

Would he wear the cheek’s robe when it was plain,

Shall I wear the garb of innocence when it was artless,

then leave it once it had become embroidered?

And abandon it when it became knowledgeable and informed?