1. نظر الحبيبُ إِليَّ من طرفِ خفى

    فأَنى الشِّفَاءُ لمدنَفٍ من مُدْنف

    The beloved looked at me with a furtive glance.

    Then how can the lovesick find healing from one likewise sick?

  2. ودنا فسكَّن نارَ قلبي خدُّه

    أَسمعتُمُ ناراً بنارٍ تَنْطَفِي

    He drew near; his cheek stilled the fire in my heart.

    Have you heard of fire being quenched by fire?

  3. وأَرادَت العبراتُ عادةَ جَرْيها

    أَو جرْيَ عادَتِها فقُلتُ لها قِفِي

    And the tears sought their habit of flowing,

    or the flowing of their habit; I told them, 'Stop!'

  4. كُفِّي فقد جاءَ الحبيبُ لما كَفَى

    وصْلاً وعاشِقُه المروَّع قد كُفي

    Cease! The beloved has come for what suffices

    as union, and his frightened lover has been relieved.

  5. ومليَّةٍ بالحسن يسخرُ وجْهُها

    بالبدرِ بل يهزأُ ريقُها بالْقَرْقَفِ

    And a woman rich in beauty—her face mocks

    the full moon; nay, her saliva mocks wine.

  6. لا أَرتضي بالشَّمس تشبيهاً لها

    والبدرِ بل لا أَكتفي بالمكتَفي

    I do not accept the sun as a likeness for her,

    nor the full moon; nay, I will not settle for the merely sufficient.

  7. الحسنُ تبرِزُه بغير تصنُّع

    والمِلْح يُبرِزها بغيرِ تَكَلُّف

    Beauty she displays without artifice,

    and charm displays her without affectation.

  8. تتلو ملاحتُها محاسِنَ وجْهِها

    فتُريكَ معجِزَ آيَة في الزُّخْرفِ

    Her charm recites the beauties of her face,

    showing you a verse's miracle in 'Adornment' (al-Zukhruf).

  9. أَنا أَنْثَني عنها لِئَلاَّ أَرْتَوي

    أَتَظُنُّ أَنِّ أَشْتَهي أَنْ أَشْتَفي

    I turn away from her lest my thirst be quenched.

    Do you think I desire to be healed?

  10. لا سار عِشْقِي لا أَقَام تصبُّري

    لا قَلَّ معْ نَيْلِ الوِصَالِ تَلَهُّفي

    May my passion never depart, nor my forced patience remain;

    may my longing not lessen with the attainment of union.

  11. يا من تجورُ لقد ملكتِ فأَسْجحِي

    يا من تُهين لقد غنيت فأَسْعِفي

    O you who oppress, you have gained dominion: be gentle!

    O you who humiliate, you are rich: grant me aid!

  12. فبحقِّ حُسْنك يا مَليحةُ أَحْسِني

    وبِعطف قَدِّك يا نحيلةُ أَعْطِفي

    So, by your beauty, O lovely one, be kind,

    and by your figure's curve, O slender one, incline toward me.

  13. أَنت الحبيب عطفتَ أَم لم تعطِف

    وأَنا الْمُحِبُّ صدفْتَ أَمْ لم تَصْدِف

    You are the beloved, whether you show kindness or not,

    and I am the lover, whether you turn away or not.

  14. فتقول من هذا وقد سفكَتْ دمي

    ظلماًوتسأَلُ عن فؤادِي وهْي في

    So she says, 'Who is this?' though she has shed my blood

    wrongfully, and asks about my heart while she is within it.

  15. لا شيءَ أَعجبُ من تلَهُّبِ خدِّها

    بالماءِ إِلاَّ حسْنُها وتَعَفُّفي

    Nothing is more wondrous than her cheek's blazing

    with water, save her beauty and my chastity.

  16. ماذا لقيت من الصُّدودِ لأَنَّني

    أَلقى خشونَتَه بقلبٍ مُتْرَف

    What have I endured from rejection! For I

    meet its harshness with a pampered heart.

  17. والقلبُ يحلِفُ أَن سيسْلو ثم لا

    يَسْلو ويَحْلِفُ أَنَّه لَمْ يَحْلف

    The heart swears it will find solace, then does not

    find solace, and swears that it never swore.

  18. قسماً أَقولُ سلاَ وإِنَّ سُلوَّه

    فَرَحٌ لأَن جاءَ البشيرُ بيوسُف

    I swear, I say it has found solace; indeed, its solace

    is joy, for the herald has brought news of Yusuf.

  19. جاءَ البشيرُ بأَنَّ يوسُفَ قد شَفَا

    مرضَ الزَّمانِ لأَنَّ يوسُفَ قد شُفِي

    The herald brought news that Yusuf has cured

    the sickness of the age, because Yusuf has been cured.

  20. جاءَ البشيرُ بيوسفٍ يمشي على

    أَثَرِ البشيرِ بيوسفٍ أَوْ يَقْتَفي

    The herald has come with news of Yusuf, walking in

    the footsteps of the herald of Yusuf, or following his trail.

  21. ما زالت البُشْري بيوسُفَ سنةً

    في الدَّهر لم تُخْلَفْ ولم تَتَخَلَّفِ

    Glad tidings of Yusuf have always been a tradition

    through the ages, never unfulfilled and never delayed.

  22. كان الملطِّفُ كالقميصِ أَلا ترى

    أَبْصارَنا رُدَّت لنا بمُلَطِّف

    The brief letter was like the shirt—do you not see

    our sight restored to us by a brief letter?

  23. أَمرٌ جليلٌ كان إِلاَّ أَنَّه

    خطبٌ جليٌّ ردَّه اللُّطْف الخَفي

    It was a grave affair, yet it was

    a manifest calamity repelled by hidden grace.

  24. يا ويحَ للأَسقامِ كيف استَشْرفَتْ

    وسَمتْ إِلى ذَاك المحلِّ الأَشْرفِ

    Alas for the ailments! How they aspired

    and rose to that most exalted station!

  25. أَتظن في مَلكِ الملوكِ طماعةً

    خابت ظنونُك فاختبي أَو فَاخْتَفي

    Do you think the king of kings is yours to covet?

    Your hopes have failed: hide away or disappear!

  26. جهلت وقد ثابت وتُقْبل توبَةٌ

    عن زَلةٍ من جاهلٍ لم يَعْرف

    They acted ignorantly, but have repented; repentance is accepted

    for a lapse by an ignorant one who did not know.

  27. ما ضرتِ الجسمَ الشريفَ نحافةٌ

    أَنِّي وتلك سجيةٌ في المرْهفِ

    Thinness has not harmed the noble body;

    how could it, when that is a trait of a finely honed blade?

  28. بشِّر بصِحَّته البسيطةَ ثم قل

    قَرِّي فَطورُك ثابتٌ لم يُنْسف

    Bring the earth glad tidings of his health, then say:

    'Be still: your mountain stands firm, not swept away.'

  29. وكذاك قل للبدرِ يا بدْرَ الدُّجى

    لا وجْه أَن تبدو بوجهٍ أَكْلفِ

    And likewise tell the full moon: 'O moon of the darkness,

    there is no reason to appear with a spotted face.'

  30. وأَشِعْ بشائِرَ بُرئِه ثم انظروا

    كَمدَ الصليِبِ به وبُشْرى المصحَفِ

    And spread the glad tidings of his recovery, then behold

    the cross's grief at it, and the Qur'an's gladness.

  31. حاشاك من صَرْفِ الزمان فإِنه

    بك في الأَعادِي مَالَه مِن مَصْرف

    May time's calamity be far from you, for it

    through you besets your enemies, with no turning aside.

  32. وقد اصطفاك اللهُ ناصِرَ دينه

    فنصرتَ دينَ المصطفَى والمصطَفي

    And God has chosen you as the champion of His religion,

    so you have championed the faith of the Chosen One and the Chooser.

  33. وحميتَ رسْم الدينِ من أَنْ يَمَّحي

    ومنعتَ نورَ الشَّرع مِنْ أَنْ يَنْطَفي

    And you guarded the imprint of religion from erasure,

    and kept the light of sacred law from going out.

  34. وجعلتَ أَكبرَ كَافرٍ متنصِّرٍ

    يعنو لأَصغرِ مُسلم مُتَحنِّف

    And you made the greatest Christian unbeliever

    bow before the humblest Muslim of the upright faith.

  35. وسللتَ سيفاً مُصْلتاً للمعتدِي

    وصبَبْت سيْباً مرسَلاً للمعْتفى

    And you drew a sword, bared against the aggressor,

    and poured out free-flowing bounty for the supplicant.

  36. واللهُ أَكرمُ أَن يضيِّعَ أُمَّةً

    أَمِنَتْ بعدلِكَ بَعْد طول تَخَوُّفِ

    And God is too generous to abandon a community

    made safe by your justice after long fear.

  37. ولقد نذرتُ على شفائِك حِجَّةً

    ولقد شُفيتَ فقد تعيَّن أَنْ أَفي

    And I vowed a pilgrimage upon your recovery;

    and you have recovered, so I must fulfill my vow.

  38. سهَّلت لي حَجِّي فمِنْك مُوصِّلي

    لمِنىً وجودُك مُوقفي في الْمَوْقِف

    You eased my pilgrimage: from you comes my passage

    to Mina, and your generosity sets me at the standing-place.

  39. ولئن تَيسَّر مَعْ رِكابِك قَابِلاً

    حَجِّي فَيا فَوْزِي بأَجْرٍ مُضْعَفِ

    And if next year, with your caravan, I can make

    my pilgrimage—what a triumph, with doubled reward!

  40. إِنِّي بذا أَدْعو وأَسأَل مُلْحِفا

    واللهُ ليس يردُّ دعوةَ مُلْحِف

    Indeed, for this I pray and ask insistently;

    and God does not reject an insistent supplicant's prayer.