هَل يَنفَعُ الوَجدُ أَو يُفيدُ
أَم هَل عَلى مَن بَكى جُناح
Does passion help, or is it of use?
Or is there fault in one who weeps?
يا مُنيَةَ القَلبِ غِبتَ عَنّي
فَاللَيلُ عِندي بِلا صَباح
O demise of my heart, you've been absent from me,
So the night to me is without dawn.
أَفديهِ مِن معرضٍ تَولّى
لا عَينٌ مِنهُ وَلا أَثَر
I ransom him from an averter who has turned away,
No eye from him, nor trace.
عَذَّبَني في هَواهُ كَلّا
لَم يُبقِ مِنّي وَلَم يَذَر
He tortured me in his love, never
Leaving aught of me, nor letting be.
يا عَينُ عَنّى فَلَيسَ إِلى
صَبر عَلى الدَمعِ وَالسَهَر
O eye, turn from me, for there is to me
No patience for tears or wakefulness.
وَيَفعَل الشَوقُ ما يُريد
في كَبِدٍ كُلّها جِراح
And longing does what it desires
In a liver all wounds.
يا مُخجِلَ البَدرِ لا تَسَلني
عَن جورِ أَلحاظِك المِلاح
O shame of the full moon, ask me not
Of the tyranny of your salty glances.
زادَ عَلى بَهجَةِ النَهارِ
مِن حُسنِهِ الدَهرُ في اِزدِياد
In addition to the joy of day
From his beauty time is ever increasing.
لَحظٌ لَهُ سَطوَةَ العقار
يَفعَل في العَقلِ ما أَراد
A glance possessing spellbinding power
Does in reason what it desires.
خَدّاهُ كَالوَردِ في البِهار
يَقطِفُ بِاللَحظِ أَو يَكاد
His cheeks are like roses in bloom
That his glance picks, or nearly does.
وَذلِكَ المَبسَم البَرود
حَصاهُ درّ وَصرفُ راح
And that smiling mouth
Its pearls and its parting of delight,
أَو مِثل ما قُلت ماءَ مُزنٍ
يُسقى بِهِ يانِع الأَقاح
Or like what I said, juicy water
With which blooming meadows are watered.
يا مَن لَهُ أَبدَع الصِفات
يا غُصنُ يا دعصُ يا قَمَر
O you who has the most wondrous attributes,
O branch, O association, O moon!
غِبتَ فَلَم يَأتِ مِنكَ آت
فَاِستَوحَشَ السَمعَ وَالبَصَر
You went away, and there came not from you
A visitor, so hearing and sight felt lonely.
لَولا صَبا تلكُمُ الجِهات
لَذابَ قَلبي مِنَ الفِكر
Were it not for the zephyrs of those places
My heart would have melted from thought.
يا أَيُّها النازِحُ البَعيد
جاءَت بِأَنبائِكَ الرِياح
O you who has traveled far away!
The winds brought tidings of you,
إِنَّ الصبا عَنكَ أَخبَرَتني
ما اِهتَزَّ رَوضُ الرُبى وَفاح
The zephyrs informed me, the meadow shook
And its flowers' fragrance wafted.
يا ساحِراً فَوقَ كُلِّ ساحِرٍ
وَمَن لَهُ حُسنه أَصِف
O sorcerer, above every sorcerer,
And who can describe his beauty?
وَجهٌ كَالصَباح باهِر
أَردِيَة الحُسنِ يَلتَحِف
A face like the radiant dawn,
The cloak of beauty he wraps around himself.
كَالرَوضِ حَفَّت بِهِ الأَزاهر
يَقطِفُ بِاللَحظِ إِن قَطَف
Like a garden wreathed with flowers
That his glance picks, if it picks.
كَالبَدرِ في لَيلَةِ السُعود
أَشرَقَ لَألاؤُهُ وَلاح
Like the full moon on a night of serenity
Its brilliance shone forth and beamed,
كَالغُصن اللَدن في التَثَنّي
تَهزُّ أَعطافهُ الرِياح
Like the tender bough bending
The breezes shake its branches.
مَن لي بِمَخضوبَةِ البَنان
مَمشوقَةِ القَدِّ وَالدَلال
Who is for me with rouged fingers
And swaying coyness and charms?
مَن هَجرُها مُشبِه الزَمان
ماضٍ وَمُستَقبل وَحال
Whose abandonment resembles time itself
Past and future and present.
فيها رَثى عاذِلي لِشاني
ثُمَّ اِنثَنى ضاحِكاً وَقال
In her my blamer lamented my condition
Then turned laughing and said:
عاشِقٌ وَمِسكينُ اللَه يريد
وارِثٌ لِمَن يَعشقُ المِلاح
A lover, and poor - God wants
An heir for one who loves coquetry.
فَداع يَهجُرن أَو يَصِلني
لَيسَ عَلى ساحِر اِقتِراح
So farewell, she who abandons or unites me,
A sorcerer has no suggestions to make.
