غزال نحا شيح الغوير وغاره

فدىً لغزال بالغوير شرودِ

A gazelle that sought al-Ghuwayr’s wormwood and its cave

is a ransom for a skittish gazelle in al-Ghuwayr.

وقالوا تغزل فيه قلت غزيل

من الأنس في جيد ولفتة جيدِ

And they said, “Compose love verse about him.” I said, “A little gazelle

of humankind, with the neck and turning glance of gazelles.”

تنشَّق ريحاً من زرود فراعه

ترصدُ عيني قانص بزرودِ

He breathed in a breeze from Zarud and took fright

at a hunter’s watchful eyes in Zarud.

يصدُّ أذا ما حس في الورد نبأةً

بغلة صادي القلب خوف رصيد

He turns away whenever he hears a faint sound at the water,

his heart burning with thirst, for fear of one lying in wait.

فريد بدا كالبدر في برج حسنه

وليس سوى بدر السما بفريد

Peerless, he appeared like the full moon in his beauty’s mansion;

and none but heaven’s full moon is peerless.

لو اعترضته خجلة من محبه

تدبج ورد من حيا بخدود

If shyness before his lover came over him,

roses of modesty would be embroidered on his cheeks.

ويعرض للقلب المشوق معرضا

ببيض خدود تحت سود جعود

And he appears before the yearning heart, turning away,

with white cheeks beneath black curls.

أقوم وأهوي في هواه كأنني

لما بيَ أمشي راسفاً بقيود

I rise and fall in my passion for him, as though I

walked in my affliction, shuffling in chains.

كثيرون أن عدّوا عليَّ جنوده

قليلون أن عدّوا عليه جنودي

Many, if counted, are his troops against me;

few, if counted, are my troops against him.

إذا صرَحت منه سجية باخل

أقول لأسراب المدامع جودي

Whenever a miser’s nature reveals itself in him,

I tell the flocks of tears, “Be generous!”

فلو أن قلبي من حديد بحبه

وهي كف ذا والقلب غير حديد

For even if my heart were iron, through love of him

it would weaken. Stop this—the heart is not iron.

أخا البدر أوهاني الهوى بشديده

ولولاك ما كان الهوى بشديد

O brother of the full moon, love has weakened me with its fierceness;

and were it not for you, love would not be harsh.