ضاعت ليالي منى في هوى رشأ

لو كان يعلم تيمي فيه ما نزقا

The nights of Mina were lost in love for a young gazelle.

Had he known my infatuation with him, he would not have acted rashly.

أو كان يعلم أني لن أحدثه

قبل التحدث من قلبي وقد علقا

Or had he known that I would not speak to him

Before my heart spoke, already caught in love.

في خفقه مستهامٌ ما يؤامنه

لا يكذب القلب بث الحب إن خفقا

In its beating, a love-stricken soul finds no reassurance.

The heart does not lie in declaring love when it beats.

ما أجمل الحلم لما انصاع لي سحراً

والطير في الروض فوق العاشقين زقا

How lovely the dream, when it yielded to me before dawn!

And the birds chirped in the garden above the two lovers.

والكرم ينصب عشا حولنا عمداً

من الغصون وسقفاً فوقنا ورقا

And the grapevine deliberately sets up a nest around us,

Of branches, with a roof of leaves above us.

من بينه يبعث البدر المنير سنى

يصور الحب في أثوابنا حدقا

Through it the radiant full moon sends a glow,

Depicting love as eyes upon our garments,

لتحرس العش ممن قد يفاجئنا

إن ابن آدم أو نجما إذا طرقا

To guard the nest against whoever might surprise us,

Whether a son of Adam or a star, when either comes knocking.

ورقشت ثوبها تلك الظلال وقد

جاءت به العش ذاك الأبيض اليققا

And those shadows patterned her dress; she had

Brought it to the nest, that dress of dazzling white.

كأنما الكرم معنى بتعمية

على الرقيب إذا ما جاء واسترقا

As though the grapevine were intent on concealment

From the watcher, should he ever come and steal a glance.

والظل كان مداداً منه قد كتبت

على الثياب غصون الروض ما نطقا

And shade was ink, with which words had been written

On the garments by the garden's branches—what the two had spoken:

عهداً علينا وفيما بيننا بهوى

يبقى لدينا إلى أن نخرج الرمقا

A pledge of love, binding upon us and shared between us,

To remain with us until we breathe our last.

ونسمة السحر الهادي تلطف من

حرارة القلب لولا القرب لاحترقا

And a breeze from the tranquil pre-dawn eases

The heart's heat; without closeness it would have burned.

حلم ويا حبذا الأيام تخرجه

صدقا إن الحظ والمحبوب يتفقا

A dream—and how lovely if the days should make it

Come true, if fortune and the beloved agree.

لكنما الشك في الإنسان حذرة

عبث الشباب بجنح الليل فانطلقا

But distrust of people, for fear

Of youth's folly beneath night's wing, broke loose.

لوك ان يعلم أهلوه حصانتنا

لما تحايلت في وصلي به غسقا

Had his family known our chastity,

I would not have schemed to meet him in the darkness.

وبت أشهد في حلم الهوى فلقا

من الجبين فعار الصبح فانبثا

And I spent the night beholding, in love's dream, a daybreak

From the brow; dawn fled and scattered.

غابت وما زال في ذهني لطلعتها

ما خال لي بعد أن ودعتها شفقا

She vanished, yet there lingered in my mind, of her face,

What seemed to me, after I bade her farewell, a twilight glow.

فاللَه يجزي الهواة السابقين بما

قد أجرموه من العبث الذي سبقا

So God requites the lovers who came before for

The mischief they had perpetrated in days gone by.

فما رأيت صدوقاً واحداً أبداً

وقد رأيت على دعوى الهوى فرقا

For I have never seen a single truthful one,

Though I have seen groups professing love,

إلا القليل قرأنا عنهمو كتباً

يا حبذا في الهوى المكتوب إن صدقا

Except the few about whom we have read books.

How lovely is what is written of love, if it is true!