1. أعطى قليلاً واستردّا

    وَدَن عَلَى حذرٍ وصدَا

    He gave a little, then took it back,

    and drew near warily, then turned away.

  2. طيفٌ أَلمّ وليلتي

    رفعتْ من الظلماءِ بَنْدا

    An apparition visited, while my night

    had raised a banner of darkness.

  3. فأَطلَّ مثلَ البدرِ مِنْ

    خَلَلِ السحابِ إِذا تبدّى

    Then he appeared like the full moon through

    gaps in the clouds when it comes into view.

  4. يا روعةً لما تمثَّل

    بالعراءِ وماسَ قدّا

    Oh, what wonder when he appeared

    in the open, his figure swaying gracefully!

  5. عارٍ من الأَثوابِ كا

    سٍ من معاني الحسن بردا

    Bare of clothes, yet clad

    in a mantle of beauty's qualities.

  6. أَرأَيتَ دميةَ مرمرٍ

    ترتجُّ رانفةً ونهدا؟

    Have you seen a marble figurine

    quivering in buttock and breast?

  7. وجهٌ تلأْلأَ مشرقاً

    كالسيفِ ماءَ أَو فرندا

    A face that gleamed, radiant,

    like a sword in sheen or watered pattern.

  8. أَخفى بمنشورِ الذوا

    ئب من محاسنه وأَبدى

    He hid beneath his loose-flowing

    tresses some of his charms, and revealed others.

  9. غالطتُ نفسي واتّهمْ

    تُ العينَ حيناً إِذْ تصدى

    I deluded myself and doubted

    my eyes a while as he came forward.

  10. ما شأْنُه ماذا يريدُ

    وما عساه يرومُ قصدا؟

    What is his purpose? What does he want?

    And what aim might he be pursuing?

  11. أَأَتى لينظرَ كيف أَقْ

    ضي ليلتي همّاً وسهدا؟

    Has he come to see how I spend

    my night in sorrow and sleeplessness?

  12. كبدي تسيلُ من الجِرا

    حِ ومقلتي بالدمعِ تندى

    My liver bleeds from

    wounds, and my eye is wet with tears;

  13. وجوانحي تنقضُّ من

    عصْفِ الهوى عقداً فعقدا

    and my ribs break apart under

    love's tempest, knot after knot.

  14. أم جاء يعبث؟ والهوى

    أضحى بحمدِ الله جدّا

    Or has he come to toy with me? Yet love

    has, praise be to God, grown earnest.

  15. إن كان يعتقدُ الهوى

    "طفلاً؛ فقد بَلَغَ الأَشدّا"

    If he believes that love

    is a child, it has reached full maturity.

  16. والله ما ضيعتُ عهْ

    دَ الحبِّ منذُ قطعتُ عهدا

    By God, I have not broken the pledge

    of love since I first made a pledge.

  17. إِني إِذاً خنتُ الصبا

    بةَ والغرامَ وجئتُ إِدّا

    Indeed, then I would have betrayed yearning

    and passion, and committed a monstrous wrong.

  18. حيّا وطأْطأ رأْسَهُ

    وخطا إِليَّ ومدَّ زندا

    He greeted me and bowed his head,

    stepped toward me, and held out a forearm.

  19. يرنو وأَرنو فالعيو

    ن تجاوبتْ أَخذاً وردا

    He gazed, and I gazed back; our eyes

    answered one another, receiving and returning.

  20. أَنا ما بعدتُ دنا إِليّ

    فإِن دنوتُ عدا وشدَّا

    Whenever I drew away, he drew near to me;

    but if I approached, he ran and fled.

  21. يعطو إِليّ بجيده

    ويديرُ لي خَدَّاً فَخَدَا

    He stretched his neck toward me

    and turned to me one cheek, then the other.

  22. فإِذا هممتُ به ترا

    جَعَ ضاحكاً منّي وندّا

    But when I reached for him, he drew

    back, laughing at me, and fled.

  23. كتمنعِ الحسناءِ إِذْ

    عمدتْ إِلى الإِدلالِ عمدا

    Like a beautiful woman's coy refusal when

    she deliberately plays the coquette.

  24. ولوٍ اعتلقتُ الخدَّ من

    ه جنيتُ تفاحاً ووردا

    And had I caught hold of his cheek,

    I would have plucked apples and roses from him.

  25. ما زالَ بي حتى لقدْ

    أَغرى الصبابةَ بل تحدّى

    He kept at me until he had

    roused yearning—indeed, challenged it.

  26. داورتُه بالرفِق لا

    آلو لو انَّ الرفقَ أَجدى

    I coaxed him gently, without

    sparing effort—if only gentleness availed.

  27. ومددتُ أَشراكَ التآل

    فِ والرياضُ إِليه مدّا

    And I spread the snares of intimacy

    and taming toward him, stretching them out.

  28. وختلتُهُ بحبائلي

    وأَرغتُهُ عكساً وطردا

    I used guile on him with my snares,

    and sought to lure him, this way and that.

  29. وسعيتُ لاستغوائه

    فإِذا به بالغيِّ أَهدى

    I strove to lead him astray,

    only to find him better versed in waywardness.

  30. ما كنتُ أَعلم أنه

    أَقوا يداً وأَعزُّ جندا

    I had not known that he

    was stronger of hand, with mightier troops.

  31. سحَرَ العيونَ فأَخطأَتْ

    قيداً لموقفِهِ وحدّا

    He bewitched the eyes, which could not set

    a bound or limit to his position.

  32. كالشمسِ تحسَبُها دنتْ

    للغربِ وهي أَشدُّ بعدا

    Like the sun: you think it has drawn near

    to the west, though it is farther away.

  33. إِني عييتُ بأَمره

    ولقيتُ مؤتلفاً وضدَّا

    I was utterly baffled by his ways,

    and found concord and opposition:

  34. قرباً وبعداً وهو لم

    يبرحْ ووجداناً وفقدا

    nearness and distance, though he never

    stirred; and finding and losing.

  35. فكَأَنَّ من دونِ البلو

    غِ إِليهِ هاويةً وسدّا

    As though, before I could reach

    him, there lay an abyss and a barrier.

  36. وأَرى الطوارقَ بعده

    ماءً ولكنْ لا كصدّا

    And after him, I see all night visitors as

    water—but none like Ṣaddā.

  37. هل كان في إِلمامه

    غير الأَسى والسهدِ أَسدى

    Had he, in his brief visit,

    bestowed anything but sorrow and sleeplessness?

  38. أَغرى وحَرَّضَ لوعةً

    وثّابةً واهتاجَ وجدا

    He roused and spurred a burning ache,

    ever leaping, and stirred up longing.

  39. أَورى وأَرّثَ جمرةً

    بين الجوانِح ليس تهدا

    He kindled and stoked an ember

    between my ribs that never subsides.

  40. ترك النوازي في فؤا

    دي تنبري جزراً ومدا

    He left restless pangs in my

    heart, surging in ebb and flow.

  41. ملكَ الفؤادَ فقاده

    وبمسكةِ العقلِ استبدا

    He possessed my heart and led it,

    and mastered the last shred of my reason.

  42. فلكمْ دعوتُ فما استجا

    بَ ولو دعوتُ صفا لردا

    So often I called, but he would not

    answer—had I called to stone, it would have replied.

  43. وكم ابتغيتُ له الوسي

    لةَ علّه يعطي فأَكدى

    And how often I sought a means of reaching him,

    hoping he would give—only for him to withhold.

  44. وكم استلنتُ فؤادَه

    يا للعواطفِ ما أَشدّا

    And how often I tried to soften his heart!

    Ah, the affections—how fierce!

  45. ولو استلنتُ بما أُعا

    لجه به لأَلنتُ صلدا

    And had I tried to soften anything with the means I

    used on him, I would have softened solid rock.

  46. فلقد جعلتُ حشاشتي

    مرعى له والدمعَ وِردا

    For I had made my life's last remnant

    his pasture, and my tears his watering place.

  47. ما زلتُ استدنيه وه

    و يلجُّ إِعراضاً وحردا

    I kept trying to draw him near, while

    he persisted in aversion and anger,

  48. حتى ارتميتُ وليس بي

    رمقٌ وقد جاوزتُ جهدا

    until I collapsed, without

    a breath of life, beyond the limit of endurance.

  49. وسقطتُ مخذولَ القوى

    كالطيرِ عن فننٍ تردّى

    And I fell, bereft of strength,

    like a bird that tumbled from a bough.

  50. أَهوى عليّ وضمّني

    وأَباحَ من شفتيه شهدا

    He bent down over me and embraced me,

    and offered honey from his lips.

  51. ما الرفدُ للمحرومِ حيْ

    نَ يجودُ بالأَنفاسِ رِفدا

    What use is a gift to the deprived when

    he yields his very breaths as an offering?