1. صِلَةُ الْخَيَالِ عَلَى الْبِعَادِ لِقَاءُ

    لَوْ كانَ يَمْلِكُ عَيْنِيَ الإِغْفَاءُ

    A visit from your dream-image, despite distance, is a meeting,

    if slumber could but take possession of my eye.

  2. يا هاجِري مِنْ غَيْرِ ذَنْبٍ في الْهَوَى

    مَهْلاً فَهَجْرُكَ والْمَنُونُ سَواءُ

    O you who forsake me, though I have committed no fault in love,

    be gentle: your desertion and death are alike.

  3. أَغْرَيْتَ لَحْظَكَ بالْفُؤادِ فَشَفَّهُ

    ومِنَ الْعُيُونِ عَلَى النُّفُوسِ بَلاءُ

    You incited your glance against my heart, and it wasted it away;

    and from eyes comes affliction upon souls.

  4. هِيَ نَظْرَةٌ فامْنُنْ عَلَي بِأُخْتِها

    فالْخَمْرُ مِنْ أَلَمِ الْخُمارِ شِفَاءُ

    It is a glance; favor me with its sister,

    for wine is a cure for the pain of a hangover.

  5. أَنا مِنْكَ مَطْوِيُّ الْفُؤادِ عَلَى جَوىً

    لَوْلا الْدُّمُوعُ ذَكَتْ بِهِ الْحَوْبَاءُ

    Because of you, my heart is folded around burning grief;

    were it not for tears, my soul would blaze with it.

  6. لا أَنْتَ تَرْحَمُنِي ولا نَارُ الْهَوَى

    تَخْبُو وَلاَ للنَّفْسِ عَنْكَ عَزاءُ

    Neither do you pity me, nor does love's fire

    subside, nor has my soul any solace apart from you.

  7. فانْظُرْ إِلَيَّ تَجِدْ خَيَالَةَ صُورَةٍ

    لم يَبْقَ فيها للحياةِ ذَمَاءُ

    So look at me: you will find the ghostly image of a form

    in which no last spark of life remains.

  8. رَقَّتْ لِيَ الْوَرْقَاءُ في عَذَباتِها

    وبَكَتْ عَلَيَّ بِدَمْعِهَا الأَنْدَاءُ

    The gray dove pitied me on her branch-tips,

    and the dewdrops wept over me with their tears.

  9. وَتَحَدَّثَتْ رُسُلُ النَّسِيمِ بلَوْعَتِي

    فَلِكُلِّ غُصْنٍ نَحْوَها إِصْغَاءُ

    The messengers of the breeze spoke of my anguish,

    so every branch listens attentively to them.

  10. كَلَفٌ تَنَاقَلَهُ الْحَمامُ عَنِ الصَّبَا

    فصَبَتْ إِلَيْهِ الْغِيدُ والشُّعَراءُ

    A passion the doves relayed from the east wind,

    so graceful maidens and poets yearned for it.

  11. فَبِقَلْبِ كُلِّ فَتىً غَرامٌ كامِنٌ

    وبِعِطْفِ كُلِّ مَلِيحَةٍ خُيَلاءُ

    For in every young man's heart lies a hidden passion,

    and in every beautiful woman's bearing, pride.

  12. فَدَعِ التَّكَهُّنَ يا طَبِيبُ فإِنَّمَا

    دائِي الْهَوَى ولِكُلِّ نَفْسٍ داءُ

    So cease your guessing, physician, for it is only

    love that ails me, and every soul has an ailment.

  13. أَلَمُ الصَّبَابَةِ لَذَّةٌ تَحْيَا بِها

    نَفْسِي وَدَائِي لَوْ عَلِمْتَ دَواءُ

    The pain of longing is a pleasure that sustains

    my soul; my illness, if you knew, is a cure.

  14. وبِمُهْجَتِي رَشَئِيَّةٌ مِنْ دُونِها

    أُسُدٌ لَهَا قَصَبُ الرِّمَاحِ أَبَاءُ

    And in my heart dwells a fawn-like maiden; before her

    are lions, for whom spear-shafts are reed-thickets.

  15. هَيْفَاءُ مالَ بِهَا النَّعيمُ فَخَطْوُها

    دُونَ الْقَطاةِ ونُطْقُها إِيمَاءُ

    Slender-waisted, luxury makes her sway, so her steps

    are shorter than a sandgrouse's, and her speech is gesture.

  16. تَرْنُو بِأَحْوَرَ لَوْ تَمَكَّنَ لَحْظُهُ

    مِنْ صَخْرَةٍ لَارْفَضَّ مِنها الماءُ

    She gazes with a dark-pupiled eye; if its glance gained power

    over a rock, water would gush from it.

  17. حَكَمَ الجَمالُ لها بِمَا تَخْتَارُهُ

    فَتَحَكَّمَتْ في النَّاسِ كَيفَ تَشاءُ

    Beauty has decreed for her whatever she chooses,

    so she rules over people however she wills.

  18. غَضِبَتْ عَلَيَّ وَما جَنَيتُ وَرُبَّما

    حَمَلَ الْمَشُوقُ الذَّنْبَ وَهوَ بَراءُ

    She grew angry with me though I did no wrong; sometimes

    the longing lover bears the blame though innocent.

  19. طافَ الوُشاةُ بِها فَكانَ لِقَوْلِهِمْ

    في مِسْمَعَيْها رَنَّةٌ وحُداءُ

    The slanderers circled her, and their words had

    in her ears a ringing tone and a camel-driver's song.

  20. لَوْلا النَّمِيمَةُ لم يَقَعْ بَيْنَ امْرِئٍ

    وأَخِيهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ الْوِدادِ عِداءُ

    Were it not for tale-bearing, there would not arise between a man

    and his brother any enmity after affection.

  21. أَشَقِيقَةَ الْقَمَرَيْنِ أَيُّ وَسِيلَةٍ

    تُدْنِي إِلَيكِ فَلَيْس لِي شُفَعَاءُ

    O sister of the sun and moon, what means

    can bring me near you? For I have no intercessors.

  22. جُودِي عَلَيَّ ولَوْ بِوَعْدٍ كاذِبٍ

    فالْوَعْدُ فيهِ تَعِلَّةٌ ورَجَاءُ

    Be generous to me, even with a false promise,

    for in a promise lie solace and hope.

  23. وَثِقِي بِكِتْمَانِ الْحَدِيثِ فإِنَّمَا

    شَفَتاي خَتْمٌ والْفُؤادُ وِعاءُ

    And trust that the conversation will be kept secret, for

    my lips are a seal, and my heart a vessel.

  24. لا تَرْهَبِي قَوْلَ الْوُشاةِ فإِنَّهُمْ

    قَدْ أَحْسَنُوا في الْقَوْلِ حِينَ أَساءُوا

    Do not fear the slanderers' words, for they

    have spoken well even as they spoke ill.

  25. زَعَمُوكِ شَمْسَاً لا تَلُوحُ بظُلْمَةٍ

    ولِقَولِهِمْ عِنْدِي يَدٌ بَيْضاءُ

    They called you a sun that does not appear in darkness,

    and their words, to me, are a white hand of kindness.

  26. فَعَلامَ تَخْشَيْنَ الزِّيارَةَ بعدَما

    أَمِنَ ازْدِيارَكِ في الدُّجَى الرُّقَباءُ

    Why, then, do you fear a visit, now that

    the watchers no longer fear your visiting in the dark?

  27. هِيَ زَلَّةٌ في الرأْيِ مِنْهُمْ أَعْقَبَتْ

    نَفْعَاً كَذَلِكَ تَفْعَلُ الْجُهَلاءُ

    It was a slip in judgment on their part that brought

    benefit; such is the way the ignorant act.

  28. كَيْدُ الْغَبِيِّ مَساءَةٌ لِضَمِيرِهِ

    وَلِمَنْ يُحَاوِلُ كَيْدَهُ إِرْضَاءُ

    The fool's plotting harms his own conscience,

    and gratifies the one he seeks to plot against.

  29. والناسُ أَشْبَاهٌ ولَكِنْ فَرَّقَتْ

    ما بَيْنَهُمْ في الرُّتْبَةِ الآراءُ

    And people are alike, yet they have been set apart

    from one another in rank by their judgments.

  30. وَالنَّفْسُ إِنْ صَلَحَتْ زَكَتْ وَإِذَا خَلَتْ

    مِنْ فِطْنَةٍ لَعِبَتْ بها الأَهْوَاءُ

    And the soul, if sound, grows pure; and when devoid

    of discernment, passions toy with it.

  31. لَوْ لَمْ يَكُنْ بَيْنَ الرِّجالِ تَفَاوُتٌ

    ما كانَ فيهِمْ سادَةٌ ورِعاءُ

    If there were no differences among men,

    there would be neither lords nor shepherds among them.

  32. وَلَقَدْ بَلَوْتُ النّاسَ في أَطْوارِهِمْ

    ومَلِلْتُ حتَّى مَلَّني الإِبْلاءُ

    And I have indeed tested people in their changing states,

    and grown weary until testing itself grew weary of me.

  33. فَإِذا المَوَدَّةُ خَلَّةٌ مَكْذُوبَةٌ

    بَيْنَ الْبَرِيَّةِ والوَفاءُ رِياءُ

    And behold, affection is a falsely claimed trait

    among humankind, and faithfulness is pretense.

  34. كَيْفَ الْوثُوقُ بِذِمَّةٍ مِنْ صاحِبٍ

    وَبِكُلِّ قَلْبٍ نُقْطَةٌ سَوْداءُ

    How can one trust a pledge from a friend,

    when every heart contains a black spot?

  35. لَوْ كَانَ فِي الدُّنْيَا وِدَادٌ صَادِقٌ

    مَا حَالَ بَيْنَ الخُلَّتَيْنِ جَفاءُ

    If true affection existed in this world,

    estrangement would not come between two friends.

  36. فانْفُضْ يَدَيْكَ مِنَ الزَّمانِ وأَهْلِهِ

    فالسَّعْيُ في طَلَبِ الصَّديِقِ هَبَاءُ

    So shake your hands free of the age and its people;

    for striving to find a friend is mere dust.