1. وِصَالُكَ لِي هَجْرٌ وَهَجْرُكَ لِي وَصْلُ

    فَزِدْنِي صُدُوداً مَا اسْتَطَعْتَ وَلا تَأْلُ

    Your union with me is estrangement, and your estrangement from me is union.

    So shun me as much as you can, and spare no effort.

  2. إِذَا كَانَ قُرْبِي مِنْكَ بُعْدَاً عَنِ الْمُنَى

    فَلا حُمَّتِ اللُّقْيَا وَلا اجْتَمَعَ الشَّمْلُ

    If my nearness to you means distance from my hopes,

    Then may no meeting be ordained, nor any reunion come to pass.

  3. وَكَيْفَ أَوَدُّ الْقُرْبَ مِنْ مُتَلَوِّنٍ

    كَثِيرِ خَبَايَا الصَّدْرِ شِيمَتُهُ الْخَتْلُ

    And how could I desire closeness to a fickle man,

    Whose breast holds many secrets, and whose nature is deceit?

  4. فَلَيْتَ الَّذِي بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكَ يَنْتَهِي

    إِلَى حَيْثُ لا طَلْحٌ يَرِفُّ وَلا أَثْلُ

    Would that what lies between me and you might end

    Where no acacia sways, nor any tamarisk.

  5. خَبُثْتَ فَلَوْ طُهِّرْتَ بِالْمَاءِ لاكْتَسَى

    بِكَ الْمَاءُ خُبْثاً لا يَحِلُّ بِهِ الْغَسْلُ

    You are foul: were you cleansed with water, the water would be clothed

    Through you in foulness, making washing with it unlawful.

  6. فَوَجْهُكَ مَنْحُوسٌ وَكَعْبُكَ سَافِلٌ

    وَقَلْبُكَ مَدْغُولٌ وَعَقْلُكَ مُخْتَلُّ

    So your face is ill-omened, and your standing is low,

    And your heart is deceitful, and your mind unsound.

  7. بِكَ اسْوَدَّتِ الأَيَّامُ بَعْدَ ضِيَائِهَا

    وَأَصْبَحَ نَادِي الْفَضْلِ لَيْسَ بِهِ أَهْلُ

    Because of you, the days turned black after their brightness,

    And the hall of virtue now has no one in it.

  8. فَلَوْ لَمْ تَكُنْ فِي الدَّهْرِ مَا انْقَضَّ حَادِثٌ

    بِقَوْمٍ وَلا زَلَّتْ بِذِي أَمَلٍ نَعْلُ

    So, had you not been in this age, no calamity would have swooped down

    Upon a people, nor would a hopeful man's sandal have slipped.

  9. فَمَا نَكْبَةٌ إِلا وَأَنْتَ رَسُولُهَا

    وَلا خَيْبَةٌ إِلا وَأَنْتَ لَهَا أَصْلُ

    For there is no disaster but you are its messenger,

    And no disappointment but you are its root.

  10. أَذُمُّ زَمَانَاً أَنْتَ فِيهِ وَبَلْدَةً

    طَلَعْتَ عَلَيْهَا إِنَّهُ زَمَنٌ وَغْلُ

    I condemn an age in which you live, and a town

    Over which you have risen; truly, it is a vile age.

  11. ذِمَامُكَ مَخْفُورٌ وَعَهْدُكَ ضَائِعٌ

    وَرَأْيُكَ مَأْفُونٌ وَعَقْلُكَ مُخْتَلُّ

    Your pledged protection is violated, and your pledge is lost,

    And your judgment is feeble, and your mind unsound.

  12. مَخَازٍ لَوَ انَّ النَّجْمَ حُمِّلَ بَعْضَهَا

    لَعَاجَلَهُ مِنْ دُونِ إِشْرَاقِهِ أَفْلُ

    Disgraces—if a star were made to bear some of them,

    Setting would swiftly overtake it before it could shine.

  13. فَسِرْ غَيْرَ مَأْسُوفٍ عَلَيْكَ فَإِنَّمَا

    قُصَارَى ذَمِيمِ الْعَهْدِ أَنْ يُقْطَعَ الْحَبْلُ

    So go, unlamented; for the sole

    End for one faithless to his pledge is that the cord be severed.