1. الحب داء دفين

    له الحديد يلين

    Love is a deeply hidden illness.

    Iron softens before it.

  2. تخفيه وهو يبين

    حيث الصدور بطون

    You conceal it, yet it becomes apparent,

    since chests are wombs

  3. للحب وهو الجنين

    إذا فنحن حبالى

    for love, which is the unborn child;

    thus we are pregnant.

  4. فلا تكن بالثقيل

    فيه ولا ذا الفضول

    So do not be a bore

    in it, nor a meddler.

  5. فالحب بالتطفيل

    ضرب من المستحيل

    For love through intrusion

    is a kind of impossibility,

  6. مستصعب لا يكون

    فلا تروموا المحالا

    intractable, never to be;

    so do not seek the impossible.

  7. للناس فيه سعود

    ومهبط وصعود

    In it, people have good fortunes,

    and descent and ascent.

  8. له الملوك عبياء

    منفذ ما يريد

    Before it, kings are witless;

    it carries out whatever it wishes.

  9. لو لم يكن لي دين

    لقلت جل تعالى

    Had I no faith,

    I would say, 'Majestic, exalted!'

  10. يا ما أحيلاه لوما

    نلقى به العكس دوما

    Oh, how sweet it would be, were it not that

    we always meet the opposite in it.

  11. نذرت للّه صوما

    إن يصف عيشه يوما

    I have vowed a fast to God,

    if life with it is ever serene for a day.

  12. فلا يغرك زين

    من أوجه تتلالا

    So do not be deceived by beauty

    from faces that gleam.

  13. كم في المحيا الصبيح

    من نفثة لسطيح

    How many, in a lovely face,

    are the spells breathed by Satih!

  14. تهب خطرة ريح

    على الفتى المستريح

    It blows as a sudden gust of wind

    upon the carefree youth,

  15. فيعتريه الجنون

    ومن يطيق الخبالا

    so madness overtakes him.

    And who can bear derangement?

  16. إن الهوى في دقيقة

    يريك عكس الحقيقة

    Indeed, passion, in a minute,

    shows you the reverse of reality.

  17. له النفوس مسوقة

    يخشى الجميع عفوقة

    Souls are driven toward it;

    everyone fears its blows.

  18. فلا تظن الظنون

    فيما ارتآه ضلالا

    So do not harbor suspicions

    of error in what it has deemed fit.

  19. يريك في القبح حسنا

    مذ فكره الحر أسنى

    It shows you beauty in ugliness,

    since its free thought is loftier.

  20. وفي تقاضيه لسنا

    نقول فيه انعكاسا

    And in its judgments, we do not

    speak of any reversal in it.

  21. ما قال فهو اليقين

    لم نبد فيه احتمالا

    Whatever it says is certainty;

    we have shown no uncertainty about it.

  22. قضى الاله بهذا

    فلا تقل فيه ماذا

    God has decreed this,

    so do not ask about it, 'What?'

  23. ولا تعدى وآذى

    من كان منه معاذا

    Nor overstep and harm

    whoever has been sheltered from it.

  24. لله فيه شؤون

    وقد كساه الجلالا

    God has His purposes in it,

    and He has clothed it in majesty.

  25. لم تجد رقية راق

    فيه ولم يلق راق

    No healer's incantation has availed

    against it, nor has a healer been found.

  26. أواه مما تلاقي

    معاشر العشاق

    Alas for what they endure—

    the companies of lovers!

  27. تأتي عليها المنون

    ولا تريد انفصالا

    Death comes upon them,

    yet they desire no separation.

  28. كم في الهوى من بلايا

    كم في الهوى من رزايا

    How many afflictions there are in passion!

    How many calamities there are in passion!

  29. كم في الهوى من خبايا

    تهون فيه المنايا

    How many secrets there are in passion!

    Death becomes easy in it;

  30. فيه المنايا تهون

    عي النسا والرجالا

    in it, death becomes easy.

    It has wearied women and men.

  31. إياكمو والتصابي

    في عنفوان الشباب

    Beware of youthful dalliance

    in the prime of youth.

  32. في الحب كل العذاب

    والحسن فيه كباب

    In love is every torment,

    and beauty there is like a gateway.

  33. كادت تنادي الشجون

    إياكمو والجمالا

    Sorrows nearly cried out:

    'Beware of beauty!'

  34. فعش خليا وإلا

    فاستبدل العز ذلا

    So live free of love; otherwise,

    then exchange honor for humiliation,

  35. واقبله في الجيد غلا

    معقدا لن يحلا

    and accept it as a shackle round your neck,

    tightly knotted, never to be undone.

  36. ولو رقاك الأمين

    لما وجدت انحلالا

    Even if the Trustworthy One recited charms over you,

    you would find no release.

  37. ويل لأهل الغرام

    فلا تمل للهيام

    Woe to lovers!

    So do not incline toward infatuation,

  38. فالعشق من عهد حام

    عين الشقا للأنام

    for passionate love, since the time of Ham,

    has been sheer misery for humankind.

  39. والدهر فيه يخون

    وسيء فيهم مآلا

    And time proves faithless in it,

    and for them it ends badly.

  40. ما العشق إلا الجحيم

    فيه العنا والهموم

    Passionate love is nothing but hell;

    in it are suffering and cares,

  41. ولذة لا تدوم

    فإن يقولوا نعيم

    and a pleasure that does not last.

    So if they say, 'It is bliss,

  42. والخطب فيه يهون

    قل مثل قولي لا لا

    and hardship in it grows light,'

    say, as I do, 'No, no!'