ماذا على ساداتنا أهل الوفا

لو أرسلوا طيف الزيارة في خفا

What fault lies with our masters, men of loyalty,

What burden would it be upon our masters, the people of loyalty,

If they were to send a ghostly visit in secrecy,

If they were to send the phantom of a visit in secret?

بترصّد الرقباء حتى يغفلوا

ويكون مانع وصلنا ليلا غفا

Lurking to evade the guards until inattentive they be,

Watching for the guardians until they grow negligent,

Making our union's obstacle a night of unwariness.

And the one who bars our union falls asleep at night.

فإذا تمكنّت الزيارة خفية

يأتي مواعد وصلنا متلطّفا

If the furtive visit succeeds,

Then, if the visit becomes possible in secrecy,

It comes to our tryst gently and politely,

The one who promised our union would come with gentle grace.

ويكون قبل حلوله أفرشته

خدي وطاء للنعال وللحفا

Making, before its arrival, my cheek

And before his arrival, I would have spread for him

A rug for its shoes and wrap.

My cheek as a carpet for his sandals and bare feet.

ويكون بيت نزوله قلبي الذي

وحياتهم من حب غيرهم عفا

My heart would be its lodging,

And his lodging place would be my heart, which—

Their lives having shunned others' love.

By their life!—has been wiped clean of love for any other.

ضيفٌ له نزل لديّ كرامة

كبدٌ شواها البعد في جمر الجفا

A guest whose honor lies in staying with me

A guest for whom the feast of honor within me is

A liver seared by separation in the embers of abandonment.

A liver roasted by distance upon the embers of estrangement.

يا سعدُ إن كنت البشير بوصله

فلقد أتيت على المسرة والوفا

O Saad! You being the herald of its arrival-

O Sa'd, if you are the herald bringing news of his union,

You have come at an excellent, loyal time.

Then you have truly arrived with joy and fulfillment.

لو أنّ نفسي لي إليك بذلتها

وأراه بذل مقصر ما أنصفا

If I were to sacrifice my soul for you

If my soul were mine to give, I would offer it to you,

And find him to have fallen short, it would not be fair.

Yet I see it as a meager offering that falls short of justice.

وتكون يا سعد المساعد للذي

من هجر من يهواه صار على شفا

And you, Saad, would aid the one

And you would be, O Sa'd, the helper of one who,

Who, having been distanced from his beloved, is barely surviving.

From the desertion of his beloved, stands upon the brink of death.

لم يبق يوم البين والهجر الذي

خلقا لتعذيب الأحبة مسعفا

Of the days of separation and estrangement that

The day of parting and that abandonment,

Were created to torture lovers, none remains

Created to torture lovers, has left nothing to aid existence,

إلا صبابته وجسما قد غدا

ملقى كشنّ بالفلا لن يخصفا

Except its morning and a body that has become

Except his yearning and a body that has become

Cast off like old cloth, beyond mending.

Cast down like a worn waterskin in the desert, beyond all mending.

زفرات قلبي جمر نار أججت

منه دموع العين فاضت ذرّفا

The sighs of my heart are embers that

The sighs of my heart are embers of a fire kindled,

Ignited tears from my eyes pouring down.

From which the tears of the eye have overflowed in torrents.

بمحاجر من حاجر أقذاء قد

طردت ضيوف الطيف جاءت طوّفا

With eyelids of one worn by wakefulness who

In eye-sockets that, due to the grit of obstacles, have

Expelled the specters that came wandering.

Driven away the phantom guests that came circling.

هل من منام للديغ بمرّة

فضلا عن المرات أو هل من غفا

Is there any sleep for the afflicted one,

Is there sleep for one stung but once?

Let alone repeated sleep or even a nap?

Let alone for one stung repeatedly—is there any slumber at all?

ما إن تألق برق سلع والحمى

حتى تفيض النفس منه تأسفا

No sooner does the lightning of weapons shine

No sooner does the lightning of Sal' and Al-Hima flash,

Than the soul overflows from it, lamenting.

Than the soul overflows with sorrow because of it.

وأراه سيفا صارما وسط الحشا

فعل الأفاعي أو شهابا ما انطفا

I see it a sharp sword amidst the darkness

I perceive it as a sharp sword striking within my vitals,

Doing snakes’ work or a shooting star extinguished.

Acting like vipers, or a meteor that never extinguishes.

يحكي زفيري رعدُه ورياحُه

ووبله حاكى دموعي الوكفا

My sighs mimic its thunder and winds

Its thunder and winds mimic my heavy sighs,

And its affliction mimics my gushing tears.

And its downpour resembles my cascading tears.

وإذا جرى ذكر العقيق وأهله

أجرى العقيق تأسّفا وتلهّفا

And when the agate and its people were mentioned

And when Al-Aqiq and its people are mentioned,

The agate wept and yearned profusely.

It causes agate-red tears to flow in regret and yearning.

يا أهل طيبة ما لكم لم ترحموا

صبا غدا لنوالكم متكفّفا

O people of Taybah, why have you not taken pity

O people of Tiba, why do you not show mercy

On a youth who will greet you covered in dust?

To a lovesick man who has become a beggar for your grace?

لا تجمعوا بين الصدود وبعدكم

حسبي الصدود عقوبة فلقد كفى

Combine not estrangement and your distance from me

Do not combine rejection with your distance;

Estrangement is punishment enough, so enough!

Rejection alone is punishment enough for me, it surely suffices.

لم أدر شيئا قبل معرفة الهوى

حبي لكم ما كان قط تكلفا

I knew nothing before falling in love;

I knew nothing of life before knowing passion;

My love for you was never pretense.

My love for you was never an act of pretense.

ما بالهم يا صاح لم يتذكروا

صبا كئيبا في المحبة مدنفا

What is wrong with them, o companion, that they forgot

What ails them, O friend, that they do not remember

A miserable youth madly in love?

A melancholic lover, physically wasted by affection?

ما قيل ذاك أسيرنا وقتيلنا

بين العوادي والأعادي مثقفا

It was said: that prisoner of ours and our slain one

Not once was it said, "That is our captive and our slain one,"

Is stuck between allies and enemies.

Caught between misfortunes and enemies, pierced through.

قلبي الأسير لديكم والجسم في

أسر العداة معذبا ومكتفا

My heart is your prisoner, while my body

My heart is a captive with you, while my body remains

Is jailed by enemies, tortured and shackled.

In the captivity of enemies, tortured and bound.

حاشاكم لجميل ظني فيكم

أن تشتموا في العدو المرجفا

Far be it from your kind thoughts of me

Far be it from you—for my opinion of you remains beautiful—

To insult the agitating enemy!

To let the rumor-mongering enemy gloat over my state.

ولطالما لام العذول بحبّكم

وأطال عتبي ناصحا ومعنفا

How often the censurer has blamed me for loving you,

How often has the censor blamed me for loving you,

Prolonging his rebuke, advising and scolding me.

Prolonging his rebuke, offering counsel and harsh words.

ولكم سعى كيما يصرف وجهتي

عن وجه ودكم ولم يك مصرفا

He has tried to turn my affection away

And how he strove to turn my direction

From your kindred spirit, but to no avail.

Away from the face of your affection, yet he could not turn me.

ويودّ لو أني سلوت هواكم

فيكون لي خلا وفيا منصفا

He wishes I would give up your love

He wishes I would find solace from your passion,

So I could have time for myself and be fair.

That he might become my loyal and just friend.

قلب الشجي كما علمتم إنه

لا ينثني عن حبكم متخوفا

As you know, the heart of the smitten

The heart of this aggrieved one, as you well know,

Does not recoil from loving you out of fear.

Does not turn away from your love in fear.

يبغي الوصال ولو تمزق تالفا

ويلذ أن يلقى العذاب ويتلفا

It seeks union even if it perishes,

It seeks union, even if torn to shreds and destroyed,

And relishes tribulation unto annihilation.

And finds sweet pleasure in meeting torment and ruin.

يسري ولو أن الظلام عداته

ويسير لو كان النهار المرهفا

It proceeds even if darkness is its equipment,

It travels by night even if darkness be its foe,

And journeys on even if the bare desert is its terrain.

And marches on, though the day be a drawn sword.