هذا الذي ثبتَت عليك شهودُه

إن كانَ لي حقاً فلستُ أريدُهُ

This one whose witnesses against me you've established

If I had any right, I wouldn't want it

ماذا أريدُ بلوعَةٍ من لاعجٍ

أبداً يشبُّ وقودُها ووقودُهُ

What do I want with anguish from one who rejects me

Whose fuel is always burning, and its kindling

وأراك يُنكرني هواك كأنه

عرَضٌ من الدنيا عليك أفيدُهُ

And I see you deny me your love as if

It were an offer from the world that benefits me

هيهاتَ ذاك ولو تواصلَ وصلُ من

أهوى فكيفَ جفاؤه وصدودُهُ

Far from it, even if the union of the one I love continues

How can his aloofness and his rejection be?

ومغرد باللوم طال غِناؤه

وحِداؤه بملامَتي ونَشيدُهُ

And he chirps blaming me, his singing is long

His solitude in blaming me and composing poems against me

أمسى يرجِّعُه ليُسمِعَني به

حتَّام أسمعُه وأنت تعيدُهُ

He recites it to make me hear it every evening

Surely I hear it while you repeat it

أو ما تُحاذِر أن تلومَ على الهوى

أحداً فيسمَعَك الهوى وجُنودُهُ

Or are you not wary of blaming love

So love hears you and its troops

إن لم تكن متعرِّماً لِلقائِه

ولقاؤه صعبُ المرام شَديدُهُ

If you were not disdainful of meeting him

And meeting him is difficult, severe

ومهفهفٍ وافاكَ يشهدُ خدُّه

قطعاً عليَّ بما جنيتُ وجيدُهُ

With a frowning face whose cheek bears witness against me

Certainly with what I have reaped and harvested

قد كان ذاك لثمتُه وكَلمته

ولئن فعلتُ فبالفؤادِ أقيدُهُ

That was because I kissed him and spoke to him

And if I did so, it was with my heart I fettered him

ونوائبٍ بعثَ الزمان عوارضاً

مِنهنَّ فاعترض النّدى وفريدُهُ

And misfortunes, time brought about circumstances

Among them, happiness intercepted its companion

فرجعنَ قبل وصولهنَّ جوافلاً

يستاقهنَّ أبو الوحيد وجودُهُ

So they returned in droves before reaching me

Yearning for them, the Bountiful and His Generosity

فعلاته في الخيل عند مغارِها

وهناك إن ذُكر الردى موعودُهُ

His horses at their stables when ruin is mentioned

There, its promise is made

لا يُدنِيَنك منه رقَّة خُلقه

فالسيفُ يقطعُ إذ يرقُّ حديدُهُ

Do not let the gentleness of his manners bring you near him

For the sword cuts even as its steel is soft

وابعُد إلى أن يُستماح فإنه

يهتزُّ جوداً عند ذلك عودُهُ

And keep your distance until you ask for respite, for then

His wood shakes generously at that time

للَه درُّك والغبارُ كأنه

خيسٌ وأنت ومن يليكَ أسودُهُ

God reward you, and the dust is as if

It were chaff while you and those around you are black

تترنَّمون فتسمعونَ سيوفَكم

تحكي رنُّمكم لكم وتُجيدُهُ

You hum, so you hear your swords

Narrate your humming to you and excel at it

وكأنما نغماتُها نغماتُه

وكأنما تمديدُها تمديدُهُ

As if their melodies are his melodies

And as if their extension is his extension

في ليلةٍ كنتم عمودَ صباحِها

حتى استضاءَ من الصباح عمودُهُ

On a night when you were the pillars of its dawn

Until the dawn illuminated its pillars

وأراك أغريتَ الحِمامَ بمعشرٍ

وأراك عنهم بعدَ ذاك تذودُهُ

And I see you have tempted the pigeons with a group

Then after that you chase them away

وأراه في هذا وذلكَ طائعاً

حتى كأنك حيثُ شئتَ تقودُهُ

And I see him in this and that, obedient

As if wherever you wanted, you lead him

فلأمنحنَّك يا مبيدَ نَواله

ما لا أظنُّك تستطيعُ تُبيدُهُ

So I will grant you, O annihilator of his bliss

What I don't think you can annihilate