ما بال شجوك ظاهرٌ لم تخفِه

أعليك حق مطالب لم توفِهِ

Why is your yearning apparent, you do not conceal it

Do you have a rightful claim that has not been fulfilled

أم قد صبوت إلى ربي وادي الظبا

فتلا الغرام عليك آيةَ حتفه

Or have you inclined towards the valley of gazelles’ Lord

So the pangs of love befell you as a sign of its demise

أم قد ذكرت غزال ذيّاك الحمى

بشهود ظبي الواديين وخشفه

Or did you recall the antelope of your love

In the witnessing of the valley’s gazelles and rocky trails

فالشيء معهودٌ برؤية مثله

شكلاً ومذكورٌ بنظرة إلفه

A thing is usual in seeing its like

In appearance and mentioned in a glance of familiarity

يا صاحبيَّ بلى تذكَّرتُ الحمى

فأثار من وجدي الذي لم أُخفه

O my friend, yes, I recalled the antelope

So it stirred the love I did not conceal

وأهاج أحزاني تألُّق بارقٍ

قد لاح من نحو الحمى بل حرفه

And aroused my sorrows with a shining radiance

That appeared from the direction of the antelope, even its horizon

طوراً كأنفاسي يدوم وتارة

يبدو فيخفيه الغمام بسجفه

Sometimes lasting like my breaths and other times

Appearing then the clouds would hide it with its folds

والريح تذكيه بما قد حمِّلت

مني ويطفيه السحاب بوكفه

And the wind would ignite it with what

It has carried from me, and the rain would extinguish it with its palm

وبمهجتي ظبي يصيد بجيده ال

آساد فضلاً عن كنانة طرفه

And in my love the gazelle hunts with its neck

Lions besides the gracefulness of its glance

وبي الذي يُغنيه ذابلُ قدِّه

عن رمحه ولحاظُه عن سيفه

And in me, the one who sings its slender waist

Neglecting his spear and his sword its sheath

قد فاق بدرَ التِّمِّ في تدويره

فتأنَّ بالإشراق ليلة نصفه

It surpassed the full moon in its revolution

So the night of its half looked on in admiration

غصنٌ تؤوِّده رياح دلاله

تيهاً وتثبته رزانة ردفه

A branch made delicate by the winds of its charm

Lost yet steady in the composure of its poise

جسدٌ من الجريال قوِّم شكله

لكنّما الوصّاف حار بوصفه

A body of smooth silk, upright is its shape

But the describer was confused in describing it

هو كيمياء الحسن إكسير البها

كنزُ الملاحة في الجمال ولطفه

It is the elixir of beauty, the chemistry of charm

The treasure of splendor in beauty and its subtlety

ملك القلوب بمشرفيِّ لحاظه

فشهوده في وجنتيه وكفِّه

The king of hearts with the nobility of its gaze

So its witnesses are in its cheeks and palm

وكأن مغناطيس قلبي ذاتُه

تقضي عليه بجذبِه وبجذفه

As if my heart’s magnet was its very essence

Capturing it with its pull and push

قد فرَّ قلبي نحوه ولقد غدا

ما بين لبَّتِه وملعب شنفه

My heart has fled to it and it has become

Between its affection and the field of its prowess

لا والذي أولاه صعب مقادتي

وأذلّ عزمي باللّحاظ وعطفه

No, by Him who enabled its difficult leading

And humiliated my determination with its gaze and compassion

ما خُلتُ عن سَنَن المحبة كارهاً

مضضَ الجفاء بظُلمه وبحيفه

I have not averted the ways of love unwillingly

Disliking the injustice and unfairness of estrangement

كلا ولا خطرُ السلوذِ بخاطرٍ

هو حاضرٌ تمثاله في جوفه

No, and the idea of indifference has not occurred to a mind

Which has its shape present in its interior

كيف السلوُّ ومهجتي مطروحة

رهن المقلِّ على مواطئ خصفه

How can there be indifference while my love is placed

Hostage to the glance upon the plains of its rock

لو أشرب السلوان لم أسلُ ولو

أدخلت قلبي دجلةً لم تطفه

Even if I were to drink indifference I would not be indifferent

And if my heart entered the Euphrates it would not extinguish it

في حسن يوسف قد تجلّى باهرا

وبحزن يعقوب غدوتُ وضعفه

In Yusuf’s beauty it has appeared brilliantly

And in Ya’qub’s sorrow I have become and his weakness

فمن البشير بعَوده وإيابه

نحوي ومن يأتي الكئيب بشفِّه

So who brings the good tidings of his return and coming

Back to me and who will bring the sorrowful one with his remedy

يا بدرُ إن شطّ المزار ولم تطق

وصلاً فزرني في المنام وطيفه

O full moon, if the land has become narrow and you could not

Manage union then visit me in the dream and its ghosts

ما هكذا دَدَنُ الظباء العين بل

ما هكذا صنعُ الأليف بإلفه

The gazelles do not stroke the eye like this, no

The familiar one does not treat his familiarity like that

فلقد حفتَ وما أظنُّك مازحاً

حين اصطحابي بالرضاب ورشفه

For you have indeed pledged while I do not think you jesting

When you made me your companion with consent and its ease

أن لا تميل إلى الوشاة وقولهم

والحرُّ أولى أن يبُرَّ بحلفه

That you do not incline towards the slanderers and their words

While the free one is most deserving that his covenant is proven by his oath

فارحم فديتك حرقتي وتولّهي

واعطف فقد فنِيَ الفؤاد بسوفه

So have mercy, love, on my burning and confusion

And be compassionate for the heart has perished due to waiting

فلقد أطعتُ هواك منقاداً له

وعصيتُ ما جاء العذول بعسفه

For I have obeyed your love submissive to it

And disobeyed what the separation came with from its harshness

ورأيتُ كل الراي رفض عواذلي

والناس بين مُصوِّبٍ ومسفِّه

And I have seen all opinions refuse my love

And the people between supporter and critic