لَنا قَدَمٌ في ساحَةِ الحُبِّ راسِخ
وَحُكمٌ لِمسلاةِ المُحبينَ ناسِخُ
In love’s arena, we have a firmly planted foot,
and a decree that annuls all lovers’ consolation.
وَلَو أَنَّ قَلبي رامَ عَقداً لسلوَةٍ
لَكانَ لَهُ مِن حاكم العشقِ فاسِخُ
And if my heart should seek a compact with forgetfulness,
the sovereign power of love would surely dissolve it.
وَلي مِن بَني الأَتراكِ أَهيفُ شادنٌ
لَهُ نَسَبٌ في آلِ خاقانَ باذِخُ
I have a slender young gazelle from among the Turks,
of lofty lineage in the house of the Khagan.
يلينُ كَلاماً وَهوَ قاسٍ فؤادُهُ
وَيَدنو اتضاعاً مِنهُ وَالأَنفُ شامِخُ
His speech is gentle, though his heart is hard;
he draws near in humility, while his pride stands high.
بِوَجهٍ يَلوحُ الحُسنُ مِن قَسماتِهِ
وَقَدٍّ كَغُصنِ البانِ وَالبانُ شارِخُ
His is a face from whose features beauty gleams,
and a figure like a willow bough—the willow tall and young—
وَرِدفٌ حماهُ أَن يُنالَ بِنَظرَةٍ
مِن الشعرِ المضفورِ أَسودُ سالِخُ
and haunches guarded even from the reach of a glance
by braided hair, a black, skin-shedding serpent.
إِذا ما رَنا يَوماً إِلَيهِ أَخو الهَوى
تَلَقّاه مِنهُ نافِثُ السُمِّ نافِخُ
Whenever a lover casts his gaze upon them,
a hissing, poison-breathing serpent meets him there.
أَيا عَجَباً للحُبِّ كَم ذا أكنُّهُ
وَأكتمُهُ وَالوَجد بِالحُبِّ صارِخُ
Oh, what a marvel love is! How deeply I conceal it
and keep it secret, while passion cries love aloud.
تملَّكَني هَذا الهَوى فَكَأَنَّما
بِهِ نَحو قَلبي مِن دَواعيه ناتِخُ
This passion has possessed me, as though
one of its urgings were tugging it toward my heart.
وَقَد حَلَّ بي ما لَو يحُلُّ أَقلُّهُ
بِيذبلَ أَمسى وَهوَ في الأَرضِ سايِخُ
There has befallen me such anguish that, were the least of it
to strike Mount Yadhbul, it would sink into the earth.
فَفي مُهجَتي نارٌ عَلى الكبدِ وَقدها
وَمِن مُقلَتي ماءٌ عَلى الخَدِّ ناضِخُ
Within my very soul is fire, its blaze upon my liver,
and from my eye comes water, gushing down my cheek.
Sol 5.6