وَإنَّ مَقامَ الحبِّ عِندي ساعة
لسعدِكَ ملك الأَرضِ بَل هُوَ أَشرَفُ
Indeed, an hour’s sojourn in love, to my mind,
by your good fortune, is dominion over the earth—nay, something nobler.
يَجودُ بِأُنسٍ مَع حَديثٍ كَأَنَّهُ
جَنى النحلِ مَمزوجاً بِهِ مِنهُ قَرقَفُ
bestows intimacy and conversation as though it were
the bees’ gathered honey, blended with heady wine.
وَيَعرِفُ أَن قَد ذُبتُ مِنهُ صَبابَةً
وَما عارفٌ حباً كَمن لَيسَ يَعرِفُ
And he knows that I have melted away for him in ardent longing;
one acquainted with love is not like one who does not know it.
وَتَسري إِلى قَلبي لَطائِفُ أُنسِهِ
فَيَقوى بِذاكَ الأُنس من حَيثُ يَضعفُ
The subtle graces of his intimacy steal into my heart,
and through that intimacy it grows strong precisely where it is weak.
وَلَم أَرَ أَحلى مِن منادمةِ الهَوى
وَلا سيَّما إِن كانَ حُبُّك يُنصِفُ
Never have I seen anything sweeter than love’s convivial company,
especially if your love treats you fairly.
فَنهصُرُ مِن ذاكَ القوام أَراكَةً
وَتلثُمُ خَدّاً فيهِ وَردٌ مُضَعَّفُ
So from that figure we bend an arak tree down,
and she kisses a cheek where roses bloom twofold.
أَرَى كُلَّ مَن يَهوى يَحِنُّ حَبيبُهُ
إِليهِ وَيُدنيهِ وَبِالوَصلِ يُسعِفُ
I see that everyone who loves has a beloved who yearns
toward him, draws him near, and favors him with union.
وَقَلبي أَراه لَم يَكُن قَطُّ مائِلاً
لِمحبوبٍ إلا وَهوَ يَجفُو وَيجنفُ
Yet my heart, I see, has never once inclined
toward a beloved without his shunning me and turning unfairly away.
Sol 5.6