كَأَنَّ عِذَارَ مَنْ أُحِبُّ بِخَدِّهِ

رِضَاهُ وفِيهِ بعْضُ آثَارِ صَدِّهِ

As if the reproach of the one I love on his cheek

Is his consent, though it bears some marks of his rejection

رَشِيقُ التَّثَنِّي رَاشِقُ الجَفْنِ فَاتِكٌ

جُيُوشُ الهَوَى مِنْ تَحْتِ رَايةِ قَصْدِهِ

Graceful, languid, large-eyed, perfect

The troops of passion beneath the banner of his purpose

يُكَلِّفُ رِدْفَيْهِ مِنَ الثُّقْلِ مِثْلَ مَا

يُكَلِّفُ مِنْ ثُقْلِ الهَوَى قَلْبَ عَبْدِهِ

He burdens his cheeks with the like of what

He burdens the heart of his slave with the weight of passion

يَمُوجُ غَدِيرٌ تَحْتَ غُصْنِ قَوَامِهِ

وَثُعْبَانُ ذَاكَ الشِّعْرِ ظَامٍ لِوِرْدِهِ

A stream surges beneath the branch of his stature

And that snake, his curling hair, is dark for his roses

تَوَلَّى قَضَايَا الحَلِّ والعَقْدِ بَنْدُهُ

فَضَاقَ مَجَالُ الخُصْرِ مِنْ عَقْدِ بَنْدِهِ

He has charge of the questions of connection and separation his coquetry

So the expanse of the waist is narrow for his belt’s bond

فَإِنْ كَانَ مِنْ خَدَّيْهِ نَارٌ دُخَانُهَا

بِصُدْغَيْهِ فالجَنَّاتُ مِنْ تَحْتِ بُرْدِهِ

If from his cheeks comes fire whose smoke

Is in his apple cheeks, then gardens beneath his coldness

فَلا تَلْتَمِس إنْجَازَ مَوْعِدِ جَفْنِهِ

فَفِيهِ فُتُورٌ فَالْتَمِسْ خُلْفَ وَعْدِهِ

So do not seek the fulfillment of the promise of his eyelids

For in it is weakness; seek his failure to keep his word

فَإِنْ كَانَ يَهْوَىَ الخُلْفَ أَفْدِيهِ مَالهُ

يُوَافِقُ في قَتْلِ المُحِبِّ بِجَهْدِهِ

If he inclines to failure, I ransom him with my wealth

To agree to kill the lover with his effort

فَخَرْتُ بِحُسْنِ النَّظْمِ فيهِ فقالَ لي

تَعَلَّمْتَهُ مِنْ نَظْمِ ثَغْرِي وَعِقْدِهِ

So I fell by the excellence of prosody in it and he said to me

“You learned it from the prosody of my mouth and its knots”

وَلَمَّا رَأَى دَمْعِي دَماً ظَنَّ خَدَّهُ

تَرَائَى لدمْعِي فَاكْتَسَى لَوْنَ وَرْدِهِ

And when he saw my blood-tears he thought his cheek

Pretended for my tears and so took on the color of roses

وَلَوْ أَنَّ قَلْبِي حَازَ قَسْوَةَ قَلْبِهِ

سَلَوْتُ ولكنْ حَازَ رقُّةَ خَدِّهِ

If only my heart possessed the hardness of his heart

I would have been distracted, but it possessed the softness of his cheek

وقَدَّمْتُ دَمْعِي رَشْوَةً وَهْوَ لُؤْلؤٌ

فَمَا جَادَ لِي يا لَيْتَ جَادَ بِرَدِّهِ

And I presented my tears as a bribe, and they were pearls

But he did not give generously! Would that he had given his favor!

أَأَحْبَابَنَا أَنْتُمْ لَنَا القَصْدُ والمُنَى

أَيَرْغَبُ صَبٌّ عَنْ مُنَاهُ وَقَصْدِهِ

O our loved ones, are you not our goal and destination?

Does a youth turn away from his comfort and aim?

حَلَلْتُمْ مِنَ القَصْرَيْنِ قَلْبِي وَنَاظِرِي

وَمَا أَحْكَمَ المَوْلَى عَلى مِلْكِ عَبْدِهِ

You have taken over both my heart and my sight

And how the Master has decreed the possession of His servant!

فَإِنْ قُلْتُم ما الشَّامُ مِصْرٌ فَذُو الصَّفا

يَرَى القُرْبَ في التَّوْحِيد من غَيْرِ بُعْدِهِ

So if I say, “What is Damascus? Egypt?” then the Pure One

Sees nearness in Oneness without any distance