أَقُولُ عَشاءً لِلطَويلِ تَعَجُّباً

وَقَد فاضَ ماءُ العَينِ مِنّي فَأَسجَما

I say goodnight to the long night in wonder

As tears have streamed from my eyes so I weep

فَوَاللَهِ ما أَدرى أَحَوباءُ أَهلِها

هُمُ ظَلَمُوني أَم أَنا كُنتُ أَظلَمَا

By God, I know not, are her people unjust to me

Or was it I who was unjust to them

قَعَدتُ فَلَم أُرسِل وَلا أَرسَلُوا هُمُ

بِشَيءٍ إِلَينا صاحِ حَولاً مُجَرَّما

I sat still, sent no messenger, nor did they

Send aught to us, a neighbor who has sinned

فَهَل أَنتَ آتٍ أَهلَ لَيلى فَناظِرٌ

لِذَنبي جَفَوني أَم جَفَوني تَعَرُّما

Are you coming to Layla's people, watching

For my sin, were they aloof or just aloofness feigned

فَإِن يَكُ في ذَنبي ففي ذاكَ حُكمُهُم

وَحَسبُ امرئٍ في حَقِّنا أَن يَحكَّما

If I am at fault then such is their judgment of me

And for a man it suffices that he submit to judgment

فَإِن تَكُ لَيلى أَذنَبَت وَتَعَتَّبَت

لِتَعلَم ما عِندي مَشَيتُ تَزَغُّما

But if it was Layla who sinned and sought pretext

To know my resolve, I walked proudly away

إِلَيها فَلَم أَذكُر حَياتي ذَنبَها

وَأَطلَلت حَقِّي إِن أَصابَت لَنادَما

To her, but blamed not her life for my sin

I resigned my right if she attained remorse

فَكُن لي طَبيباً وَاشفِ نَفساً مَرِيضَةً

بِلَيلى وَقَلباً ذا خَبالٍ مُقَسَّما

So be a healer, healing a soul sick

For Layla, a heart full of wounds well known

تَكُن لَكَ عِندي نِعمَةٌ بَعدَ نِعمَةٍ

أَصابَت بِها قَلبي كِلابَةُ بَعدَما

For you will have, after bounty, yet more bounty from me

That has struck my heart, a hound that was faithful

تَناءى بِلَيلى ذُو شَتاتٍ فَنِلتَها

بِها حَيثُ أَقصاها وَلَم أَرقَ سُلَّما

Who yearned for Layla, though fate denied her

I did not climb the heights to her, nor tread her paths

وَلَكن بِرفقٍ أَو رُقىً لَودَعَت بِها

مِن الرُقشِ في لِصبٍ تَقَرَّبَ أَعرَما

Rather gently, kindly, she would have bid farewell

To fickleness in a twist, a lame man grown straight

كمثل شِهابِ النار في كَفِّ قابِسٍ

إِذا الريح هَبَّت وَهوَ كابٍ تَضَرَّما

Like embers in the grasp of one cupping them

When the wind blew, he held them firm, though hot

أَبَنَّ عَلى الحُوّاءِ حَتّى تَناذَرُوا

حِماهُ فَأَحماهُ مِن الناسِ وَاِحتَمى

He built on ardor until they took heed of him

And protected him from people, took shelter in him

لَظَلَّ مُصِيخاً سامِعاً ثُمَ إِنَّها

إِذا نَفَثَت لَم يَألُ إِلّا تَقَدُّما

Then it sighed, though hearing he did not desist

Rather strode ahead and would not turn back

وَما ذاكَ مِن سِحرٍ وَلَكِنَّ رِفقَها

إِذا نالَ صَعباً كانَ حَرّانَ سَلَّما

Not sorcery is this, but her gentleness

If it attains the complex, it unravels the knot