أَرِقتُ بِسَلعٍ إِنَّ ذا الشَوقِ يَأرَقُ

لِبَرقٍ تَبَدّى آخِرَ اللَيلِ يَخفُقُ

I am sleepless with yearning, for he who pines is sleepless,

For lightning that flashed at the end of the night fluttering,

أَشِيمُ سَناهُ مِن بَعِيدٍ وَرُبَّما

تُشامُ البُرُوقُ مِن بَعِيدٍ فَتَصدُقُ

I discern its glare from afar, and maybe

The lightnings are true from afar, so they prove true,

فَما ذِقتُ مِن نَومٍ وَما زالَ عامِلاً

إِلى الصُبحِ ذاكَ البارِقُ المُتَأَلِّقُ

So I haven’t tasted sleep, while ceaselessly working

Till dawn was that flashing lightning, glittering,

لَهُ تَعتَري المَرءَ الغَرِيبَ صَبابَةٌ

وَشَوقٌ إِلى أَوطانِهِ حِينَ يَبرُقُ

Homesickness for his far-off home overtakes a stranger

When lightnings flash open the heart and make it flutter,

فضنَبَّهتُ لَمّا شَفَّني الوُجدُ وَالبُكا

أَخاً لِلَّذي قَد غالَني وَهوَ مُطرِقُ

So I whimpered when love and tears pierced me,

A brother to him who has captivated me while pondering,

عَزُوفاً عَنِ الأَهواءِ لَم يُحى لَيلَةً

لِشَوقٍ وَلَم يُرفَع إِلى الجَنب مِرفَقُ

Aloof from passions, not living a night fretfully

For yearning, nor lifting his elbow for sighing somberly,

خَفِيّاً عَلى ظَهرِ الفِراشِ كَأَنَّهُ

بِهِ فَقَرٌ مِن حُبِّهِ النَومَ مُلصِقُ

Hidden on his couch, as if pressed by need for his love

To sleep clinging to him, while the night is dark,

فَهَبَّ وَما هَبَّت مِنَ العَجزِ عَينُهُ

وَمِن سِنَةٍ أَوصالُهُ لا تُطَلَّقُ

So he started up, and his eyes started not with disability

Nor his limbs with old age, too stiff to stir,

إِذا رامَ تَكلِيمي بَداهُ بِبُحَّةٍ

وَسَدَّ سَبِيلَ القَولِ رِيقٌ فَيَشرَقُ

When he tried to speak to me, his stammering amazed me,

And spittle choking his speech burst forth crackling,

يَقُولُ فَيَلحاني كَثيراً وَإِنَّهُ

إِذا لامَني عِلمي مِراراً لَأَخرَقُ

He speaks and presses me much, though he, when blaming me

Bitterly, knows my mind is split open by his cracking.

يُكَلِّفُني جَمعاً لِقَلبٍ مُفَرَّقٍ

وَيَأبى اِجتِماعاً قَلبُكَ المُتَفَرِّقُ

He charges me to unite a fragmented heart,

While your heart refuses reunion, being fragmented,

فَمِنُهُ فَرِيقٌ بِالحَرامِ وَبَعضُهُ

بِوَجٍّ وَبَعضٌ بِالمَدينَةِ مُوثَقُ

For part of it is with the damned, and some of it

Is bound by love, and some in town fettered,

فَهَلّا وَدارُ الحَيِّ مُصقِبَةٌ بِهِم

وَشَملُكَ مَجمُوعٌ وَغُصنُكَ مُونِقُ

Why not, while the abode of life crumbles down on them,

Your protection still united, and your branch still leafy?

بَكَيتُ لَما قَد كانَ أَوهُوَ كائِنٌ

مِنَ النَأيِ وَالهُجرانِ إِن كُنتَ تُشفِقُ

I wept for what had happened and what might yet happen

Of estrangement and avoidance, if you are compassionate,

إِلى أَيِّ دَهرٍ فَافتَدِه أَنتَ هَكَذا

وَقَلبُكَ بِالشَجوِ المُبَرِّحِ مُعَلَقُ

Until what time will you ransom yourself, while thus

Your heart is hanging on saddening passion?

إِذا رُمتَ كِتماناً لِوَجدِكَ حَرَّشَت

عَلَيكَ العِدى عَينٌ بِسِرِّكَ تَنطُقُ

When you tried to conceal your love, the spies pried on you,

An eye that speaks your secret, though you are silent,

لَها شاهِدٌ مِن دَمعِها كُلَّما رَقا

جَرى شاهِدٌ مِن دَمعِها مُتَرَقرِقُ

It has a witness from its tears, whenever they flow,

A sincere witness, from its streaming tears speaking.