يَقُولُ خَلِيلي وَالمَطِيُّ خَواضِعٌ
بِنا بَينَ جِزعِ الطَلحِ وَالمُتَهَوّمِ
My beloved says, while the riding camel is submissive
Between us, among the uprooted tamarisk and the anxious one
أَفي طَلَلٍ أَقوى وَمَغنى مُخَيَّمٍ
كَسَحقِ رِداءٍ ذي حَواشٍ مُنَمنَمِ
Is there in ruins a stronger and more melodious encampment
Than a cloak, with ornamented edges, starry?
أَضَرَّت بِهِ الأَرواحُ كُلَّ عَشِيَّةٍ
وَكُلُّ هَزِيمِ الرَعدِ بِالماءِ مُرهَمِ
The spirits have injured it every evening
And every roar of thunder with rain is a plaster upon it
ظَلِلتَ تَكُفُّ العَينَ أَن جادَ غَربُها
بِمُنحَدِرٍ مِن وَاكِفِ السَحِّ مُسجِمِ
You shaded, protecting the eye lest its west poured down
With a slope from the summit of Sakhkham, made even
وَمِن صَوت حَمّاءِ العَلاطينِ غَرَّدَت
تُبَكّي عَلى غُصنٍ مِنَ الضالِ أَسحَمِ
And from the voice of the female oryxes, it warbled
Crying over a branch from the lost one, brown
تُذَكِّرُكَ العَيشَ الَّذي لَيسَ راجِعاً
وَدَهراً مَضى يا لَيتَها لَم تَرَنَّمِ
It reminds you of the life that does not return
And an era that has passed—would that it did not chant!
فَقُلتُ لَهُ ماذا يُهَيِّجُ ذا الهَوى
إِذا لَم تَهِجهُ وَالفُؤادِ المُتَيَّمِ
So I said to him, “What stirs this passion
If not stirred by it—and the heart is deprived?
حَمامَةُ أَيكٍ باكَرَتها حَمائِمٌ
يُجاوِبنَها أَعلى عَسِيبٍ مُقَوَّمِ
The dove of Ayk—her early morning doves reply to her
From the highest peak made even
وَمَغنى حَبيبٍ أَقصَدَ القَلبَ ذِكرُهُ
فَفي القَلبِ مِنهُ قُرحَةٌ لَم تَلأمِ
And the melody of a beloved—his memory aimed at the heart
So in the heart is from him a wound not yet healed
إِذا قُلتُ قَد خَفَّت وَأَدبَرَ سُقمُها
نَكاها هَوى لَيلى فَلَم تَرقَ مِن دَمِ
When I say, ‘It has faded, its illness has gone’
Desire for Layla denies it, so it does not flow from blood
نَأَت دارُها وَاِحتَلَّ بِالجَوفِ حُبُّها
مَحَلَّةَ بَينَ القَلبِ وَالمُتَبَسَّمِ
We came to her abode and love took residence in the bosom
Settled between the heart and the one who smiles
تَعاقَلتَ فَاترُكنِي لَما بِيَ وَاغفِني
مِن اللَومِ في لَيلي وَسِرّيَ فاكتُمِ
You were reasonable, so leave me to my state and pardon me
From blame in my night and secret, so conceal it!
أَمَرتُ فُؤادي بَعدَ ما نَشِبَت بِهِ
حَبائِلُ لَيلي جاهِداً بِالتَسَلُّمِ
I commanded my heart, after the fetters of my night
Clung to it, struggling to resign itself
وَقُلتُ لَهُ وَالرُشدُ سَهلٌ طَرِيقُهُ
لِعامِدِهِ حَزنٌ إِذا لَم يُتَمَّمِ
And I said to it—and rectitude, its path is easy
For its pillar is sorrow, if it is not perfected
أَيا قَلبُ لا تَكلَف فلَيلى مَزارُها
بَعِيدٌ وَلَيلى ناكِحٌ غَيرُ أَيِّمِ
O heart! Do not overexert, for Layla’s pilgrimage site
Is far, and Layla is married to another, not steadfast
قَطُوفُ الخُطا لَو تَنحَل الخُلدَ إِن مَشَت
سِوى حَذفَةٍ أَوقَدرَها لَم تَقدَمَّمِ
Plucking fruits of error, even if eternity wanders,
Except for a glow of embers it kindled, are not continual
وَإِن نَهَضَت بَعدَ القُعُودِ فَلَم تَقُم
مَعَ الجَهدِ إِلّا بَعدَ طُولِ التَجَشُّمِ
And if it rises after sitting, with effort it does not stand
Save after long enduring hardship
تَنُوءُ بِأَعلى خَلفِها فَيُطِيعُها
وَيَأبى نَقاً في الحُقوِ خَدلَ المُخَدَّمِ
It writhes with the highest behind it, so it obeys it
And refuses to straighten in rights, the well-worn cheat
سبَتني غَداةَ النَحرِ مِنها بِفاحِمٍ
وَذي أُشُرٍ أَطرافُهُ لَم تَثَلَّمِ
She distracted me the morning of the sacrifice with one
Whose cheeks’ edges were not worn out
وَأَنفٍ كَحَدِّ السَيفِ دَقَّ وَحاجِبٍ
وَصَدرٍ كَفا ثَورِ اللُجَينِ وَمِعصَمِ
With a nose like the edge of a sword—accurate, and an eyebrow
And a chest that covered the forelegs and wrist
تُذَكِّرُني وَالحَبس داري وَرُبَّما
يَهِيجُ الحِجازي ذِكرَةُ المُتَهِّمِ
It reminds me while imprisonment is my abode, and perhaps
Al-Hijazi will stir the memory of the blamed one
أَظَلُّ نَهاري مِن هَواها كَأَنَّني
مِنَ الوَجدِ في داد مِنَ اللَيلِ مُظلِمِ
I spend my day in passion for her as if I
Were in the darkness of night, deep dark
