ألاَ حَبَّذَا البَيْتُ الذي أنْتَ هَاجِرُهْ

وَأنْتَ بِتَلْماحٍ منَ الطَّرْفِ نَاظِرُهُ

Oh how blessed is the house you emigrate to

While you glance at it with your eyes

لأنَّكَ مِنْ بَيْتٍ لِعَيْنيَّ مُعْجِبٍ

وأَمْلحُ في عَيْني منَ البَيْتِ عَامِرُهْ

For it is a house my eyes find pleasing

And the resident of the house is more beautiful in my eyes

أَصُدُّ حَياءً أنء يَلَجَّ بيَ الهَوَى

وفِيكَ المُنَى لَوْلاَ عَدوٌّ أُحَاذِرُهْ

I am too shy for passion to find its way to me

Though you are my wish if not for a foe I fear

وَفِيكَ حَبيبُ النَّفْسِ لَوْ تَسْتَطيعُهُ

لَمَاتَ الهَوى وَالشَّوْقُ حِينَ تُجاوِرُهْ

In you is the beloved of my soul if I could attain you

Passion and longing would die when we are neighbors

وَكانَ حَبيبُ النَّفْسِ للقَلْبِ وَاتراً

وكيْف يُحِبُّ القَلْبُ مَنْ هُوَ وَاتِرُهْ

Yet the beloved of my soul was unfaithful to my heart

How could my heart love one who betrays it?

فإنْ يكُنِ الأَعْداءُ أَحْمَوْا كَلامَهُ

عَلَيْنَا فَلَنْ تَحْمَى عَلَيْنَا مَنَاظِرُهْ

If enemies discredit his words about us

Their looks will not discredit us

كأنَّ سُلَيْمَى حِينَ قَامَتْ فأَشْرَفَتْ

بِوجْمةٍ أَسِيلٍ زَيَّنَتْهُ غدَائِرُهْ

It is as if Suleima arose and peered out

Adorned with supple, streaming braids

غَزَالٌ سِوى الأرْدافِ والفَرْعِ والشَّوَى

وَلكِنْ لِسلْمَى طَرْفهُ وَمَحاجِرُهْ

A gazelle save for hips, branches, and bend

But Suleima has his eyes and eyebrows

وثَغْرٍ إذا المِسْوَاكُ مَسَّ غُرُوبَهُ

تَعَسَّلَ واحْلَوْلَى فَطَابَتْ مَكَاسِرُهْ

And a mouth, if kissed, sweetens

And turns delicate its edges

أُحِبُّكِ يَا سَلمَى عَلَى غَيْرِ رِيبَةٍ

ولا بَأسَ في حُبٍّ تَعِفُّ سَرائِرُهْ

I love you, O Suleima, without doubt

And there is no harm in a love whose mysteries are chaste

وَيَا عَاذِلي لَوْلاَ نَفَاسَةُ حُبِّها

عَلَيْكَ لَمَا بَالَيْتَ أنَّكَ خَابِرُهْ

And oh you who blame me, were it not for her refined love

You would not have busied yourself that you censure me

بِنَفْسيَ مَنْ لاَبُدَّ أَنِّيَ هَاجِرُهْ

وَمَنْ أَنَا في المَيْسُورِ والعُسْرِ ذَاكِرُهْ

By my soul, she I cannot but emigrate to

And she I remember in ease and hardship

وَمَنْ قَدْ لَحاهُ النَّاسُ حَتَّى اتَّقَاهُمُ

ببْغِضيَ إِلاَّ ما تُجِنُّ ضَمائِرُهْ

And she the people have wronged until they fear her

With my hatred but what her conscience conceals

وَمَنْ ضَنَّ بالتَسْلِيمِ يَوْمَ فِرَاقه

عَلَيَّ ودَمْعُ العَيْنِ تَجْري بَوادِرُهْ

And she who scarcely bid farewell when we parted

While my tears flowed freely

وَمَنْ بَانَ مِنَّا يَوْمَ بَانَ وَمَا دَرَى

أَكُنْتُ أَنَا المَوْتُورَ أَمْ أَنَا وَاتِرُهْ

And she who parted from me one day and knew not

Whether I was the wounded or the wounder

وَحَالَ بَنُو العمَّاتِ والعَمُّ دُونَهُ

وَنَذْرُ عَدُوٍّ مَا تُغِبُّ نَذَائِرُهْ

While her paternal and maternal cousins and uncle draw near her

And the vow of an enemy does not conceal its traces

أَتَهجُرُ بَيْتاً بالحجازِ تَكَنَّفَتْ

جَوَانِبَهُ الأعْداءُ أَمْ أَنْتَ زَائِرهْ

Do I forsake a house in the Hijaz encircled

By enemies or will you visit it?

فإنْ آتِهِ لَم أَنْجُ إِلاّ بِظنَّةٍ

وَإِنْ يَأتِهِ غَيْري تُنَطْ بي جَرَائِرُهْ

If I go and do not escape safely it will be by suspicion

And if another goes its shame will cling to me

كَلاَمُكِ يَا سَلْمَى وإنْ قَلَّ نَافِعي

ولا تَحْسَبي أنِّي وَإنْ قَلَّ حَاقرُه

Your words, O Suleima, though few, benefit me

And do not assume if they are few I disdain them

أُحِبُّكِ حُبَّاً لَنْ أُعنِّفَ بَعْدَهُ

مُحِبَّاً وَلكِنِّي إذا لِيمَ عَاذِرُهْ

I love you with a love I will not rebuke afterward

As a lover, but if miserable I will censure it

وَقَدْ مَاتَ قَبْلِي أوَّلُ الحُبِّ فَانْقَضَى

وَلَو مِتُّ أضْحَى الحبُّ قَدْ مَاتَ آخِرُهْ

The first of loves died before me and so ended

Had I died, love would have died with its last

فَلَمَّا تَنَاهَى الحُبُّ في القَلْبِ وَارِداً

أَقامَ وَسُدَّتْ فيهِ عَنْهُ مَصَادِرُهْ

So when love flowed into my heart to its limits

It settled and its channels closed to it

وَقَدْ كانَ قَلبي في حِجَابٍ يُكِنُّهُ

بِحُبِّكَ مِنْ دُونِ الحِجابِ مُبَاشِرُهْ

My heart had been veiled from you though you dwell in it

Loving you beyond the veil directly

وأَيُّ طَبِيبٍ يُبْرِىءُ الدَّاءَ بَعْدَمَا

تَشَرَّبَهُ بَطْنُ الفُؤادِ وَظَاهِرُهْ

What physician can cure the disease after

The heart's interior and exterior have soaked it in?

ألاَ لاَ أُبالي أَيَّ حيٍّ تَحَمَّلوا

إذَا ثَمَدُ البَرْقَاءِ لَمْ يَجْلُ حَاضِرُهْ

Oh, I care not which lively tribe takes

The plateau if, when lightning flickers, its witness does not remain

وبالبَرْقِ أَطْلاَلٌ كأنَّ رُسُومَها

قَراطِيسُ خَطّ الحِبْرَ فيهن سَاطِرُهْ

At the plateau are ruins as if their features

Are scrolls on which its lines are inscribed

أَبَتْ سَرْحَةُ الأَثْمادِ إِلاَّ مَلاَحةً

وطِيباً إذا ما نَبْتُها اهْتَزَّ ناضِرُهْ

The meadows of Athmad refused but sweet blooms

And fragrance when their growth sways

وكُنْتُ إذا اسْتُودِعْتُ سِرّاً طَوَيْتُهُ

بِحْفِظٍ إذا مَا ضَيَّعَ السِّرَّ نَاشِرُهْ

When entrusted with a secret I would fold it away

With a care that if the secret were lost its spreader lacks

وإنِّي لأَرْعَى بالمَغِيبةِ صَاحبي

حَياءً كما أَرْعاهُ حِينَ أُحَاضِرُهْ

And I take care, when absent, of my companion

Out of propriety as I would if he were present