يَلومُني في الحبُّ والحبّ يعذرُ

وَتردّ عنّي ما عمّا اِرتكبت وتزجرُ

He blames me for loving though love excuses

And rebuffs what I have done and reprimands

وَتقطعُ وصلَ الوجدِ والوجدُ واصلٌ

وَتطفي مِن قلبي لظىً وهو يسعرُ

It severs the bond of passion though passion bonds

And quenches the flames within my heart though it burns

وَهَل يطلبُ السِلوانُ مِن ذي صبابةٍ

عَلى قلبهِ سلوانه ليس يخطرُ

Can the sane ask the lovesick one

For sanity when it does not occur to his heart?

أَيا مُخبري كرّر حديثَك مُعلناً

فَخيرُ حَديثٍ في الهوى ما يكرّرُ

O you who inform me, repeat your talk announcing

For the best talk of love is what repeats

ولا تَحتَظر فيما ذكرتَ فإنّما

حَديثُك لي منه المسرّةُ تظهرُ

Do not be shy in what you have mentioned

For your talk brings out happiness for me

هَلِ الحيُّ فيما كنت تعهد باكر

بطيّته أم رائحٌ أم مهجّرُ

Does the living one whom you pledged in the early morning

Keep his promise or did he become perfumed or aloof?

وَهل حمّ هَذاك الفريق فراقه

وَهَل منهُ أقوى حاجر ومحجّرُ

And did the departure of that band pain them

And did any of them become stronger or weakened?

فَذلِكما رَسمانِ للحيِّ أقفرا

وَفي القلبِ رسمٌ منهما ليسَ يقفرُ

That is how the ruins of the living one are

And in the heart there is a ruin that does not become a ruin

فَكَم فيها جرّرت ذيلَ شَبيبتي

وَغازَلني الظبيُ الأغنُّ المخدّرُ

How I have dragged the tail of my youth over them

And the beautiful gazelle caressed me, intoxicated

لَيالي نهار الوصلِ من هند مشمسٌ

وَليلُ الرضا والوصل من هند مقمرُ

Nights of the days of union are from a radiant India

And the night of contentment and union is from a moonlit India

إِذا هيَ لم تنجد عليَّ بِوَصلها

وَلا صفو حوضي عندها يتكدّرُ

When she does not help me with her union

Nor is the limpidity of my pool with her disturbed

مُخدّرة تَرنو بلحظٍ كما رنا

بناظرتيهِ مِن مَها الوحش جؤذرُ

Intoxicated, she glance like the glances

Of a wild animal, causing distress

يُحاكي قوامَ الخيزُران قوامُها

إِذا أَقبلت في خطوِها تتخطّرُ

Her waist mimics the bending of the branches

When she comes walking gracefully

قطوفُ التثنّي كاد يبتزُّ خصرها

إِذا ما تثنّى ردفها المتمرمرُ

The curves of her bending almost steal her waist

When it bends, cradled by her swaying

فَلو دبَّ نملٌ فوقَ ناعمِ جِسمها

لَكادَ إِذا ما دبَّ فيه تؤثرُ

If an ant crawled over her soft body

It would nearly, if it crawled over it, penetrate

فَيا عجباً منّي أُحاول وصلَها

وَأقربُ منها وهيَ تنأى وتنفرُ

How strange I try to attain her union

While she moves away and recoils from me

لَقَد رَسمت في القلبِ رسمَ مودّةٍ

مَعارفها في القلبِ لا تتنكّرُ

I have drawn in my heart a picture of affection

Its features in my heart do not change

وَخطّت بهِ شرخاً طويلاً منَ الهوى

ففيهِ لها منه خطوطٌ وأسطرُ

And with it I have etched a long fissure of love

In which for her are lines and prose

أَجودُ لَها بالنفسِ منّي صبابةً

كَما جادَ للوفّاد بالمال حِميَرُ

I am more generous to her with myself than a madman

Just as the camel is generous to its master with wealth

مَليكٌ له في ذروةِ الملكِ منزلٌ

وَفي رتبةِ العليا منارٌ ومنبرُ

A king who has in the pinnacle of kingship a dwelling

And in the highest rank a minaret and pulpit

إِذا غيّر الآفاق وجهاً بوجههِ

مضيء وَمغناهُ لعافيه أخضرُ

When he changes the horizons with his faces

Radiant, its prosperity green

وَإِن جادَنا مِن مزنِ كفّيه ممطرٌ

صباحاً أَتانا بالأصائلِ ممطرُ

If he is generous to us from the rain of his palms

In the morning he brings us showers of generosity

تَرى الجودَ يطوى في أقاليم ملكهِ

كطيِّ السجلّ الخطَّ والعدل ينشرُ

You see generosity folded in the realms of his kingdom

Like folding the register, justice being spread

أعزُّ ملوكِ الأرضِ نفساً ومعشراً

وَأَعظمُهم شأناً وأعلا وأكبرُ

The most honored of kings in self and company

And the greatest of them in status, the highest and biggest

إِذا جادَ في يومِ الندا فهو حاتمٌ

وَإِن كرّ في يوم الوغا فهو عنترُ

If he is generous on the day of bounty he is Hatim

And if he decreases on the day of decreasing he is Antara

يقصِّر عنه في معاليه قيصرٌ

وَهيهات أَن يعلو معاليه قيصرُ

Caesar falls short of his glories

And never will his glories be surpassed by Caesar

إِليكَ أَبا دهماء جاءت كأنّها

عروسٌ أَتَت في حليها تتبخترُ

To you Abu Dahma she has come as if

A bride came in her finery, swaggering

غَلائِلها خزٌّ يَروق وسندسٌ

وَحليتُها تبرٌ ودرٌّ وجوهرُ

Her tresses are fine and silky and her adornment

Is jewels, pearls, gold and gems