أأذوب لا واللَه لست أذوب

إن قال ترك قلت ذا المطلوب

Shall I melt away? No, by God—I shall not melt away.

If he says, “Leave,” I say, “That is precisely what I want.”

إني امرؤ عف الطباع وليس لي

في هوى الذي لم يهوني تشبيب

I am a man chaste in disposition, and I have no

share in loving one who does not love me.

لا أنكرنّ عليه حق دلالة

فجماله للناظرين عجيب

I do not deny him his rightful coquettish pride;

his beauty is a wonder to all who behold it.

ولكل عين أعين ترنو له

ولكل قلب في هواه قلوب

For every eye, there are eyes that gaze toward him,

and for every heart, hearts enamored of him.

لكنّ قلبي لا يرن بحب ذي

قلب أصم الطبع ليس يجيب

But my heart will not ring with love for one

whose heart is deaf by nature and makes no answer.

وكذاك لم أنكر أناسة وجهه

لكنه شرس الفؤاد غضوب

Nor do I deny the warmth and charm of his face,

but his heart is fierce and quick to anger.

ما لم يكن بين القلوب تبادل

في الحب لا حب ولا محبوب

Unless there is exchange between hearts,

in love there is neither love nor beloved.

رح يا رسول إلى الحبيب وقل له

مات الغرام لك البقا فتطيب

Go, messenger, to the beloved, and tell him:

“Passion is dead; may you live on—take heart.

إن المحب سلاك فابشر بالمنى

واذهب فأنت لمن تشاء حبيب

Your lover has forgotten you; rejoice, then, in your hopes,

and go—you may be the beloved of whomever you please.

وليهن واش ولتسرّ حواسد

وليرض لاح وليقرّ رقيب

Let the slanderer rejoice and the envious delight;

let the reproacher be satisfied and the watcher rest content.”

واللَه لو لم يدعني هو أوّلا

بوداده لوداده فأجيب

By God, had he not first invited me,

through his affection, to love him—and I responded—

ما كنت لا واللَه همت بمثله

حبا ولم يك مضنى التخييب

I would never, by God, have become infatuated with his like,

nor would disappointment in love have wasted me away.

لكنما لا يعرف الدنيا سوى

من راح يكشفها له التجريب

Yet no one knows the ways of the world except

one for whom experience sets about unveiling them.

يا ظبي بل يا نافراً عن ودّ من

قد كان منك لودّه التسبيب

O gazelle—rather, O you who flee the love of one

whom you yourself had caused to love you:

واللَه لم يضرب فؤادي بالهوى

لو لم يئن فؤادك المضروب

by God, my heart would not have been struck by passion

had yours not been the heart first struck;

وكذاك لم يسكب بحبك مدمعي

لو لم يبن لي دمعك المسكوب

nor would my tears have poured for love of you

had your own shed tears not shown themselves to me.

والآن أنت رميت بي سهم الجفا

فرددته لك والمصيب يصيب

And now you have shot estrangement’s arrow at me;

I sent it back to you—and the true marksman strikes.

أبتِ المروءة أن يقيم على الهوى

قلبي وقلبك للسوى مقلوب

Honor refused to let my heart persist in passion

while your heart was turned toward another.

أما فلا عاد الجمال يصيدني

حتى يصيد أبا العرين ربيب

Now beauty shall never ensnare me again

until a lair-bred cub hunts the lion of the lair.

مذ شبت عشقاً عفتني فأغظتني

فلسوف من غيظي عليك تشيب

Since I turned gray with love, you shunned me and roused my anger;

soon, from my anger at you, you too will turn gray.

ولكم شجيت بذا إلى سهر الدجى

ها نمت فاسهر أيها المشجوب

How often grief over this consigned me to wakefulness through the dark;

now I sleep—so you keep vigil, O grief-stricken one.

قد تبت عنك فلست أرجع لا ومن

يهب الندامة ذا الخطا فيتوب

I have repented of you and shall not return—no, by Him who

grants the sinner remorse, and so the sinner repents.