قَلْبِيَ في ذاتِ الاَثيْلاَتِ

رَهِيْنُ لَوْعَاتٍ وَرَوْعاتِ

My heart amid the churches

Is captive to passions and tremors

فَوَجِّهَا نَحْوَهُمُ إنَّهُمْ

وإنْ بَغَوْا قِبْلَةُ بُغْياتي

So direct it towards them for they are

Though unorthodox, the qiblah of my desires

وعَرِّسَا مِنْ عَقَداتِ اللِّوَى

بالهَضَبَاتِ الزَهَرِيَّاتِ

And marry it off with the knots of ardour

To the flowery hills,

وعَرِّجَا يا فَتَيَيْ عامِرٍ

بالفَتَيَات العِيْسَوِيّاتِ

And take it, O lads of Aamir,

To the smooth maidens.

فإنَّ بِي للرُّوْمِ رُوْمِيّةً

تَكْنِسُ ما بين الكنيساتِ

For in me is a Roman air

That sweeps between the churches,

أَهِيمُ فيها والهوى ضَلَّةٌ

بَيْنَ صَوامِيْعَ وبِيْعاتِ

I roam in it while love is misleading

Between bells and stalls.

وفي ظِباء البَدْو مَنْ يَزْدرِي

بالظَّبَيَاتِ الحَضَرِيَّاتِ

And in the gazelles of the desert who would spurn

The urban does?

أُفْصِحُ وَحْدِي يومَ فِصْحٍ لَهُمْ

بَين الأرَيْطَى والدُّوَيْحاتِ

I converse on Easter day with them

Between the cloisters and convents.

وقد أَتَوْا منه إلى مَوْعِدٍ

واجتمعوا فيه لِمِيْقاتِ

And they came for it to a tryst

And gathered in it for the appointed time,

بِمَوْقِفٍ بين يَدَيْ أُسْقُفٍ

مُمْسِكِ مِصْباحٍ ومِنْساةِ

In a stance before a bishop

Holding a lantern and staff,

وكلِّ قَسٍّ مُظْهِرٍ للتُّقَى

بآي إنْصَاتٍ وإخباتِ

And every priest displaying piety

With signs of hearkening and humility,

وعينُهُ تَسرَحُ في عَيْنِهِمْ

كالذِّئب يَبْغي فَرْسَ نَعْجاتِ

While his eye roams in their eyes

Like a wolf coveting a flock of lambs.

وأيُّ مَرْءٍ سالمٌ مِنْ هَوىً

وقد رأى تلك الظُّبَيَّاتِ

And what man is safe from passion

Having seen those does?

فمن خُدُودٍ قَمَرِيّاتٍ

على قُدُوْدٍ غُصُنِيَّاتِ

Of moon-like cheeks

Upon cylidrical necks,

وقد تَلَوْا صُحْفَ أناجِيلِهِمْ

بحُسْن ألحانٍ وأصواتِ

And they recited their scriptures

In sweet tones and voices

يَزِيْدُ في نَفْرِ يعافيرهمْ

عنِّي وفي ضَغْط صبَاباتي

Increasing in their gang of stallions

My agony and the tightness of my bonds,

والشمسُ شمسُ الحُسْن من بينهمْ

تحت غَماماتِ اللِّثاماتِ

And the sun - the sun of beauty - among them

Under the clouds of veils,

وناظري مُخْتَلِسٌ لَمْحَها

ولَمْحُها يُضْرِمُ لَوْعاتي

While my glance steals its ray

And its ray kindles my passions,

وفي الحَشَا نارٌ نُوَيْريَّةٌ

عُلَّقْتُها منذ سُنَيَّاتِ

And in love there is a fiery pain

I have hung since years,

لا تنطفي وقتاً وكم رُمْتُها

بل تلتظي في كلِّ أوقاتي

That does not subside ever, and how often I cast it

Rather it flares up at all my times.

فَحَيِّ عنِّي رَشَأَ المُنْحَنَى

وإنْ أَبَى رَجْعَ تحيَّاتي

So awaken in me, O bent bough,

The sprightliness, though my greetings it spurns.