اذا تغنى الحمام
أبكى المشوق الغرام
When the dove coos,
The lover weeps for love's ache,
وحنَّ والشوق أنىّ
غنى الحمام حِمام
Yearning, oh how yearning!
The dove coos, a dove.
يا نازحَ الدَّار لكن
له الفؤادُ مُقامُ
O you who left home, but
My heart remains in place.
حَلَلْتَ هَجري فوصلي
لأيِّ شيء حرامُ
You deemed my love forbidden, so make it permitted,
For what reason is it banned?
إنْ كنتَ جَنةَ طرفي
فالقلبُ فيه ضرامُ
If my eyes were your paradise,
Then in them lies agony.
أَو كانَ ثغرُك برقاً
فإن جَفني غَمامُ
Or if your lips were lightning,
Then my eyelids are clouds.
ما لي أَبيتُ مُسجّى
إذا تبدى الظلامُ
Why do I sleepless lie
When darkness falls?
لا يدخلُ النّومُ جفني
ولا بسمعي الملام
Sleep evades my eyes
Or reproach my ears.
زرني ولو زرتُ طيفاً
وأينَ مني المنامُ
Visit me, even if but a specter,
For where is slumber from me?
لولا لماكَ لما كانَ
تَطّبيني المدامُ
If not for your beauty
Wine would not tempt me.
ولا كِلفتُ غراماً
بما حواه اللثامُ
Nor would I have harbored
A love hidden by the veil.
اللهَ فِيَّ فقد قي
لَ لِلْمُحِبِّ ذمامُ
God in me, for I have been truthful
To the lover, though blamed.
هَزَزْتَ قَدَّكَ رُمحاً
والجفنُ منه حسامُ
You shook your neck like a spear
And my eyelids bled from it.
وفوقَ طرفك قوس
له الجفونُ سهامُ
Over your eyes an arch
With lids as arrows.
وَليس قصدُكَ إلا
قتلي أسىً والسّلام
Your only aim is
To kill me, with farewell.
تالله لا نِلتَ مني
ولي المليك الهمامُ
By God, you'll get naught from me,
Though the King helps you.
سَر الرعّية منهُ
نون وجيم ولامُ
The secret of his people is
The letters Noon, Jeem and Laam.
بدا هِلالاً ولكن
أَبوهُ بدر تمامُ
He appeared a new crescent, though
His father was a full moon.
بُشرى لملوك بمَلكٍ
لهُ الزَّمانُ غُلام
Good tidings to kings of a king
Whose time is a young lad.
إلى كمال المعالي
فصالُه والفطام
To the peak of glories,
His independence and weaning.
غصن لدوحة مُلكٍ
بها تَفَيّا الأنامُ
A branch to Dhawha's kingdom,
At which people rejoice.
بَلْ جدولٌ من عُبابٍ
بهِ يداوي الأوام
Nay, a stream from springs
With which all pains are cured.
