تذكرت ودا للحبيب كأنه

لخولة أطلالٌ ببرقة ثهمد

I recalled the love for my beloved as if it were

I recalled a love for the beloved, as if it were

The ruins of Khola with faded lightning

Traces of Khawla's campsite on the stony plain of Thahmad,

وعهدي بعهدٍ كان لي منه ثابتٍ

يلوح كباقي الوشم في ظاهر اليد

And my covenant with him which was firm for me

And my memory of a steadfast pact we once shared

Appears like the rest of a tattoo on the back of the hand

Gleams like the faint remains of a tattoo on the back of a hand.

وقفت به لا موقناً برجوعه

ولا آيساً أبكي وأبكي إلى الغد

I stood by it, neither certain of its return

I halted there, neither certain of his return

Nor despairing, I cry and cry until tomorrow

Nor despairing entirely, weeping and weeping until tomorrow,

إلى أن أطال الناس عذلي وأكثروا

يقولون لا تهلك أسى وتجلد

Until people prolonged my excuse and increased

Until the people lengthened their blame and multiplied their rebukes,

Saying do not perish from grief and be patient

Saying, "Do not perish of sorrow, but endure with fortitude!"

كأن فنون السخط ممن أحبه

خلايا سفينٍ بالنواصف من دد

As if the arts of anger from the one I loved

As though the myriad forms of wrath from the one I love

Were lines of a ship with nails

Were massive ships upon the broad watercourses of Dad,

كأن انقلاب الهجر والوصل مركب

يجوز به الملاح طوراً ويهتدي

As if the turning away and reunion were a vessel

As though the swinging between parting and union were a vessel

By which the sailor passes one time and is guided another

Steered by a mariner, now drifting onward, now finding the way.

فوقت رضي يتلوه وقت سخط

كما قسم الترب المقابل باليد

So there was a time of consent followed by a time of anger

For a moment of pleasure is followed by a moment of anger,

As the facing dunes divide with the hand

Just as dust is divided between facing hands,

ويبسم نحوي وهو غضبان معرضٌ

مظاهر سمطي لؤلؤٍ وزبرجد

And he smiles at me while turning away angrily

Yet he smiles towards me even while angered and turning away,

Facades of pearls and gems

Displaying two radiant rows of pearls and peridot.