أشاقكَ سَلْعٌ أم هَفَتْ بك ذِكْراهُ

فَساعاتُ هذا اللَّيلِ عِنْدكَ أشْبَاهُ

Do you pine for Sallu or has the mention of him

Made the hours of this night seem like him to you?

وهل ذا البُريْقُ التاحَ من نَحْوِ رامةٍ

وإلّا فَلِمْ باتَتْ جفونُكَ تَرْعاهُ

Is this lingering fragrance from the direction of Ramma

Or have your eyelids been keeping watch for him?

وهل ما سَرَتْ من نَسَمةٍ ريحُ أرْضِها

وإلّا فَهذا الجَوُّ تَعْبَقُ رَيَّاهُ

Was it a breeze from her land that blew by

Or is it just that the air here bears her scent?

نَعمْ شاقَني سَلعٌ وذكرى عُهودِه

فآهٌ لأيامٍ تَقَضَّتْ بهِ آهُ

Yes, I pine for Sallu and the memory of our days together

Oh, for the days gone by with their sighs!

وما القَصْدُ سَلْعٌ أنْ نظرتَ ورامَةٌ

ولكنْ لِجَرِّي من غَدا فيهِ مثواهُ

It’s not that Sallu or Ramma when you look

But my soul has made its home in grieving for him

أُحِبُّ وَميضَ البرقِ قصْدَ جِهاتِه

وأهْوى نَسِيْمَ الرِّيحِ مِن أجل مَسراهُ

I love the lightning flashing in his direction

And adore the wind blowing for his sake

وما بيَ إلّا نَظْرَةٌ حاجِريَّةٌ

رَمى سَهْمَها عَمداً فُؤادي فَأصْماهُ

I had but a single quick glance from her

That deliberately shot its arrow into my heart, piercing it

حَسِبتُ اغتِراراً أنَّ جُنَّةَ صَبْرِهِ

تَقيهِ فأغشاهُ الَّذي كنتُ أخْشاهُ

I foolishly thought that the armor of patience

Would protect him from what I had feared

أحِبَّةَ قَلْبي أهْلَ نَجْدٍ بِعَيْشِكُمْ

تُرى يَبْلُغُ المُشْتاقُ ما يَتَمنَّاهُ

O beloved friends in Nejd, with your life

Can the ardent lover attain what he yearns for?

نَشدتُكُمُ العَهْدَ القَديمَ ترفَّقُوا

عَلى رَمَقٍ لم يَبْقَ مِنِّيَ إِلّاهُ

I implore you by our ancient pact—have mercy

On a last gasp, all that remains of me

أعِندَكُم إن بِنْتُمُ أنَّ مُقْلَتي

تَنامُ وأن الَقْلبَ تَسكُنُ بَلواهُ

Do you think my tears fall asleep

While my heart is assuaged of its sorrows?

إذنْ قُرِّحَتْ عَيْني ولا قَرَّ خاطِري

وكانَ حَسيبي أو حَسِيبَكمُ اللهُ

So my eye was hurt and my mind unsettled

And God was the Reckoner, mine and yours

قُضاةَ الهوى رِفْقاً بِشاكٍ بِكْم لَكُمْ

ولولا انبتاتُ الصبر لم تبدُ شكواهُ

O judges of love—be gentle with a wretched lover,

If not for the shoots of patience, he’d have no complaints

ألا فارْحَمُوا ذا عِزَّةٍ ذَلَّ لِلْهَوى

وما كانَ يرْضَى قَطُّ بالذلِّ لَوْلاهُ

Won’t you take pity on one once high now abased by love

Who never consented to disgrace but for it!

وعاذِلةٍ لم تَدْرِ قدرَ بَلِيَّتي

ألا بِدَمِ المُشتاقِ مَنْ ظلَّ يَلْحاهُ

And a harsh beloved who does not know

The worth of my misery—not with the blood of the ardent has she tinted him!

أعاذِلَ لا عَيْنيكِ تَجْرحُ أدْمُعي

ولا أنتِ تَلقَيْنَ الَّذي أنا ألقاهُ

I blame not, neither your eyes that have wounded my tears

Nor you, whom I meet with that blame

ذَريني لأَوْجالي فَرُوحي سَليمةٌ

فربَّتما أعْدَى الطَّبيبَ مُعَنَّاهُ

Leave me to my ailments—my soul is unblemished

Perhaps the cure will pain the doctor more!

خَليلَيَّ مِن نَجدٍ بِوُدِّكُما انْشَقا

نَسيمَ الصَّبا هَل عَطَّر البانُ ريَّاهُ

Two companions of mine from Nejd—with your love, cleave

Open the fragrant southerly breeze—did it perfume his cloak?

وهل جَرَّ أرْدانا على أجْرعِ الحِمى

فأهْدَى تَحايا رَنْدِه وخُزاماهُ

And did it drag its train on the cheeks of the fevered

Proffering its necklaces and bracelets as gifts?

ألا هَلْ إلىً نَجْدٍ سبيلٌ لِذي هَوىً

سَقَى مَدْمعُ العُشَّاقِ نَجداً وحَيَّاهُ

Oh won’t someone find me a way back to Nejd

The tears of lovers have watered it, giving it life!

ولا بَرحت أنْفاسُهُمْ تفضَحُ الصَّبا

هُبوباً لَدى أسحارِهِ وعَشاياهُ

Their souls never ceased disclosing to the morning breezes

Secrets at nightfall and dusk all around