مَنْ لم يُشاهِدْ مَوْقِفاً لفِراقِ

لَمْ يَدْرِ كَيْفَ تَولّهُ العُشَّاقِ

He who has never witnessed the moment of farewell,

Knows nothing of how lovers drift into despair.

إنْ كُنْتَ لَمْ تَرَهُ فسائِلْ مَنْ رأى

يُخْبِرْكَ عن وَلَهِيْ وهَوْلِ سياقي

If you have not seen it, then ask one who has beheld,

To tell you of my madness and the terror of my end,

مِنْ حَرِّ أنفاسٍ وخَفْقِ جَوانحٍ

وصُدوعِ أكْبادٍ وفَيْضِ مآقِ

Of burning sighs and the rib-cage's wild beat,

Of shattered hearts, and eyes where torrents flow.

دُهِيَ الفُؤادُ فلا لِسانٌ ناطِقٌ

عِنْدَ الوَداعِ ولا يَدٌ متراقِ

My heart was struck; now no tongue can speak,

At the hour of parting, nor can any hand extend.

ولَقَدْ أُشيرُ لِمَنْ تكلَّف رِحْلَةً

أنْ عُجْ عَليَّ ولو بقَدْرِ فُواقِ

I signaled to the one who burdened himself to leave,

To turn toward me, if only for a fleeting breath,

عَلّي أُراجِعُ مِنْ ذَماي حشاشَةً

أشكو بها بَعْضَ الذي أنا لاقِ

That I might retrieve a spark of my fading life,

With which to voice a fraction of the pain I bear.

فمضى ولَمْ تَعْطِفهُ نَحْويَ ذمَّةٌ

هَيْهاتَ لا يَثْني عَلى مُشْتاقِ

But he passed on, turned by no bond or pact towards me;

Alas! He does not pause for one who yearns.

يا صاحِبَيَّ وقَدْ مَضى حُكْمُ الهَوى

رُوحا عَلَيَّ بِشيمةِ الإشْفاقِ

O my two friends, now that Love’s decree is passed,

Bring comfort to my soul with the grace of pity,

واسْتَقْبلاها نَسْمَةً من أرضِكُمْ

فَلَعَلَّ نَفحتها تَحُلُّ وَثاقي

And welcome the breeze blowing from your land,

Perhaps its gentle breath will loose my bonds.

إنّي لَيَشْفيني النَّسيمُ إذا سَرى

مُتَضَوِّعاً من تِلْكُمُ الآفاقِ

For truly, the zephyr heals me when it flows,

Wafting its fragrance from those distant horizons.

مَنْ مُبْلغٌ بالجزعِ أهلَ مَوَدَّتي

أنِّي على حُكْمِ الصَّبابةِ باقِ

Who will convey to my beloveds in the winding valley,

That I remain steadfast under the rule of ardent love?

ولئن تحوَّل عهدُ حُبِّهِمُ نَوىً

ما حُلْتُ عَنْ عَهْدي وعَنْ مِيْثاقي

And though their covenant of love has turned to distance,

I have not wavered from my vow, nor from my pact.

أنِفَتْ خَلائقيَ الكِرامُ لخِلَّتي

نَسَباً إلى الإخْلالِ والإخْلاقِ

My noble nature disdained, for the sake of my friendship,

Any kinship with betrayal or the breaking of faith.

قَسماً به ما اسْتَغْرَقتني فِكْرَةٌ

إِلّا وفِكْري فيهِ واستغراقي

I swear by Him: no thought has ever engrossed me,

Unless my thought and total immersion were of him.

لي أنَّةٌ عند العشِيِّ لَعَلَّهُ

يُصغي لها وكذا معَ الإشراقِ

I breathe a moan at twilight, hoping perchance,

He might incline to hear it—and likewise at the dawn.

أبْكي إذا هَبَّ النسيمُ فإن تَجِدْ

بَلَلاً به فَبِدَمْعِيَ المُهْراقِ

I weep whenever the breeze blows; so if you find,

Moisture within the wind, know it is my spilled tears.

أُومي بِتَسْليمٍ إليهِ مع الصَّبا

فالذِّكْرُ كُتبي والرِّفاقُ رِفاقي

I gesture a greeting to him upon the East Wind,

For memory serves as my missives, and the winds my couriers.

مَنْ لي على شَحْطِ المَزارِ بنازحٍ

أدنى لِقَلْبي مِن جَوى أشواقي

Who will bring me, despite the vast distance of our meeting place,

That distant one, who is closer to my heart than the burning of my desire?

إنْ غابَ عنْ عَيْني فَمثْواهُ الحَشا

وسُراهُ بَيْنَ القَلْبِ والأحْداقِ

If he is absent from my sight, his dwelling is my soul,

And his spirit travels between my heart and my gaze.

جارَتْ عَليَّ يَدُ النَّوى بفِراقه

آهاً لِما جَنَتِ النَّوى بفِراقِ

The hand of Separation has dealt unjustly with me in his loss;

Ah! How cruel the crime that Separation has committed!

أحْبابَ قَلْبي هَلْ لِماضي عَيْشِكُمْ

رَدٌّ فَيُنْسَخَ بُعْدُكم بِتَلاقِ

O beloveds of my heart, is there for our past life together,

A return, that your distance might be annulled by reunion?

أمْ هَلْ لأَثْوابِ التَّجلُّد راقعٌ

إذْ لَيْسَ مِن داءِ المحبَّةِ راقِ

Or is there any mender for the tattered robes of my patience,

Since there exists no healer for the malady of love?

ما غابَ كوكبُ حُسْنِكُمْ عنْ ناظِري

إِلّا وأمْطرتِ الدِّما آماقىِ

The star of your beauty has never set from my gaze,

Without my eyes raining down tears of blood.

إيهٍ أُخَيَّ أدرْ عليَّ حَديثَهُمْ

كأْساً ذَكَتْ عَرْفاً وطيبَ مَذاقِ

Come then, my brother, pour out their story for me,

Like a wine cup fragrant with scent and sweet to the taste.

وإذا جَنحتَ لماءٍ اَوْ طَرَبٍ فمنْ

دَمْعي الهَمُوعِ وقَلبيَ الخفَّاقِ

And if you incline toward water or toward song, then take them

From my flowing tears and my wildly beating heart.

ذِكراهُ راحي والصَّبابةُ حَضْرَتي

والدَّمْعُ ساقِيَتي وأنْت السَّاقي

His memory is my wine, and ardent love my company;

My tears provide the drink, and you are the cupbearer.

فَلْيَسْلُ عَنِّي مَنْ لَحاني إنَّني

راضٍ لما لاقَيْتُه وأُلاقي

So let the one who blames me desist and turn away,

For I am content with all I have suffered, and all I shall yet endure.