صبّ تولّع بالأتراك معذور

وليس في بذله للروح تبذير

The Turks’ infatuation with boys is understandable,

And indulging it does not dissipate the soul.

هم عن البيض والسمر اكتفوا صلفا

بأعيُن وقُدود ما بذا زور

They cared not for the pale or the dark-skinned,

With burning, sleepless eyes that hold no deceit.

كتمت وجدي بهم دهراً فأظهر

إغراء دم له في الخد تحذير

I concealed my love for them for an age and revealed

A bloody passion that warns upon the cheek.

كم قد تعبّث بي من بينهم رشأ

يسبي الحشا منه تأنيس وتنفير

How many a wisp of down has toyed with me,

Who would turn gentleness itself to aversion and disgust!

يلوح والزَّمط أرخي فوق وجنته

هُدباً وسالفه لي منه تخيير

He flashes his raven tresses above his cheek

In waves that offer me a bewildering choice.

كأنه قمر قد لاح في شفق

وكاد من شعره يغشاه ديجور

He is like a moon that has appeared in the dusk,

And his hair threatened to overwhelm him in darkness.

سرى فؤادي بليل الشعر مُختلساً

وَصلاً وقد غرّه للوجه تنوير

My heart stole away in the night of poetry

Yearning and made drunk by the radiance of his face.

وتاه في سيره وجداً فصاح تُرى

في ذاك أعذر قال الناس معذور

It lost its way in passion and cried out—

For that, they say, it may be forgiven.

ما أنت أول سار غرّه قمر

كم كان قبلك بالأقمار مغرور

You are not the first to be fooled by a moon.

How many before you were misled by moons!

يا مَن تمنطق فوق الخصر يدفع من

تيه ذُيولاً بها للقلب تعثير

O you who wraps his waist in a belt, repelling

The skirts' confusion from disturbing the heart!

أرخيت بالشّد إذ قوّيته جَلَدي

وقوة الشد تُرخي ذاك مشهور

I let down my hair when you took off your shirt,

For loosening what is bound is well known.