إِذا ما تأَملْت القَوام المُهَفْهَفا

تأَمّلت سيْفاً بين جَفنيْه مُرْهَفا

When I contemplate that swaying figure

I see a sword between its eyelids unsheathed

بُليتُ بقاسي القلب لا عَطْفَ عنده

أَما شِيمةٌ للغصن أَن يتعطَّفا

I'm weary of that stony heart, without tenderness

Is it the branch's nature not to bend?

وذِي صلفٍ يُغْريه بالتّيه صَمْتُهُ

إِذا سُمْته ردَّ السلامِ تَكَلَّفا

The impudent man is led by his aimless wandering

When called, he returns the greeting artificially

وَطَرْفٍ تجلّى عن سَقامي سَقامُه

فهلاّ شفا مَنْ بات منه على شَفا

An eye that turned from my pains, its own pains turned from it

Why doesn't it cure one it kept awake at night?

أُحِبُّ اقتضاء الوَصْل من كلِّ هاجرٍ

وإِنْ مَطَلَ الدينَ الغريمُ وسَوّفا

I like to demand union from every distant one

Even if the foe delays and procrastinates

وأَقْنعُ من وعد الحبيب بخُلْفِهِ

ومِنْ كَلَفي أَن أَسأَلَ الوعد مُخْلِفا

I'm content with the promise of a lover though he breaks it

And that I ask a promise which he'll break

وما زلتُ موقوفَ الغرامِ على هوىً

يُجدّد لي من عهد ظَمْياء ما عَفا

I'm still stopped in passion for a love

That renews for me from a time of dearth what was plentiful

أَخا كَلَفٍ لا يرهَب الليل زائراً

إِذا ضلّ نهجَ الحيّ عنه تعسّفا

A weary brother whom night doesn't awe as a visitor

When the path of life has strayed far from him

أُودّعُ لُبّي ذاهلَ القلب مُغْرَماً

وأُودِع قلبي فاتر الطّرْف أَهْيفا

I bid farewell to an absent-minded heart enamored

And bid farewell to a languid eye and downcast

تَقَضّى الصِّبا إِلاّ تذكُّرَ ما مضى

وإِلاّ سؤالاً عن زمانٍ تَسَلَّفا

Youth is gone except remembering what is past

And questions about a time long gone

وإِلاّ شباباً فلَّلَ الشيبُ حَدَّهُ

إِذا ما هفا نحو التّصابي تَلَهَّفا

And a lost youth which gray hairs have bounded

When it sways eagerly towards youthfulness

وعاد عليَّ الدهرُ فيما سخا به

فنغّص ما أَعطى وكدَّر ما صَفا

Fate has turned against me in what it was generous with

It spoiled what it gave and muddied what was clear

على أَنني خلّفتُ خَلْفي نوائباً

كفانيَ مجدُ الدين منهنّ ما كفى

But I have left behind calamities

The glory of my faith sufficed me against them