غفرتُ للأيامِ ذنبَ الفراقْ

أنْ فزتُ من توديعهمْ بالعناقْ

I forgave the days for the sin of parting,

When I escaped from bidding them farewell with an embrace.

ما أَنسَ لا أنسَ لهم وَقْفَةً

كالشهدِ والعلقمِ عندَ المذاق

I did not forget them, nor they me, during a halt,

Like honey and ginger at the time of tasting.

مزجتُ فيها درَّ أسلاكهم

إذ أزفَ البين بدرِّ المآق

I mixed in it the tears of their farewell,

When the distance was brought near at the arrival of separation.

ساروا وقلبي بين أظعانهمْ

فلينشدوهُ بين تلكَ الرفاق

They departed while my heart was among their groans,

So let them chant it among those comrades.

لا مرحباً بالبرقِ ما لم يكنْ

تسقي عزاليه رسومَ البُراق

No welcome to the lightning unless

It waters the high grounds of Al Burāq.

حيثُ القبابُ البيضُ مضروبةٌ

تحرسُها سُمْرٌ وبيضٌ رقاق

Where the white domes are pitched,

Guarded by night patrols and white fine linen.

تحملُ في أثنائها غادةً

يحملُ منها القلبُ ما لا يطاق

Bearing amidst them a maiden,

Whose load makes the heart unbearable.

حاليةً تبسمُ عن مبسمٍ

كمثلِ ما قُلِّد منها التَّراق

A visionary smiling from a smiled one,

As if it was made of pearls from her.

من شَفَقِ الليلِ لها وجنةٌ

أو من دمٍ باللحظِ منها يراق

She has a complexion from the dusk of night,

Or blood shed with a glance from her.

ضعيفةٌ طرفاً وخصراً فما

يُطيقُ ذا اللحظَ ولا ذا النِّطاق

Weak in glance and waist, so neither

This amorous glance nor that slim waist bear.

تاهت على البانِ بأعْطافها

وعَيَّرَتْ بدرَ الدُّجى بالمُحاقْ

She wandered about the dunes with her trains,

And competed the full moon with defiance.

وأرسلتْ فَرْعَاً غدا لَوْنُهُ

كحالِ مَنْ يُحْرَمُ منها التَّلاق

She sent a twig that became colored in the morning,

Like the mark of one deprived of meeting her.

أَعادتِ الصبحَ ليلةً

حتى تَوَهَّمْتُ صَبوحي اغتباق

She brought the dawn back a night,

Until I imagined my morning was a relapse.

سقى ديارَ الحيِّ بالمنحنى

من سَبَلِ المُزْنِ أو الدمعِ ساق

The dwellings of the living were watered at the curve,

From the torrents of affection or the flowing tears.

كم ليلةٍ لي بعقيقِ الحمى

قَصَّرتها باللثم والاعتناق

How many nights fevered I shortened,

With a kiss and embrace.

ما ادَّرَعَ الليلُ بظلمائه

حتى كساه الصبحُ منه رُواقْ

The night did not don its darkness,

Until the dawn clothed it with a porch.

فانجفلت أنجمه فاشتكى

للبعضِ منها البعضُ وَشْكَ الفراق

So its stars tossed about complaining,

Some to others, of the agony of parting.

أما الثريَّا فنَوى رأسها

يركضُ نحو الغربِ ركضَ السباق

But the Pleiades intend to lay their heads,

Galloping westward with the race of the excellent horses.

وطار في إثرِ غرابِ الدُّجى

نسرُ النجومِ الزُّهرِ يبغي اللحاق

And the eagle of the stars flew after,

The raven of darkness, seeking to catch up.

وانتبَه الصبحُ بُعَيْدَ الكرى

كذي هوىً مِن غَشيَةٍ قد أَفاق

And the dawn woke up after the remote journey,

Like one who recovered from a swoon.

ورجَّع المُكَّاءُ تَحْنِينَهُ

حتى حسِبناهُ حليفَ اشتياق

And the sailor repeated his pining,

Until we reckoned him a comrade of yearning.

في روضةٍ علَّم أغصانُها

أهلَ الهوى العذريِّ كيف العناق

In a garden its branches taught,

The people of passion how is the embrace.

هبّتْ به ريحُ الصِّبا سُحْرةً

فالتفَّتِ الأشجارُ ساقاً بساق

The morning breeze blew him in the early darkness,

So the trees leaned, stalk after stalk.

تلك الليالي أعْقَبَتْ بعد ما

أحمدْتُها عيشاً بوشكِ الفراق

Those were nights, that after

I praised, living was hard with the agony of parting.