عَفا رابِغٌ مِن أَهلِهِ فالظَواهِرُ

فَأَكنافُ هَرشى قَد عَفَت فَالأَصافِرُ

Rabi departed from his family, so farewell to intimacy,

And the tents of Harsha have been folded up, so farewell to neighborliness,

مَغانٍ يُهَيِّجنَ الحَليمَ إِلى الصِبا

وَهُنَّ قَديماتُ العُهودِ دَواثِرُ

Flirtatious singing girls arouse even the forbearing to youthfulness,

Yet they are worn-out antiquities, so farewell to the ruins,

لِلَيلى وَجاراتٍ لِلَيلى كَأَنَّها

نِعاجُ المَلا تُحدى بِهنَّ الأَباعِرُ

For Layla and her fellow maidens, as though they were

Ewes of the pen challenged by the white-faced sheep,

بِما قَد أَرى تِلكَ الدِيارَ وَأَهلَها

وَهُنَّ جَمِيعاتُ الأَنيسِ عَوامِرُ

By what I see of those abodes and their inhabitants,

While they collectively were friendly dwellings,

أَجَدَّك أَن دارُ الرّبابِ تَباعَدَت

أَو اِنبَتَّ حَبلٌ أَنَّ قَلبَكَ طائِرُ

I wondered if the abode of Rabab had become distant,

Or if an infirmity arose that your heart took flight,

أَفِق قَد أَفاقَ العاشِقونَ وَفارَقوا ال

هَوى وَاِستَمَرَّت بِالرجالِ المَرائِرُ

The passionate have awakened and abandoned desire,

Yet trickery persists among men,

وَهبها كَشَيءٍ لَم يَكُن أَو كَنازِحٍ

بِهِ الدَارُ أَو مَن غَيّبَتهُ المَقابِرُ

Give her up as something that never was, or as one who has emigrated from the abode,

Or whom the tombs have hidden away.

أَمُنقَطِعٌ يا عَزَّ ما كانَ بَينَنا

وَشاجَرَني يا عَزَّ فيكِ الشَواجِرُ

Has it been severed, O Might, what was between us,

And, O Might, did misgivings about you arise in me?

إِذا قيلَ هَذي دارُ عَزَّةَ قادَني

إِليها الهَوى وَاِستَعجَلَتني البَوادِرُ

When it is said, "This is the abode of Might,"

Passion drives me to it, and the tidings hasten me,

أَصُدُّ وَبي الجُنونِ لِكَي يَرى

رُواةُ الخَنا أَنِّي لِبَيتِكِ هاجِرُ

I feign madness, so that the talebearers may see

That I am bound for your abode as an emigrant,

فَيا عَزُّ لَيتَ النأَيَ إِذ حالَ بَينَنا

وَبينَكِ باعَ الوِدَّ لي مِنكِ تاجِرُ

O Might, would that estrangement, when it came between us,

Had brought me your love for sale from you, O merchant!

وَأَنتِ الَّتي حَبَّبتِ كُلَّ قَصيرَةٍ

إِليَّ وَما يَدري بِذاكَ القَصائِرُ

You it was who endeared to me every short woman,

And the diminutive ones know nothing of that,

عَنَيتُ قَصيراتِ الحِجالِ وَلَم أُرِد

قِصارَ الخُطا شَرُّ النِساءِ البَحاتِرُ

I gave my attention to short-statured belles, and did not intend

The shortcoming of steps - evil are slanderous women!