طَروبٌ طُلاه الحبُّ والوجدُ قَرقفُهْ
وَمُدمِنُ عِشقٍ يَحتَسيهِ ويرشفُهْ
The freshness of love and passion is exhilarating
And a lover getting drunk on love sips and gulps it
مَشوقٌ مُعنّىً مُغرمٌ مُتَولِّهٌ
كَئيبٌ نَحيلُ الجسمِ في الجِسمِ مُضعَفُه
Yearning with deep passion, enamored and infatuated
Grieving, body frail inside a frail body, weakening it
رَشيدٌ سَفيهُ الحلمِ في الوَجدِ وَالهَوى
وَإِنَّ أَخا الإِصلاحِ في الحبِّ مُسرِفُه
Wise yet crazy in passion and desire
And excess in love makes one exceed limits
تَناحلَ حتّى ذابَ قَلباً وَجثّةً
وَصارَ فَلا شَخصٌ يَعيهِ وَيَعرِفُه
He melted away until his heart and body wasted
And he became neither a person to be known nor recognized
فَلا روحَ فيهِ كَي تظنّ حَياتَهُ
وَلا نَفَسٌ يُبديهِ مِنهُ تَجوُّفُه
No soul in him that makes you think him alive
Nor breath to show its hollowing out from within
تَوَلّى وَإِن لَو كَالخيالِ رَأيتهُ
فَلَيسَ خَيالُ المَرءِ لَو زالَ يَخلُفُه
He has withered as if a specter you would see
Yet a specter remains when a person fades away
تَولَّع وَلهاناً تَعَسَّفَ هائِماً
وَدامَ عَلى التّهيامِ وَجداً تَعسُّفُه
He grew madly obsessed, wandered lost in love
And persisted raving in maddened, wretched passion
عَلَيهِ يَجوزُ الحبُّ بِالبعدِ وَالنّوى
يُساعِدُهُ في الجَورِ دَهري وَيُسعِفُه
In distance and intention, love becomes allowable
Helped by time and fate conspiring for him
لِمَن يَشتكي جَورَ الزّمانِ وَفِعلَهُ
فَهَل حَكَمٌ يَقضي بِعَدلٍ وَيُنصِفُه
Who complains of time’s tyranny and deeds?
What judge rules with justice, rights the wronged?
وَثن في الهَوى يَقضي بِقَلبي صَبابَةً
فَأَفضَلُ قاضٍ في الأَنامِ وَأَشرَفُه
Let my heart judge love’s case with leniency
The best and noblest judge among all people
يَرى مُوجباً قَتلي غَرامي بِشادنٍ
إِنِ البدرُ قَد يَبدو مُحيّاهُ يَخسِفُه
Seeing my murder by love as permissible
For the full moon can sometimes eclipse
أَخو الشّمسِ أَعطاها مِنَ الحُسنِ شَذرةً
فَفَرّت بِها كَالخاطِفِ الشّيءَ يَخطِفُه
The sun’s brother gave it a speck of beauty
Which it flung like a thief stealing something precious
وَفي رابِعِ الأَفلاكِ عَنهُ تَباعَدَت
مَخافَةَ كَسفٍ مِن مُحيّاهُ تَكسِفُهْ
And distanced itself in the fourth celestial sphere
Fearing an eclipse that would darken its brilliance
أَخو الفتكِ في الأَرواحِ وَالقَلبِ وَالحَشا
عَلَيها إِذا يَسطو فَمن ذا يَرأفُه
A brother of murder to souls, hearts and feelings
Who can show mercy when it dominates them?
فَفي لَحظَةٍ إِن يُرْدِ أَلفاً بِفَتكِهِ
فَفي فَتكِهِ ذا الفتكُ لا شَكّ أَلطَفُه
In one moment, if it wants a thousand killed
Surely none surpasses it in deadly skill
فَقامَته رمحٌ كَذا الهُدبُ سَهمُهُ
يُراش لِرَميِ القلبِ وَاللّحظِ مُرهَفُه
It stands spear-like, its eyebrows are arrows
Well-aimed at hearts and glances made razor-sharp
تَقاوى عَلى الآسادِ إِنسانُ عَينِهِ
وَإِنسانُها في الخلقِ لا شكَّ أَضعفُه
It overpowers lions with the human in its eyes
While the human in it is no doubt the weakest
عَلى أَسرِهم مِن بَعدِ خَطفِ عُقولِهِم
يُعاوِنُهُ بِالسّحرِ في الجفنِ أَوطفُه
After capturing their minds and taking prisoners
The dearest supports it with magic in its eyelids
لَحا اللَّهُ عُذّالي وَأَردَى مراقبي
بِهم في الهَوى كُلِّفت ما لا أُكلَّفُه
May God punish those who reprimand and watch me
Tasking me beyond what I can endure in love
فَهُم كَلّفوني أَن أَبوحَ بِصَبوَتي
وَكِتمانُها مِمّا أُحِبُّ وَأَألَفُه
They obligate me to confess my burning passion
Yet hiding it is what I love and am used to
وَلَكِنّهم جُوزوا بِخَيرٍ مِنَ الجَزا
فَقَد عَرَّفوا المَحبوبَ ما لَيسَ يَعرِفُه
But they have rewarded well, beyond deserts
Introducing the beloved whom I did not know
فَفي أَنّني في الحبّ يَعقوبه جَوى
لَقَد عَرَّفوهُ وَهوَ في الحُسنِ يوسفُه
In that I burn for Joseph’s beauty unseen
They made him known, peerless in perfection
رَماني بِسَهمِ البعدِ في مَهمَهِ الهوى
وَدامَ عَلى الهجرانِ وَالهجرُ مَألَفُه
He shot me with separation’s arrow in battle
Ever insisting on estrangement, his habit old
عَلى أَنّهُ ظَبيٌ وَمِن طَبعِهِ الجَفا
وَدَيْدَنُهُ الهِجرانُ وَالوصلُ يَأنَفُه
Though he is a gazelle whose nature is aloofness
Whose abode is estrangement, union he disdains
وَما الوصلَ يَدري بَل وَلا يَعرِفُ اِسمهُ
وَلَم يَكُ بِاِسمِ الوصلِ شَيءٌ يَعرِفُه
He knows not union, nor even its name
No thing has made him acquainted with its meaning
رَضيتُ بِما يَرضى قَنِعت بِما اِرتَضى
فَلَستُ بِمَن يَلحاهُ أَو مَن يُعنِّفُه
I accepted what he accepts, content with his wish
No complainer, no one to upbraid or accuse
جَميلٌ فَما يَقضي جَميلٌ كما اِرتَضى
فَسِيّانَ عِندي جَوْرُهُ وَتَعطُّفُه
Beautiful he is, so he does as he pleases
Wrong or grace from him are equal in my eyes
فَلو كانَ حِبٌّ فِعلُه غَيرُ صالِحٍ
لَما كانَ قَلبُ الصَبِّ يَهوى وَيألَفُه
If it were a love whose actions were not good
How could a lover’s heart desire and love it?
فَلَستَ تَرى قَلباً يُحبّ وَيَهتَوي
سِوى صالِحٍ مَن بِالكمالِ تكنّفُه
You see no heart love or crave wildly
But what is virtuous, enveloped in perfection
أَخو الفَهمِ رَبُّ الحِذْقِ خِدْنُ بلاغَةٍ
أَميرُ القَوافي دامَ فيها تَصَرّفُه
A brother of insight, Lord of wisdom and care
A trove of eloquence, may it always aid him
لَبيبٌ خَطيبٌ مِصْقَع ذو براعَةٍ
بَليغٌ بَديعُ النَّظمِ أَعلى وَأَظرَفُه
Witty, eloquent, refined and excelling
Skilled in verse, highest and most graceful
فَإِنْ يُبدِ لِلأَسماعِ قِرطَ جَواهِرٍ
فَلا سَمعَ إِلّا وَدَّ أَن لَو يُشنِّفُه
If he recites to ears a string of precious pearls
No ear but wishes to ornament itself with them
حَبانِيَ بِكراً مِن بَدائِعِ فِكرِهِ
خَريدةَ حسنٍ تُدهِشُ العَقلَ تَخطِفُه
He gifted me an early draft of his ideas
A precious jewel of beauty that startles minds
قَصيدَة مَدحٍ بِالتغزُّلِ زُخرِفَت
فَيا حُسنَ مَدحٍ بِالتغزُّلِ زخرفُه
A eulogy adorned with amorousness
What beauty when praise is mixed with passion!
فَقابلها وَالعجزُ عذر مسلمٍ
بِشَوهاءِ فِكري حيثُ فيها أكلفُه
Receive it though my incapacity excuses
Given my muddled thoughts taxing me herein
فَخُذها أَخا المَعروفِ أَخذَ أَخي الرّضا
فَذَلكَ في المَعروفِ لا شَكَّ أَعرفُه
Take it, oh gentle sir, as one gracious accepts
For that is best known for its nobility
وَدُم بِأَمانِ اللَّهِ ما هَبَّتِ الصَّبا
فَمَرَّت بِغُصنِ الرّوضِ تَلوي وَتَعطِفُه
Remain in God’s safety as the morning breeze blows
Passing by the garden branch, twisting and turning it
وَقالَ اِبنُ فَتحِ اللَّهِ إِنّي أَخو جَوىً
طَروبٌ طُلاهُ الحبّ وَالوجدُ قَرقفُه
And the son of Fatehullah has said: I am love's kin
The freshness of love and passion is exhilarating
