يَفديكَ يا بَدر صَبّ ما بَخلت عَلى

يَفديكَ يا بَدر صَبّ ما بَخلت عَلى

جَفنَيهِ بِالنَوم اِلّا بِالدُموعِ سنحا

جَفنَيهِ بِالنَوم اِلّا بِالدُموعِ سنحا

A lovesick man would ransom you, O full moon; whenever you withheld

You ransom me, O full moon, pouring without stint

Sleep from his eyelids, he came forth with tears.

On my eyelids with sleep, except with tears, times of wakefulness

ما زالَ في صَفحاتِ الخَدّ مُجتَهِدا

ما زالَ في صَفحاتِ الخَدّ مُجتَهِدا

يُكَرّر الوَجد حَتّى في الحَشى رَسخا

يُكَرّر الوَجد حَتّى في الحَشى رَسخا

He kept striving upon the surfaces of the cheek,

Ever busy on the cheeks' pages, repeating passion

Renewing love's anguish until it took root in the breast.

Until it took root, even in the breast's cavity

يا ممرضي بِشَقيق عَمّ وَجنته

يا ممرضي بِشَقيق عَمّ وَجنته

وَجاعِل عَنكَ وَلا عقد الهَوى فسخا

وَجاعِل عَنكَ وَلا عقد الهَوى فسخا

O you who sicken me with anemone-red that suffused his cheek,

O healer of my cousin's wound, and undoer

And placing [unclear] away from you; nor has he broken love's bond.

Of the pact of love towards you, not once unloosing it

ما كانَ ضرّك لَو واصَلت مُكتَئِبا

ما كانَ ضرّك لَو واصَلت مُكتَئِبا

ما حالَ عَنكَ وَلا عقد الهَوى فسخا

ما حالَ عَنكَ وَلا عقد الهَوى فسخا

What harm would it have done you to keep company with a grieving man,

No harm had it been, had you persisted downcast

Who never turned away from you or dissolved love's bond?

Neither undoing the pact of love towards you

ها أَنتَ غُصن وَقَلبي طائِر فَإِذا

ها أَنتَ غُصن وَقَلبي طائِر فَإِذا

أَبعَدته عَنكَ أَو هَيَّجتُه صرخا

أَبعَدته عَنكَ أَو هَيَّجتُه صرخا

Behold, you are a bough and my heart a bird; so if

You distance it from you or stir it up, it will scream

You drive it away from you, or I rouse it, it cries out.

O you who blame me for it, heap me not overmuch,

يا عاذِلي فيهِ لا تَكثر عَلَيّ فَما

يا عاذِلي فيهِ لا تَكثر عَلَيّ فَما

قَد كُنت أَعهده من صَبري اِنتَسخا

قَد كُنت أَعهده من صَبري اِنتَسخا

O you who reproach me for him, do not press me, for what

For I never knew it deviate from my patience, once committed

I once knew of my patience has been erased.

Perplexed am I, whether to meet it with refusal or consent,

وَاِحيرَتي اِن أَقل صلني بِصول وَاِن

وَاِحيرَتي اِن أَقل صلني بِصول وَاِن

أَرضَيتُه صَدّ أَولا يَنته شمخا

أَرضَيتُه صَدّ أَولا يَنته شمخا

Alas, my bewilderment! If I say, 'Be with me,' he answers with an assault; and if

And if I gratified it, at first it disdained, or persisted arrogantly

I please him, he turns away—or does not relent, growing haughty.

My lifetime have I passed in hardship, and they claimed

قَضيت دَهري في كَرب وَقَد زَعَموا

قَضيت دَهري في كَرب وَقَد زَعَموا

بَأَنَّ أَهلَ الهَوى في شِدَّةِ وَرخا

بَأَنَّ أَهلَ الهَوى في شِدَّةِ وَرخا

I have spent my lifetime in distress, though they have claimed

That lovers in time of straits are [found] bent down despondently

That lovers live in hardship and ease.