يشكو إلى إِضَمَ الهوى وَهَواؤُهُ

مِن كلِّ داءٍ يعتريهِ دَواؤُهُ

He complains of the intensity of passion and its excess

Of every malady that afflicts him, its remedy afflicts him

إنّ شفَّهُ طُولُ الأسى وتقاصرت

عنهُ الأُساةُ ففي النَّسيمش شفاؤهٌ

Truly, what healed his lips is prolonged sorrow, and

Sorrows fell short of him, so in the breeze is his remedy

لا تعذُلِ المشتاقَ حالَ وقوفهِ

في رسمِ دارِ طالَ فيه بُكاؤُهُ

Reproach not the ardent lover for pausing

In the abode whose weeping in it prolonged

ما طلَّ في طِلَلِ السَّحابِ دموعَه

إِلاَّ وقد حُشيت جوىً أحشاؤُهُ

Not a tear dropped in the shadows of clouds

Except that the valleys of his soul were flooded

ويحِقُّ للجفنِ القريحِ إذا نأت

عنه دُماهُ أن تفيضَ دماؤهُ

And the sore eyelid deserves, when its blood ceases

That its blood overflow

يا جيِرةَ الأثَلات دعوةَ مغرمٍ

ما بارحتهُ بعدكَم بُرحاؤُه

O neighbor of encampments, the prayer of a passion-stricken one

Did not abandon you after you all, his soberness abandoned him

ليسَ العجيبُ منَ الفراقِ مماتَه

لكنَّما العَجبُ العجيبُ بَقاؤُه

It’s not strange that parting caused his death

But the strange, the amazingly strange, is his survival

وأرى عِنياتَكم بقطعِ حبالهِ

ووصالهِ أن يستمرَّ عَناؤُهُ

And I see your glances severing his ties

And his connection, so that his effort continues

وعلى حمى النَّخَلاتِ حيٌّ لم تزل

محمَّيةً بِظُبا السُّيوفِ ظِباؤُه

And alive over the sanctuary of palm trees, never

Ceased to be protected by the wolf-like swords, their howling

لولا أَهِلَّةُ ما هاجَ لي

واديهِ داء لا ولا جَرعاؤُه

If it were not for the new moon, no

Valley of his would be excited, nor its draft drunk

يا برقُ سلهُ إذا شدت في دوحهِ

أطيارُه وتبغَّمت أطلاؤُه

O lightning, send him when the birds crowded his basin

And its surfaces frowned and its outskirts reddened

وتسلسلت أنهارهُ وتهدَّلت

أفنانُه وتأرَّجت أرجاؤُه

And its rivers dripped down and its branches swayed

And its spaces became fragrant, did the winds forget him after being kind

أهَمَى الرَّيابُ عليهِ بعدَ رَبابهِ

أم زالَ عنه رِيُّهُ وَرُواؤُه

Or did its scents and moistness leave him

The hand of afflictions did not abandon him, wearing him out

لا غادرتهُ يدُ الخطُوبِ كدارسٍ

أَودَى بهِ وبأُنسه إِقواؤُه

And wasting his companionship and sobering him

His happiness with his joy departed and his names

ذهبت سعادُ بسعدهِ وتنكَّرت

لمَّا نأت أسماؤُه اسماؤُه

Betrayed him when their names called him

By God a full moon whose prominence in my mind’s eye

للهِ بدرٌ بُرجُه في خاطري

يَسبي العقولَ جمالُه وسناؤُه

Captivates hearts, his beauty and brightness

A moon, when it appears clearly in a gaze

قمرٌ إذا استجليتهُ في نَثرَةٍ

فالطَّرفُ دونَ القلب فيه جلاؤُهُ

The eye falls short of the heart in perceiving it

He refuses to be likened to the most beautiful of faces

يفترُّ عن مثلِ الجُمانِ منضَّداً

أَشِرُ تميلُ بعطِفهِ صهباؤُه

The incline of his soft cheek refuses such comparison

The night is but his hair and its darkness

ما اللَّيلُ إِلا شَعرُهُ وظلامُهُ

والصبُّحُ إلاَّ وجهُه وضياؤُه

And dawn but his face and its glow

Where is the mole and cheek and garden of his cheek

أينَ الخليُّ وخالُ وجنةِ خَدِّهِ

لولاهُ ما فتكَت بنا خُيلاؤُهُ

If it were not for him, his charms would not have killed us

A cheek possessing a piece of every heart, its fire

خَدٌّ لهُ مِن كلِّ قلبٍ نارهُ

أَسَفاً عليهِ وكلِّ جَفنِ ماؤُهُ

Alas for it, and every sore eyelid its water

Nay, my surrender is but surrender to the bending of his eyelids

لا وانكِساري لانكسارِ جفونِه ال

مرضَى وما فعلت به نَجلاؤُهُ

Lovesick, and its coquetry did not empower it

None triumphed but his lover and one hanging

ما فازِ غيرَ مُحبِّهِ ومعلَّقٍ

بمواهبِ الملكِ العزيزِ رَجاؤُهُ

Onto the gifts of the Almighty King, his hope