واسلُك سبيلَ المُفلِسينَ وَدارِ

أتعَبتَ سَمعي من تَشَكِّيكَ الهوَى

Take the path of the bankrupt and their homes

You have wearied my hearing with your doubts, O passion

وتَقَلُّبٍ مِن شهوةٍ في نارِ

والصدِّ عنك منَ المِلاحِ بأسرِهِم

And with the turning from one desire to another afire

And with preventing me from the reproach of them all

ماب ين ذي غُنجٍ وذاتِ خِمارِ

والجيبُ منكَ كما وصفَتَهُ مُقفِرٌ

There is no difference between one in a gown or veil

And my pocket is empty, as you have described it, bare

فاجلُد فما في جَلدِها من عارِ

كم مُفلِسٍ قد باتَ خيرَ مُعرِّسٍ

So be patient, for there is no shame in patience

How many a bankrupt has spent the night better off than a groom

بِيَمينهِ المِطوَاعِ خَلفَ سِتارِ

يَختارُ عِرسَه ثَيِّيباً إن شاءَ أو

With his compliant right hand behind the curtain

Choosing his bride, whether previously married or a virgin

لَهُ في افتِرَاع البِكرِ كُلَّ خِيارِ

من غَيرِ مَا مَهرٍ ولا طَلبٍ له

Without any dowry or demand from him

Unlike what the prosperous encounter

لا مِثل ما يَلقاه أهلُ يَسار

عانِق بِفَضلِ الوَهمِ كلَّ خَريدةٍ

Embracing in imagination every unseen damsel

Veiled from sights and hearings

حُجِبَت عنِ الأسماعِ والأَبصار

والوهمُ يُدني منكَ كلَّ مًبَعَّدٍ

And imagination brings close all who are distant

Judging by the insistence of estrangement

قاسِ على الهِجران ذي إصرارِ

نِك ما قَدرتَ بِدونِ ما حَرَجٍ ولا

You can do without discomfort or

Fear of sins and burdens

خَوفٍ منَ الآثامِ والأوزار

نِك ما استَطعتَ بدون خِشيةِ دِرهَمٍ

You can do without fear of a dirham

That you give to a prostitute or dinar

تُعطِيهِ لِلمَنيوكِ أو دينارِ

لِلَّهِ جاريَةٌ غَريبٌ أمرُها

By God, she is a strange slave girl

And I say this definitively without doubt

وأقولُها واللهِ غيرَ مُمَارِ

أكرِم بزَوجٍ لا تُافرِقُ زوجهَا

Honored with a husband who does not separate from her

Whether settled or traveling among trips

حَضَراً ولا سَفَراً مِنَ الأسفَارِ

هيهاتَ لا تَعصِي له أمراً ولا

Alas! She does not disobey him in anything or

Divulge to him any secrets

تُفشي له سِراًّ مِنَ الأسرار

هي قَطُّ لم تَغضَب ولم تَعتِب ولم

She is a cat who never gets angry or complains or

Lies or runs off to a neighbor's house

تَكذِب ولم تَهرُب لِدارِ الجار

دُعِيَت فَلَبَّت فانزَوَت لَمَّا قَضَت

She comes when called, stays when invited, leaves when she finishes

What is sought from her in cycles

ما يُبتَغى منها منَ الأَوطارِ

والكلُّ لا يَرضى بها زَوجاً له

Yet no one accepts her as a wife

And if you ask, he denies with rejection

فإذا سَألتَه فَهوَ ذو إنكار

وإذا صَبَرتَ ولا إخالُكَ صابراً

And if you are patient, though patience does not suit you

In desire, O most debauched of the debauched

في شَهوةٍ يا فاجِرَ الفُجَّارِ

تُجزَى جزاءَ الصَّابرينَ وأجرَهُم

You will be rewarded as the patient are rewarded

Excellent is the reward, the reward of the abode of the Hereafter

نِعمَ الجزاءُ جزاءُ عُقبى الدارِ

فأجابني قُل لي وما أنا صانِعٌ

So he answered me: say to me - what can I do

When you know best my careless ways?

ولأنتَ أدرى النَّاسِ باستِهتَاري

إن مرَّ قُدَّامي فتىً ذو رَبوةٍ

If a lanky youth with a swinging gait passes before me

With a rear not firmly in place

من خَلفِه ليست بذَاتِ قَرارِ

تَهتَزُّ مثل الزِّئبقِ الرَّجراج في ال

It sways like quicksilver, shimmering, in

Movements - far from arrogance or haughtiness

حَركاتِ حاشا الكِبرِ والإكبارِ

ولَوَ أنَّها تَبدو كأنَّها زِئبَقٌ

As if it were quicksilver covered from behind with a loincloth

By God, I wish eloquence upon his description were mine

قد غُطِّيَت مِن خَلفِه بإزارِ

ألمَى تَألَّقَ طَلعَةً ويلاهُ لو

Or a sorceress in her graceful secret movements

From beneath the veil, melting with a glance

قَصُرت على أوصافِه أشعاري

أو غادةٌ سِحريَّةُ الحركاتِ من

And insofar as my eyes had been fruitful

So had my pocket been in privation

تَحتِ النِّقابِ تُذيبُ بالاشفارِ

وبِقَدرِ ما قد كانَ طَرفي عامِراً

Tell me - may you live well - what is my strategy

When all know me to be a shameless flirt?

قد كانَ منِّي الجِيبُ في إقفَارِ

قل لي وحيَّاكَ الحَيا ما حِيلَتي

From it the aid of fate has withdrawn

والكُلُّ يَعرِفُني خَليعَ عِذارِ

عنهُ تَخَلَّت نُصرةُ الأقدار