أصَبْتَ بِالْعَيْنِ وَسِحْرِ الحَدَقْ

يَا قَاتِلِي السحْرُ وَالْعَيْنُ حَقْ

You have struck with a glance and the magic of eyes,

O my killer, the magic and the evil eye are true,

أمَا كَفَى أجريتَ دَمْعِي دَمًا

حَتَّى كَسَوْتَ الجِسْمَ ثَوْبَ الأرَقْ

Have not my tears, that flowed as blood, sufficed

That you have clothed my body in the garb of insomnia?

وَإنْ تَسَلْ عَمَّا جَرَى مَدْمَعِي

فَلاَ تَسَلْ يَا مَا جَرَى وَاتَّفَقْ

And if you ask about what my tears have wrought

Then ask not, O you who brought this about.

لِلَّهِ دَمْعٌ سَائِلٌ مُخْبِرٌ

أكْرِمْ بِهِ مِنْ سَائِلٍ إنْ صَدَقْ

To God belong tearful prayers that speak,

Honor their sayer, if he be sincere.

لِشُهْبِهِ السَّبْقُ عَلَى جَمْرِهِ

وَالشُّهْبُ فِي الأفْق لَهُنَّ السَبَقْ

Its meteors precede its embers,

And meteors in the horizon have the precedence.

وَشَى بِمَا أخْفَيْتُ فِي مُهْجَتِي

فَأعْجَبْ بِهِ مِنْ صَامِتٍ قَدْ نَطَقْ

It intimated what I concealed in my innermost being,

So wonder at it, from one who was silent but has spoken.

وَبِي غَزَالٌ صَادَ أسْدَ الشَّرَى

بِسَهْمِ جَفْنٍ فِي فُؤَادِي رَشَقْ

And I am a gazelle who hunted the lion of foes

With the arrow of an eyelid that struck my heart.

رَمَقْتُ سَاجِي مُقْلَتَيْهِ فَلَمْ

يَتْرُكْ بِقَلْبِي أوْ بِعَيْنِي رَمَقْ

I glimpsed the intoxication of his languishing eyes, but it

Left in my heart or eyes no glimpse.

غُصْنٌ رَنَا لَمَّا انْثَنَى عِطفه

فَاحْذَرْهُ مِمَّا هَزَّ أوْ مَا امْتَشَقْ

A branch bent when its clusters bent,

So beware of what it shook or what it snapped off.

رَقَّتْ كُؤُوسُ الرَّاح فِي جفنه

فَاصْطَبَحَ اللَّحْظُ بِهَا وَاغْتَبَقْ

The cups of the zephyr melted on his eyelids,

So the glance took them in the morning and was dyed by them.

وَقَلَّمَ الغُصْنَ بِخَدَّيْهِ فَلَمْ

أعْلَمْ لِدَالٍ أوْ لِلاَمٍ مَشَقْ

And his cheeks modeled the branch yet I knew not

Whether it was for a dal or for a lam it was cleft.

بَدْرٌ عَلَى غُصْنٍ لَوَى جِيدَهُ

يَا مَنْ رَأى شَكْلاً عَلَيْهِ الشَّفَقْ

A full moon on a bending branch, O you who saw

A crescent moon rising on which the sunset glow spread.

البَدْرُ مِنْ ضَوْءِ سَنَاهُ أضا

وَالْمِسْكُ من رَيَّا شذَاهُ عَبَقْ

The full moon derives its light from the brilliance of his attributes,

And musk derives its fragrance from the wind blowing on it.

لَوْ لَمْ تكُنْ عَيْنَ الحَيَا خَدُّهُ

مَا عَاشَ فِيهِ الوَرْدُ بَعْدَ العَرَقْ

Were it not for the eye of the serpent being his cheek,

The roses would not have lived after being plucked.

كَلاَّ وَلَوْلاَ أنَّهُ مِنْ لَظًى

مَا كَانَ نجمُ الخَالِ فِيهِ احْتَرَقْ

Nay, were it not for it being made of softness,

The star of the mole in it would not have burned.

صَلَّى إلَى وجنته خَالُهُ

فَأحْرَقَتْهُ شَمْسُهَا بِالشَّفَقْ

His cheek prayed to the sun of her cheek,

So her sun burned it with the sunset glow.

وَقَامَ يَدْعُو لِلْهَوَى صُدْغُهُ

وربَّ دَاعٍ لَمْ يَكُنْ مُخْتَلِقْ

And his temple stood beseeching love,

While many a supplicant had not been sincere.

وَاسْتَمَعَ العَارِضُ ذِكْرَ الحَيَا

فَاسْتَرَقَ الألْبَابَ لَمَّا اسْتَرَقْ

The cheek listened to the mention of the serpent,

So it stole hearts when it stole a glance.

قَابلتَ يَا بَدْر ضِيَا خَدّهِ

وَالبَدْر إنْ وَافَى القِرَانَ انْمَحَقْ

You met, O full moon, the brightness of his cheek,

And the full moon when it meets its pair is eclipsed.

وَمُذْ سَرَقْتِ العِطْفَ يَا بَانَةً

قُطِعْتِ وَالقطع جَزَا مَنْ سَرَقْ

And since you stole a sidelong glance, O you who tempts,

You were cut off, and cutting off is the penalty for theft.

يَا عَاذِلِي لاَ تَعْتقِاْ أنَّنِي

أنَمْت جفنِي بَعْدَ طُولِ الأرقْ

O you who blame me, think not that I

Slept after long insomnia.

الجَفْن لَمْ يَهْجَعْ وَلَكِنَّه

لَمَّا رَأى طَيْفَ حَبِيبِي طَرَقْ

My eyelids did not sleep but when

They saw the phantom of my beloved they hastened.

أعِيذ خَدَّيْهِ بِشَمْسِ الضُّحَى

وَوَجْهَه الزَّاهِي بِنُورِ الفَلَقْ

I seek refuge for his cheeks in the sun of morning

And his radiant face in the light of daybreak.

مُحَبَّب الثَّغْرِ شَهِيُّ اللَّمَى

مُوَرَّد الخَدّ كَحيل الحَدَقْ

Beloved of the mouth, magnificent of glance,

Rosy of cheek as the kohl of eyes.

إنْ لاَحَ غَطَّى الشَّمْسَ مِرْطُ الحَيَا

أوْ مَاسَ وَارَى الغصن بُرْدُ الوَرَقْ

If the serpent's hood covered the sun of his cheek

Or it withdrew and the branch's foliage covered it,

مليك حسنٍ مَاسَ تيهًا لِذَا

لِوَاءُ قَلْبِي فِي هَوَاه خَفَقْ

A possessor of beauty withdrew confused, for

My heart's banner fluttered in passionate love for him.

عُلِّقْتُه شَمْسًا عَلَى بَانَةٍ

جَلَّ الَّذِي صَوَّرَه من عَلَقْ

I hung him as a sun upon a shining full moon,

Exalted is He who shaped him from a clot!

رَفَّتْ عَلَى غُرَّتِهِ طُرَّةٌ

وَعَادَةُ الشَّمْسِ جَلاَءُ الغَسَقْ

The new moon gleamed over his crescent,

And it is the sun's habit to unveil the darkness.

وَرَقَّ ألْفَاظًا وَخَصْراً فَلَمْ

أدْرِ وَقَدْ رَاقَ الهوَى مَنْ أرَقّ

He swayed, both in figure and waist, but I knew not,

And who has ever known one consumed with passion?

شَمْسُ ضُحًى غَطَّى الضيَا وَجهَهُ

وَزَادَ ضَوْءَ البَدْرِ حَتَّى اتَّسَقْ

The sun of morning covered the brightness of his face

And increased the moon's light until it was complete.

فَحَمَّ طَرْفُ اللَّيْلِ حَتَّى انْعَمَى

وَغَمَّ قَلْبُ الصُّبْحِ حَتَّى انْفَلَقْ

So the edge of night became blind until it was darkened,

And the heart of dawn grieved until it split.