إِقرَ السَلامَ عَلى إِلفٍ كَلِفتُ بِهِ

قَد رُمتُ صَبراً وَطولُ الشَوقِ لَم يَرمِ

I bid peace to a beloved with whom I was burdened

I have endured with patience though longing remained unabated

ظَبِيٍ تَباعَدَ عَن قُربي وَعَن نَظَري

فَالنَفسُ وَآلِهَةً مِن شِدَّةِ الأَلَمِ

A gazelle distanced from my proximity and sight

So the soul is tormented by the extremity of pain

كُنّا كَروحَينِ في جِسمٍ غِذاؤُهُما

ماءُ المَحَبَّةِ مِن هامٍ وَمُنسَجِمِ

We were like two spirits in a body sustained

By the water of love from care and harmony

إِلَفَينِ هَذا بِهَذا مُغرَمٌ كَلِفٌ

وَواحِدٌ في الهَوى مِنّا بِمُتَّهَمِ

Two intimates, one enamored with the other and attached

United in passion, one of us accused

لِلَّهِ تِلكَ اللَيالي وَالسُروربِها

كَأَنَّما أَبصَرَتها العَينُ في الحُلُمِ

By God those nights and their felicity

Were as if seen by the eye in a dream

فَفَرَّقَ الدَهرُ شَملاً كانَ مُلتَئِماً

مِنّا وَجَمَّعَ شَملاً غَيرَ مُلتَئِمِ

Time separated a union that was coherent

And united a union not coherent

ما زِلتُ أَرعى نُجومَ اللَيلِ طالِعَةً

أَرجو السَلُوَّ بِها إِذ غِبتُ عَن نَجمي

I continued to tend to the rising stars of night

Hoping consolation thereby when absent from my star

نَجمٌ مِنَ الحُسنِ ما يَجري بِهِ فَلَكٌ

كَأَنَّهُ الدُرُّ وَالياقوتُ في النَظمِ

A star of beauty whom no orbit contains

As if it were pearl and ruby in stringing

ذاكَ الَّذي حازَ حُسناً لا نَظيرَ لَهُ

كَالبَدرِ نوراً عَلا في مَنزِلِ النِعَمِ

The one who attained singular beauty

Like the full moon, exalted in abode of bounty

وَقَد تَناظَرَ وَالبِرجيسَ في شَرَفٍ

وَقارَنَ الزَهرَةَ البَيضاءَ في تومِ

It contended in nobility with the Pleiades

And paired with the white flower in symmetry

فَذاكَ يُشبِهُ في حُسنِ صورَتِهِ

وَذا يَزيدُ بِحَظِّ الشِعرِ وَالقَلَمِ

That one resembles in the beauty of its form

And this exceeds in share of poetry and calligraphy

أَشكو إِلى اللَهِ ما أَلقى لِفُرقَتِهِ

شَكوى مُحِبٍّ سَقيمٍ حافِظِ الذِمَم

I complain to God of what I faced in separation

The complaint of a loving, frail, keeper of pacts

لَو كُنتُ أَشكو إِلى صُمِّ الهِضابِ إِذاً

تفَطَّرَت لِلَّذي أُبديهِ مِن أَلَمِ

If I complained to the deaf stones of the plateau

They would split from the pain I express

يا غادِراً لَم يَزَل بِالغَدرِ مُرتَدِياً

أَينَ الوَفاءُ أَبن لي غَرَ مُحتَشَمِ

Oh betrayer persistently clad in betrayal

Where is loyalty, show me one not brazen

إِن غابَ جِسمُكَ عَن عَيني وَعَن نَظري

فَما يَغيبُ عَنِ الأَسرارِ وَالوَهمِ

If your body is absent from my eye and sight

It is not absent from secrets and imagination

إِنّي سَأَبكيكَ ما ناحَت مُطَوَّقَةٌ

تَبكي أَليفاً عَلى فَرعٍ مِنَ النَشَمِ

I will weep for you as long as a turtledove moans

Crying for a mate on a branch of nasham