ما بالها لم تجرني في بالها
بيضاء مثل الشمس في اعتدالها
Why has she not drawn me into her thoughts,
As white as the sun at its zenith?
مالت إلى عذَّالها وإنما
لشقوتي مالت إلى عذَّالها
She turned to her reproacher, and yet
Twas only to my misfortune she turned.
سيَّان ما ينطق من نطاقها
حسناً وما يخرس من خلخالها
Alike are her utterances, fair and foul,
And the tinkling of her anklets.
لمياءُ لا أقبحُ من عائبها
عندي ولا أحسن من إدلالها
Peerless is she, though blamers find fault.
To me naught is fairer than her allure.
مليَّةٌ بالحسن إلاَّ إنَّ ذا الفا
قة لا يطمع في نوالها
With beauty she is laden, but passion for her
No man can hope to obtain.
ما كان قلبي طائراً في حبّها
لو وقعت عيني على مثالها
My heart was not a bird passionately in love,
Had my eye not fallen upon her likeness.
تجورُ فيما وليت من مهجتي
ولا تخاف العذل من أعمالها
She is tyrannous with the love she inspired in me,
Fearing no rebuke for her deeds.
فلو سرى صبري في ليل الحشى
أخذه الطائف من خيالها
Had my patience flowed in the night of love,
The stalker would have seized it from her imagination.
سافرة عن طلعةٍ ما انتقبتْ
إلاَّ وغار البدر من هلالها
A morning whose rise was peerless,
Save when the full moon was eclipsed at her crescent's advent.
مخجلةٌ بنت الحبابِ وجنةٌ
لتعس جدّي ولهي بخالها
She is bashful, daughter of the sand dunes, and a paradise -
Curse upon my grandfather! Hers is the negligence.
تشغفني ريقاً وأعطافاً ففي
معسولها حتفي وفي عسَّالها
She captivates me with saliva and glances. In her sweetness is my doom,
In her aloofness, my destruction.
يئستُ واليأس أخو الفوز فلا
أطمع في جمل ولا إجمالها
I despair, and despair is sibling to attaining.
So I hope not for union or even a glance.
أسماء غيدٍ أصبحت أجسامنا
مثل حروف الخطِّ من أفعالها
Our bodies have become like letters spelling out
The names of lovers from their deeds.
يا سائراً تحدى به ناحيةٌ
راكبها انحلُ من عقالها
O rider who challenged the neighborhood!
Dismount, for the mare has slipped her bridle.
حدّثْ نساء الحيِّ عن حشاشة
كلُّ الأسا يرجى سوى إبلالها
Tell the women of the tribe about her coquetry -
All prisoners hope for is her respect.
من لي بداريّا إلى حارتها
وموقف الأحباب من أطلالها
Who will lead me to her abode
And the stance of lovers before her ruins?
وضاحك الأعطاف من قضيبها ال
ميَّاس والإلحاظ من غزالها
And the laughing cheeks with his rod,
Blowing gently, gazing upon her gazelle.
ما دبَّ في وجنته عذارهُ
بل لاح خطُّ الوهم في صقالها
Desire has not crept into his smooth cheek,
But the line of illusion gleamed on its polish.
كإنّما الدَّوح ضفت إفنانها
وضمَّخت بالرَّدع من آصالها
As if the ribs of her litter flanked with grace,
Were dyed with henna from her plaits.
عرائسٌ مسبلةٌ أكمامها
لولا الحجى قبَّلت من أذيالها
Brides with trailing sleeves, their hems -
Had it not been for my dignity, I'd have kissed them.
كم مهجةٍ أحيت ومحل قتلت
بصارم الجدولِ من سلسالها
How many slain minds by the sword of her stream,
From her dangling tresses!
يعجبني المقصورُ من عشيّها
والسابغُ الممدود من ظلالها
Her secluded evening gatherings please me,
And the outstretched canopy of her shade.
