ضلالاً لواشيها وتبَّت يمينهُ

له دينُ دعواه وللقلب دينه

His right hand has gone astray, and his oath has perished,

He has the religion of his claim, and the heart has its religion,

وصاحبه إمّا شتات يروعه

بوشك فراق أو حبيب يخونه

And his companion is either scattered fear,

Or the imminent separation of a beloved who betrays him,

وما زلت صبّا بالحمى منذ أبرزت

أهلَّته حسناً وتمَّت عصونه

And I have continued to pine with love since you displayed

Your beauty and perfected your coyness,

يتيمني لدن الكثيب وهيفه

وتحكم حور السرب في وعينه

The sand dunes make me long for her, and her bellowing,

And the wild cows judge his mind and awareness,

وحملني ثقل الكآبة والأسى

وقوفي بربع خفَّ عنه قطينه

And the heaviness of anxiety and sorrow has burdened me,

Standing in a pasture from which its cattle have strayed,

وأسمر يحكي الأسمر اللدن قدُّه

له لونه عند العناق ولينه

And the dark one tells of everlasting love,

It has its color in embracing and its softness,

وعرَّفني أنَّ الغرام شجاعةٌ

ولوعي برمح منه قلبي طعينه

And he introduced me that love is courage,

And my wounded heart is pierced by his spear,

وما بلَّغ التبريح إلاَّ لعابه

ولا الجدَّ إلاَّ هزله ومجونه

And he achieves nothing by his censure,

Except his nonsense and playfulness,

وساء ظنوناً حين حالت عهوده

إذا حال عهد المرء ساءت ظنونه

And suspicions were aroused when his pledges were hindered,

When a man's pledge is hindered, suspicions about him are aroused,

لقد آن أن يقضي النجاز وعوده

وتقضى لبانات الهوى ويديونه

Indeed, it is time for him to fulfill his vows,

And the turbans of passion and his creditors are fulfilled,

يصول بطرفٍ ساكن اللحظ فاترٍ

وما حرَّك الاشجانَ إلاَّ سكونُه

He rages with an eye that is still and indifferent,

And nothing moves passions except its stillness,

ولستُ بشاكٍ غير سقم جفونِه

فليس عدوَّ الجسم إلا جفونه

And I do not doubt except the sickness of his eyelids,

For the body has no enemy but its eyelids,

ويبسم عن خمر عراني خمارها

تحول على درٍ عداني ثمينه

And he smiles about the red wine of its grapes,

Which turns into a valuable necklace on his breast,

ويا عاذلي أنى اهتديتَ لناحلٍ

أسىً ضلَّ عنه الطيف إلا أنينه

And O reproacher! How have you been guided to a mustache

Of sorrow from which no specter has strayed except its moaning?

لأمرٍ أبى أن يدخل اللومَ سمعهُ

نعم ولشأنٍ لا تجفُّ شؤونه

For something he refused to let blame enter his hearing,

Yes, and for a matter whose affairs do not run out!

ورام دفينَ الحبِّ من لا يناله

وما يقتل العشاقَ إلا دفينه

And he who does not attain love seeks to bury it,

And lovers are killed by nothing but its burial!

وأقبل في خيل الملام ورجلهِ

فاعجزه أن يستشار كمينه

And he advanced with the horses of blame and his foot,

So his ambush failed to consult,

سقى الله جيران الثنية ضاحكاً

من المزن هامي الدمع فيها هتونه

May God water the neighbors of the bend laughing

At the one shedding tears silently among them, debased,

ونقَّط وجه الأرض لؤلؤ طلَّه

وزان حنين النهر منها غصونه

And dotted the face of the earth with the pearls of his saliva,

And the branches weigh the yearning of the river for them,

ويعجبني بردُ النسيم وإنما

لظى النار في برد الزناد كمونه

And I admire the coolness of the breeze, and yet

The hidden fire in the coldness of the flints,

وقد كنت في شكٍ من البين قبلما

تصرّح عن شك الفراق يقينه

And I had been suspicious of separation before

Its certainty declared openly my suspicion of parting,

فللهِ مبذولُ الدموع طليقُها

من الوجد مأسورُ الفرراق رهينه

So for God is the freely flowing tears,

And for separation the weeping captive is hostage,

وفي الجانب الغربيَ مني ولوعة

يشوق الحمام الساجعات حنينه

And in the west side of me is a wound

That makes the turtledoves yearn with their moaning,

إذا ضمَّهُ والأرحبي تنوفه

تشابهَ فيها جسمهُ ووضينه

When he embraces it and the vastness equalizes him,

His body and its expanse become equal in it.