إِنَّ الفَريقَ مُذِ اِستَقَلَّ مُغَرِّبا
لَم يُبقِ لي في طيبِ عَيشٍ مَرغَبا
Since the group has gone abroad,
No pleasant life is left for me to enjoy.
لَمّا تَحَمَّلَ لِلرَحيلِ حَسِبتُهُ
مِن كَثرَةِ الظَبَياتِ فيهِ رَبرَبا
When he prepared for departure I thought,
From his frequent sighs, he was restless.
وَبِمُهجَتي تِلكَ البُدورُ عَشِيَّةً
إِذ نَكَّبَت أَكنافَ غُرَّبَ غُرَّبا
And my heart was grieved in the evening
When the saddled camels turned away.
وَعَلى المَطايا مِن ذُؤَابَةِ عامِرٍ
وَجهٌ يَروقُكَ سافِراً وَمُنَقَّبا
On the camels, from the clan of 'Amir,
Were cheerful faces traveling veiled.
ذو صَفحَةٍ لَو لَم يُصافِح نارَها
ماءُ الشَبابِ لَخِفتُ أَن تَتَلَهَّبا
A cheek, that would please you journeying abroad,
If its fire had not been touched would be extinguished by the water of youth were it to blaze.
يا غُرَّةَ الحَيِّ اللَقاحِ أَواجِبٌ
أَن تَزهَدي زُهدَ المَلولِ وَأَرغَبا
O freshness of lively communion, it is fitting
That you disdain the gloom of the sullen and discontent.
أَفدي بِأَنفَسِ ما أُدافِعُ عَنهُ مَن
قَطَعَ الحَياةَ تَعَنُّتاً وَتَعَتُّبا
I would ransom with my soul him for whom I defend
One who has willfully severed life and become estranged.
ما كُنتُ قِدماً ذا نَصيبٍ في الهَوى
فَجَعَلتِ لي مِنهُ النَصيبَ المُنصِبا
I was not formerly one with a share in love -
You made me have in it an appointed portion.
أَصلَيتِني بِالهَجرِ ناراً ما خَبَت
فَعَلِمتُ أَنَّ هَواكِ زَندٌ ماكَبا
You have kindled me with estrangement into a fire that has not died out,
So I knew that your passion is lasting and firmly rooted.
وَأَمَرتِني أَلّا أَمُرَّ بِدارِكُم
فَمَتى مَرَرتُ بِها مَرَتُ مُجَنِّبا
And you ordered me not to pass by your abode -
Yet whenever I passed by it I turned aside.
خِفتِ الرَقيبَ وَلَو وَصَلتِ أَمِنتِهِ
وَنَهَيتِ دَمعَ العَينِ أَن يَتَصَوَّبا
You feared the spy, and had you felt secure you would have allowed him
And you forbade the tears of my eye to flow down my cheeks.
وَسَنَنتِ لي أَن لا يَبوحَ مُحَدِّثاً
أَأَمِنتِ أَن يُملي الصُدودُ فَيَكتُبا
And you made it a law for me that I should not speak of my love,
Did you feel safe that the silent would dictate and then write?
لا تَمزُجي صَفوَ الوِدادِ بِجِفوَةٍ
ما الماءُ مُحتاجٌ إِلى أَن يُقطَبا
Do not mingle the purefriendship with coldness,
Water has no need to be frozen to be pure.
ما لِلخَيالِ الطارِقِ مُستَرسِلاً
قَد صارَ يَطرُقُ خائِفاً مُتَرَقِّبا
Why does my imagination roam at large
When it has now become fearful and watchful?
هَل خافَ مِن عَدواكِ حينَ أَمَرتِهِ
أَن لا يُلِمَّ تَجَنِّياً وَتَجَنُّبا
Did it fear your enemies when you ordered it
Neither to touch openly nor secretively?
لا تَردَعيهِ عَنِ المَزارِ فَإِنَّهُ
لَو لَم يَزُر شَوقاً لَزارَ تَطَرُّبا
Do not restrain it from visiting me, for even if
It did not come from longing, it would come from caprice.
كَم أَشتَكي الإِعراضَ ظَنّاً أَنَّني
أُشكى وَأَعتُبُ آمِلاً أَن أُعتَبا
How I complain of being shunned, thinking that I
Complain and reproach, hoping to be reproached!
