أوَّاه من جائرةٍ جاره

فتَّانة الألحاظ سحَّاره

Ah, for that cruel neighbor of his—

a temptress in her glances, an enchantress!

أن أصبحت للعهدِ نبَّاذة

فعينها للعقل خمَّاره

Now that she has cast her pledge aside,

her eye is a tavern for reason.

كأنَّها في السحر باللحظ من

لفظ شهاب الدِّين ممتاره

As though, in sorcery, by fortune, she came from

Shihab al-Din’s diction—something of his choosing.

والفضل واللفظ الرفيع الذي

من دارة البدر انْثنى داره

And excellence, and that lofty expression whose

dwelling turned aside from the full moon’s halo—

منظرة ما بين زهر الدّجى

أخبارها في الفضلِ طيَّاره

a spectacle amid the blossoms of darkness,

its tidings of excellence flying far and wide.

يا نائياً أسطره قد نأت

فوحشة المشتاق كرَّاره

O distant one, whose written lines have grown distant,

the yearning lover’s desolation returns again and again.

باب البريد أفْتح بكتب فلي

عين بدمع الشوق فوَّاره

Has the postal gate opened with letters? For I have

an eye gushing with the tears of longing.