لَجَأْتُ إِلى عُتْبَاكَ فاسْتَبْقِ مَنْ لَجَا

ولا تَفْتَحَنْ بابًا إِلى العَتْبِ مُرْتَجا

I seek refuge in your rebuke, so hasten to help one who seeks refuge,

And open not a door to blame with eager haste,

فإِنَّكَ لو أَنصفَت في الوُدِّ صاحبًا

جَعَلْتَ له فيما تَوَهَّمْتَ مَخْرَجَا

For if you judge fairly one friendly with love

You make for him in what you suspect an escape,

أُعيذُكَ أَن يقتادَكَ الظَّنُّ طَوْعَهُ

قَيَثْنِيكَ عن سُبْلِ الوفاءِ مُعَرِّجا

I bid you beware lest fancy lead you blindly

To turn you from the paths of loyalty swerving,

فقد خاطَبَتْنِي مقلتَاكَ بباطلٍ

طويتَ عليه باطنًا مُتَأَجِّجَا

For your glances have addressed me with falsehood

Veiling over it an inward fire surging,

أَتُوبُ من الذنبِ الذي سُؤْتَنِي له

وإِن كنتُ منه لم أَزَلْ مُتَحَرِّجا

I repent of the sin to which I was tempted

Though I was not thereby made to swerve,

ولو كانَ ما خَيَّلْتَ ما كَانَ بدْعَةً

هُوَ الرَّبْعُ جادَتْهُ السّحابُ فأَبْهَجا

Had that you fancied been no innovation

It is the rain-watered garden land flourishing,

سواك يُمِيلُ المرءُ عنه فؤادَهُ

ويُسْلِكُهُ غَيْرَ المَوَدَّةِ منهجا

Other than you the heart of man inclines from

And threads a path other than love pursuing,

أَدَرْتَ على قَلْبِي هَوَاكَ سُلافَةً

فَحَيَّاهُ روضٌ من ثَنَاكَ تَأَرَّجا

You turned your love gently into my heart

So it came alive, a meadow of your watering,

وقُمْتَ بِهِ وإِنْ جَلَّ قَدْرُهُ

حَفِيفًا على ظَهْرِ المُرُوءَةِ والحِجا

And you stood by it, though far greater its merit

Murmuring over the back of manhood and caution,

فما بالُ بحرِ الوُدِّ جاشَ تَغَيُّراً

وَعَهْدِي به يَشْجُو الأَعادِي إِذا سَجَا

Why then did the sea of love boil in change

When my pact with it was to still foes in flowing?

وما رَاعَني إِلاَّ انبساطٌ طَوَيْتَه

مَلاَلاً كما تَطْوِي الأَنامِلُ مَدْرَجَا

Naught disturbed me save a relaxation you folded

Wearily, as the fingers fold a letter,

ظمِئتُ وقد يَظْمَا البعيدُ مناهِلاً

وصادَفْتُ ذاكَ العَذْبَ منك تَمَرَّجا

I thirsted, and the distant one may thirst by springs,

And I met that sweetness from you oozing,

ولاحَ هجيرُ الهَجْرِ مِنِّيَ بَهْجَةً

عَدِمْتُ لها ظِلاًّ ببابكَ سَجْسَجَا

The howl of estrangement gleamed in me with joy

For which I lacked a shadow by your gate murmuring,

أَتَثْنِي وِدادِي الحفيظَةُ مُرَّةٌ

لِظَنِّ دَجَا في وجهِ عُذْرٍ تَبَلَّجَا

Does my firm love sometimes bend to a thought

Of blame that dawned, a face of excuse adorning?

غدا صائِغًا فيكُمْ حُلِيَّ قصائدٍ

فَطَوَّقَ أَجيادًا بِهِنَّ وَتَوَّجَا

Tomorrow composing among you necklaces of verse

And crowning nobles with them, embellishing,

أَقِلْ ذا ضُلوعٍ أَضْرَمَ الوجدُ نارَها

وإِنْ كانَ في بحر المُصافاةِ لَجَّجَا

Restrain one whose ribs passion’s fire has scorched

Though in the sea of concord he was plunging,

فقد راحَ مسلوبَ العَزَاءِ كأَنَّه

ووُقِّيتَ مما يَضْرِبُ اللَّوْمَ أَهْوَجَا

For he went bereft of solace as though

And you were protected from what strikes with madness,