رَثَيْتُ حَتَّى رَثَى لِي كُلُّ مُعْتَبَرِ

لِمُغْرَمٍ بَيْنَ نَابِ الْبَثِّ وَالظَّفَرِ

I grieved until every one who cares grieved for me,

I lamented until every mindful observer took pity on me,

A lover caught between attainment and frustration,

For an infatuated lover caught between the fang of sorrow and the claw.

يَقُولُ إِذْ أَعْوَزَتْهُ لَذَّةُ الظَّفَرِ

مَنْ مُنْصِفِي مِنْ سَقِيمِ الْجَفْنِ ذِي حَوَرِ

Saying, when the joy of attainment had crippled him,

Saying, as the sweet taste of victory evades him:

"Is there any fair-minded person who pities a sick-eyed gazelle?"

"Who will grant me justice against the one with languid, striking eyes?

رَكِبْتُ بَحْرَ الْهَوَى فِيهِ عَلَى غَرَرِ

يَا وَيْحَهُ صِفَةُ الإِنْصَافِ مَا عَلِمَتْ

I rode the sea of passion recklessly,

For whom I have sailed the perilous sea of passion."

Woe to him! The quality of fairness did not know

Alas for him, for the virtue of fairness is entirely unknown;

مَتَى رَأَى نَفْسَ مُضْنىً قَبْلَهُ رُحِمَتْ

وَحَقُّ مَنْ حِبُّهُ أَمْثَالُهُ عُدِمَتْ

When it ever saw a suffering soul and took pity before him.

When has he ever seen the soul of an exhausted lover shown mercy before him?

It is right that when his likes cease, he should cease.

By the right of the beloved whose equals are non-existent:

ظَبْيٌ لَهُ صُورَةٌ فِي الْحُسْنِ قَدْ قُسِمَتْ

بَيْنَ الْكَثِيبِ وَبَيْنَ الْغُصْنِ وَالزَّهَرِ

A gazelle whose form in beauty was divided

A gazelle whose beautiful form has been elegantly divided

Between the sand-hill, the branch, and the blossoms,

Among the sand dune, the slender branch, and the blooming flower.

أَنْ يَسْتَكِينَ إِذَا بِهِ ازْدَرَى وَلَهَا

وَبِالْحَرَى أَنْ يَزِيدَ فِي الْهَوَى وَلَهَا

That he should cower when she scorns him,

He must humbly submit whenever scorned, driven by his passion,

And more fitting that he should increase in passion for her -

And it is only fitting that his infatuation and love should grow,

لاَ أَنْ يَقُولَ الْمُعَنَّى مَا لَهُ وَلَهَا

آلَتْ لَوَاحِظُهُ أَنْ لاَ يَعِيشَ لَهَا

Not to say what he has against her and she against him.

Rather than the tormented lover asking, 'What do I have to do with her?'

His glances have ceased that he should not live for her,

His piercing glances have sworn that no passionate lover shall survive them,

صَبٌّ وَلَوْ أَنَّهُ فِي قَسْوَةِ الْحَجَرِ

A love though he be in the hardness of stone.

Even if that lover's heart were as unyielding as stone.