مَنْ عَلَّمَ الْغِزْلاَنْ

الْفَتْكَ بِاللَّيْثِ الْجَرِي

Who taught the gazelles

Who taught the gazelles

To wage war on the fierce lion

To slaughter the bold lion?

وَسَلَّطَ الْعَيْنَانْ

عَلَى قُلُوبِ الْبَشَرِ

And unleashed those eyes

And gave the eyes dominion

Upon the hearts of mankind

Over the hearts of mortals?

يَا ضَرَّةَ الشَّمْسِ

اللهَ فِي الصَّبِّ الْكَئِيبْ

O agony of the sun

O rival of the sun,

God in the gloomy morning

Fear Allah regarding this melancholic lover!

يَا مُنْيَةَ النَّفْسِ

هَجْرُكَ لِلنَّفْسِ مُذِيبْ

O death of the soul

O desire of the soul,

Your abandonment melts the soul

Your abandonment melts the soul away.

حَدَّثَنِي حَدْسِي

أَنَّكَ لِلُّبِّ سَلِيبْ

My premonition told me

My intuition told me

That you belong to tenderness, a prisoner

That you are the plunderer of the mind,

بِأَسْهُمِ الأَجْفَانْ

ذَاتِ الْعَذَابِ الأَكْبَرِ

With the arrows of the eyelids

With the arrows of your eyelids,

Of great torment

Which hold the greatest torment,

مُصْمِيَةُ الْوَلْهَانْ

بِالدَّعْجِ وَالْحَوَرِ

The swooner of passion

Fatally striking the enamored

With languor and fever

With the deep contrast of their wide dark eyes.

مَا ضَرَّ يَا مَحْبُوبْ

يَا هَاجِرِي بِلاَ ذُنُوبْ

What harm, O beloved

What harm would it do, O beloved,

O you who migrated without sin

O you who abandons me without my fault,

لَوْ تَنْعَشُ الْمَطْلُوبْ

بِلَفْظِكَ الْعَذْبِ ا لْخَلُوبْ

If you revive the desired

If you were to revive the seeker

With your sweet, enchanting words

With your sweet, captivating words,

بِغَايَةِ الْمَرْغُوبْ

مِنْ وَصْلِكَ الْمُحْيِي الْقُلُوبْ

To the utmost yearning

With the ultimate desire:

For your union that brings hearts to life

Your union that brings hearts back to life?

تَذَكَّرْ يَا وَسْنَانْ

يَا ذَا الرُّوَاءِ الأَنْضَرِ

Remember, O beauty

Remember, O languid-eyed one,

O you of freshest complexion

O possessor of the most radiant beauty,

لَيَالِيَ الْبُسْتَانْ

تَحْتَ الْعَرِيشِ الأَخْضَرِ

The nights of the garden

The nights in the garden,

Beneath the green canopy

Beneath the green trellis,

وَأَنَا فِي نَشْوَهْ

مِنْ خَمْرِ ثَغْرِكَ النَّقِي

While I was in the exhilaration

While I was in a state of ecstasy

Of the wine of your pure lips

From the wine of your pure mouth,

مُهَيِّجُ الصَّبْوَهْ

لِكُلِّ مَنْ لَمْ يَعْشَقِ

Arousing passion

Igniting youthful passion

In all who never loved

In all who had never loved before.

لَمْ تَعْرُنَا جَفْوَهْ

تُثِيرُ نَارَ حُرَقِي

You did not deny us aloofness

No estrangement afflicted us

Igniting the fire of my passion

To stir the fire of my burning sorrow.

مَا بَيْنَنَا نَدْمَانْ

إِلاَّ أَرِيجُ الزَّهَرِ

Nothing between us but the scent of flowers

We had no drinking companion between us

Or the melody of the lute

Except the fragrance of the flowers,

أَوْ نَغْمَةُ الْوَرْشَانْ

عَلَى غُصُونِ الشَّجَرِ

On the branches of the trees

Or the melody of the wood pigeon

And the moon after it

Upon the branches of the trees.

وَالْبَدْرُ مِنْ بَعْدِهْ

يَرْقُبُنَا بِكُلِّ عَيْنْ

Watches us with every eye

And the full moon from afar

It sent from its fervor

Was watching us with every eye,

أَرْسَلَ مِنْ وَجْدِهْ

عَيْناً عَلَيْنَا الْفَرْقَدَيْنْ

Two eyes upon the two of us

Sending, out of its passion,

So it failed in its purpose

The two Farqad stars as spies upon us.

فَخَابَ فِي قَصْدِهْ

وَخَيْبَةُ الرُّقْبَانِ شَيْنْ

And the disappointment of the watcher is disgraceful

But it failed in its intent,

And the leaves on the branches

And the failure of watchers is a disgrace.

وَالْوُرْقُ فِي الأَغْصَانْ

فَاقَتْ حَنِينَ الْوَتَرِ

Surpassed the lute’s yearning for the strings

And the doves in the branches

With the singing bird

Surpassed the yearning of the lute string,

بِمُطْرِبِ الأَلْحَانْ

عِنْدَ الصَّبَاحِ الْمُسْفِرِ

At the bright dawn

With enchanting melodies

It arouses my longings

At the break of the radiant dawn.

تُثِيرُ أَشْوَاقِي

بِصَوْتِهَا الْمُبْرِي السَّقَمْ

With its healing, unwelling voice

Stirring my longings

It stood on one leg

With their voice that cures affliction,

قَامَتْ عَلَى سَاقِ

إِذْ عَنْبَرُ اللَّيْلِ بَسَمْ

When the ambergris of night smiled

Perched upon a branch,

From the dawn of daybreak

As the amber of the night smiled

عَنْ ثَغْرِ إِشْرَاقِ

تَشْدُو بِطَيِّبِ النَّغَمْ

It sings with a beautiful melody

To reveal the mouth of radiant dawn,

The sayings of the woeful

Singing with the sweetest of tunes,

مَقَالَ ذِي أَشْجَانْ

حِلْفَ أَسىً وَضَرَرِ

A oath of sorrow and harm

The words of one burdened with sorrow,

The night of passion passes

An ally to grief and affliction.

لَيْلُ الْهَوَى يَقْضَانْ

وَالْحِبُّ تِرْبُ السَّهَرِ

And love is the dust of vigilanceʼ

The night of passion is awake,

And the lover is the companion of sleeplessness.