وَقَرَّرَ مَا تَحْوِيهِ مِنْكَ الأَضَالِعُ

مِنَ الْوَجْدِ بِالرِّيمِ التِي لاَ تُطَاوِعُ

That which your ribs conceal within you has been firmly established,

Of deep passion for the white gazelle who yields not to you.

فَعَزَّ عَلَيْنَا أَنْ تَهِيمَ بِفَارِكٍ

إِلَى كُلِّ مَا يُنْعَى عَلَيْكَ تُسَارِعُ

It grieves us deeply that you wander madly in love with a resentful wife,

Who hastens toward everything that brings you reproach.

تَوَدُّ لَوْ أَنَّ الْوَصْلَ جَدَّتْ حِبَالُهُ

وَأَمْسَتْ مَغَانِي الْقُرْبِ وَهْيَ بَلاَقِعُ

She wishes that the ropes of your union were severed,

And that the abodes of closeness would turn into desolate ruins.

وَتُجْهَدُ فِي قَطْعِ الْمَوَدَّةِ جُهْدَهَا

وَتَبْسِرُ إِمَّا جِئْتَهَا وَتُمَانِعُ

She exerts her utmost effort to sever the bonds of affection,

Scowling whenever you approach her, and resisting your advances.

فَلَوْ كَانَ لِي فِي عَطْفَةِ الْقَلْبِ حِيلَةٌ

وَطِبٌّ لِأَسْبَابِ التَّنَافُرِ قَاطِعُ

If only I possessed a stratagem to sway her heart,

And a cure that could decisively end the causes of this aversion,

جَعَلْتُ حَشَايَاهَا ثِيَابَ هَوَاكُمُ

فَيَصْبُو إِلَيْكُمْ وُدُّهَا وَهْوَ خَاضِعُ

I would have clothed her deepest core in the garments of your love,

So that her affection would yearn for you in sweet submission.

وَلَكِنَّ عُمُومَ الْعَجْزِ عَمَّ جَمِيعَنَا

فَلَيْسَ لِمَا يَقْضِي بِهِ اللهُ مَانِعُ

But a profound helplessness has encompassed us all,

For there is none to prevent what God has decreed.

نَعَمْ أَنَّنَا نَرْجُوهُ فِي جَبْرِ صَدْعِكُمْ

وَنَسْأَلُهُ بِالْفَضْلِ عَنْكُمْ يُدَافِعُ

Yet indeed, we entreat Him to mend your rift,

And we ask Him, by His grace, to repel harm from you,

وَأَنْ يَنْزَعَ الشَّحْنَاءَ مِنْ قَلْبِ عِرْسِكُمْ

فَتَطْلُعُ فِي أُفْقِ السُّرُورِ طَوَالِعُ

And to remove the bitter enmity from your wife's heart,

So that the rising stars of joy may dawn upon the horizon,

وَأَنْ يُبْدِلَ الْفِرْكَ الذِي قَادَ طَبْعَهَا

دَلاَلاُ لِجَيْشِ الْهَمِّ مِنْهُ مَصَارِعُ

And to replace the resentment that has commandeered her nature,

With a tender playfulness that strikes down the armies of sorrow.

فَتَصْفُو سَجَايَاهَا وَيُصْبِحُ قَلْبُهَا

وَفِيهِ لِسَرْحِ الْحُبِّ فِيكَ مَرَاتِعُ

So her disposition becomes pure, and her heart awakens,

Holding within it lush pastures where the flock of love for you may graze.