لم أنسَ ليلاً بالنجومِ ترصّعا

والطيبُ فيهِ معَ النسيمِ تضوَّعا

I have not forgotten nights studded with stars,

As perfume mingled with the breeze proliferated.

وغَدت دموعُ العاشقين له نَدىً

مُتنثِّراً في زَهرِهِ متجمّعا

The tears of lovers became its dew,

Scattered on its flowers, accumulated.

فسرَيتُ أنتشُقُ الأريجَ وأشتهي

ما مرّ من عمرِ الصبوّةِ مُسرعا

So I went about inhaling the fragrance and craving

What had passed of the days of my youth, hastened.

وأقول إنَّ سعادتي ولذاذتي

كالشمسِ أيامَ الشتاء تمنّعا

And I say that my bliss and pleasures

Are like the sun in winter days, refusing.

هذا الصبى يمضي ويتبَعُهُ الهوى

ما كانَ أطيَبَ مدة لن تَرجعا

This boy goes on, and desire follows him.

How good were days that will not return!

كم مرة خفقان قلبي راعني

فظَننتُهُ حينا يشقُّ الأضلُعا

How often has my heart’s flutter startled me,

And I thought it was splitting my ribs at times.

وضَممتُه بيديَّ ضمّةَ خائفٍ

من خِشيتي في الوَجدِ أن يتصدّعا

I held it in my hands, a fearful clutch,

For fear that it would crack from the ecstasy.

حتى إذا شارَفتُ دار حبيبتي

فَذَكرتُ لي فيها لياليَ أربعا

Until when I neared the abode of my beloved,

And it reminded me of four nights therein.

صارت حياتي لذة ما شابَها

ألمٌ كأني لم أكُن متوجّعا

My life became a bliss the like of which

No pain had marred, as if I'd never agonized.

القلبُ في زَمَن الصِبى متقلّبٌ

إذ لا يكونُ مروّضاً ومُطوَّعا

The heart in the days of youth is fickle,

For it cannot be tamed or trained.

أبدا أُنقّلهُ كما شاءَ الهوى

وكأنه لحنٌ يطيبُ مرجّعا

I forever made it yield to desire’s whim,

As if it were a melody, sweet its return.

ولقد جَمعتُ الكونَ تحتَ شغافهِ

ما كانَ أضيعَهُ وأوسَعَهُ معا

And I had gathered the universe beneath its eyelid,

Never did I squander or outspan it.