عَزّوا أَخِلّايَ قَلبي

فَقَد أُصِبتُ بِلُبّي

My friends console my aching heart

Offer condolences, my friends, to my heart,

For I have fallen for her charm

For I have been stricken in my very soul.

الحَمدُ لِلَّهِ رَبّي

ماذا لَقيتُ فَحَسبي

All praise be to God, my Lord

Praise be to Allah, my Lord;

I got what I deserved, no harm

What I have encountered is enough for me.

ما لي عَلى الحُبِّ عَتبٌ

أَنا وَقَعتُ بِذَنبي

I don’t blame love for my state

I have no reproach to cast against Love;

It’s my own doing, my fate

It was I who fell by my own transgression.

لَقَد دَعاني وَصَحبي

فَجِئتُ مِن بَينِ صَحبي

He called and I came running

He beckoned to me and to my companions,

Leaving behind my comrades

So I came forth from amidst my friends.

يا حِبُّ مَلَّكتَ رِقّي

مَن لا يُسَرُّ بِقُربي

Oh love, you captivate my soul

O Beloved, you have taken possession of my servitude,

If you’re not pleased I can’t be whole

You who find no pleasure in being near me,

وَمَن يُعَذِّبُ روحي

بِكُلِّ نَوعٍ وَضَربِ

And torture my spirit and mind

And who torments my spirit

In every way, shape and kind

With every manner and form of pain.

فَكَم عَصَبتُ بِرَأسي

وَكَم عَرَكتُ بِجَنبي

How I’ve racked my head for you

How often have I bound my aching head,

And bruised my side black and blue

And how often have I tossed upon my side.

وَلَستُ أُحمَلُ مِنهُ

إِلّا عَلى ظَهرِ صَعبِ

Bearing this heavy, grueling load

I am not burdened by his will

All for my beloved's abode

Save with a load of hardship to bear.

يا قاتِلي أَنتَ وَاللَ

هِ في الحُكومَةِ تِربي

You kill me, you and God on high

O my slayer, by God, you are—

While you sit pretty; watch me die

In the scales of judgment—my peer.

أَتَيتُ حِبّي وَحِبّي

بِكرٌ بِخاتَمِ رَبّي

I came to my love, my life

I came unto my love, and my love was

With the seal of God, pure and right

A virgin, sealed with the seal of my Lord.

فَكُنتُ أَوَّلَ حَيٍّ

اِفتَضَّ عُذرَةَ حُبّي

I was the first alive to dare

So I was the very first living soul

Reveal my burning love affair

To break the seal of my love's innocence.

وَلَيسَ لي مِنكَ إِلّا

كَربٌ عَلى إِثرِ كَربِ

You only bring me grief and pain

Yet I have received nothing from you

One sorrow after another again

Save anguish following upon anguish.

تَبيعُ وَصلي بِهَجري

وَعَفوَ سِلمي بِحَربي

Selling my devotion for your disdain

You trade my union for my banishment,

And your war for my peace in vain

And the pardon of my peace for war.

أَنا الفِداءُ لِظَبيٍ

مُفَتَّرِ اللَحظِ رَطبِ

I'm ready to sacrifice my all

I am a ransom for a gazelle,

For your fleeting glance to enthrall

Languid of glance and tender to the touch.

مَن لَيسَ يَخفى عَلَيهِ

حُبّي وَلَكِن يُغَبّي

You know my love but pretend

One from whom my love is not hidden,

If you wished, you would defend

Yet he feigns that he is unaware.

لَو شاءَ قالَ وَلَكِن

فيهِ حَياً وَتَأَبّي

This wouldn’t happen, but instead

If he wished, he would speak, but

You feign life while love is dead

In him are both shyness and disdain.

ما جازَ هَذا إِلَينا الـ

ـأَقوامَ إِلّا لِحُبّي

Abu Ali Ibn Nasr I implore

This verse did not reach us, the people,

No truth in lies anymore

Except through my devotion to

أَبا عَلِيَّ اِبنِ نَصرٍ

وَلَيسَ حَقٌّ كَكِذبِ

My feet didn’t walk anywhere

Abu Ali, the son of Nasr—

Until my heart walked me there

For the truth is never like a lie.

لَم تَمشِ رِجلي لِشَيءٍ

حَتّى مَشى فيهِ قَلبي

My foot has never walked toward a thing

Until my heart had walked there first.