عَجَباً لي كَيفَ أَبقى

وَلَقَد أُثخِنتُ عِشقا

How strange that I endure

I wonder at myself, how I still survive,

When love has rent me through

When I have been struck so deeply by love's blade.

لَم يُقاسِ الناسُ داءً

كَالهَوى يُبلي وَيَبقى

None suffer as I do

No ailment suffered by mankind compares

From passion which destroys and yet endures

To passion, which consumes the flesh yet stays constant.

أَيُّ شَيءٍ بَعدَ أَنَّ ال

دَمعَ فيهِ لَيسَ يَرقا

What can survive when eyes

What is left to happen, now that my

No longer shed their tears?

Tears shed for him refuse to ever dry?

وَلَقَد شَقَّ عَلَيَّ ال

حُبُّ ما شا أَن يَشُقّا

So great was my love's spear

Indeed, it has burdened me heavily—

That split my soul with agonizing fears

This love, afflicting me as much as it pleases.

لَيتَ شِعري هَكَذا كا

نَ أَخي عُروَةُ يَلقى

Would that my brother faced

Would that I knew: was it in such a state

The fate that is my lot

That my brother Urwa faced his torment?

وَنَصيحٍ قالَ لا تَع

جَل بِهُلكِ النَفسِ خُرقا

And counselled me "Make not

And a counselor who said, "Do not hasten

Haste to destroy yourself" - but such he disgraced

To your soul's destruction through mere folly."

كِدتُ مِن غَيظٍ عَلَيهِ

إِذ لَحاني أَتَفَقّا

I raged and vented wrath

I nearly, out of sheer rage against him,

When he approached to guide

Burst apart when he heaped blame upon me.

وَيكَ إِنَّ الحُبَّ لَم يَم

لِك سِوى رِقِّيَ رِقّا

"For love" I testified

"Woe to you!" I cried, "Love has possessed

"Can master me, however it may scathe"

My servitude, leaving no other bond but mine."

لِيَ مَولىً أَرتَجي مِن

هُ عَلى رَغمِكَ عِتقا

I have a Lord who may

I have a master from whom I hope to gain,

Yet free me, though you'd bind

Despite your protests, my eventual freedom.

قَمَرٌ بَينَ نُجومٍ

ناصِبٌ في الصَدرِ حُقّا

A moon amid the stars

He is a full moon amidst the lesser stars,

My breast has split in twain to bear its scars

Bearing a chest sculpted like an ivory box.

أُفعِمَ الأَردافُ مِنهُ

وَاِنطَوى الكَشحُ وَدَقّا

His hips provoke desire

His hips are full and heavily weighted,

His waist folds and entices

While his waist is slender, folded, and fine.

وَإِذا ما قامَ يَمشي

مالَتِ الأَردافُ شِقّا

When he begins to walk

And when he rises to walk, his gait sways,

His hips sway gracefully as they rock

As his heavy hips tilt from side to side.

ثَمَّ لَونٌ يَفضَحُ الخَم

رَ صَفا مِنهُ وَرَقّا

A hue that shames the wine

He possesses a hue that puts wine to shame,

And leaf, so delicate

Surpassing it in clarity and delicacy.

حُبُّ هَذا لا سِوى ذا

مَحَقَ الأَعمارَ مَحقا

A love none else could sate

It is the love of him, and none but him,

Has squandered all my years and sealed my fate

That has utterly wasted away my days.

فَاِشدُدَن بِالحُبِّ كَفّاً

وَصِلَن بِالحُبِّ رِبقا

Clench your fist in passion's name

So grip love firmly with your hand,

And beg for union's sake

And keep the bond of passion tied tight.

إِنَّما أَسعَدَ رَبّي

بِالهَوى قَوماً وَأَشقى

To some it joy did make

For my Lord has granted bliss through love

To others misery, as God ordained

To some, while others He has doomed to misery.

وَبِلادٍ في بِلادٍ

أَوحَشُ البُلدانِ طُرقا

I roamed from land to land

Through lands stretching into further lands,

Seeking the bleakest clime

Whose paths are the most desolate and wild,

قَد شَقَقتُ اللَيلَ عَنها

بِبَناتِ الريحِ شَقّا

And split the night in quest

I have pierced the veil of night across them

Of camels striding on with stately crest

With camels swift as the daughters of the wind—

طافِياتٍ راسِباتٍ

جُبتُها عُنقاً فَعُنقا

Past plains of dun and gold

Floating like ships, then plunging deep,

I journeyed without rest

As I traversed the wastes, pace after pace.

نَحوَ إِبراهيمَ حَتّى

نَزَلَت في العَدوِ وَفقا

To where my love was blessed

Heading toward Ibrahim, until my mount

With faith and poetry's encomiums best

Alighted right on the mark in her gallop.

فَوقَها الوُدُّ المُصَفّى

وَالمَديحُ المُتَنَقّى

For his unstinting hand

Upon her back she bore purified affection

He's mocked as being crazed

And praise selected with the utmost care.

مالَ إِبراهيمُ بِالما

لِ كَذا غَرباً وَشَرقا

But where his feet have grazed

Ibrahim has poured out wealth abundantly,

The land blooms forth in glory unsurpassed

Casting it thus, to the West and the East.

فَكَفاني بُخلُ مَن يَخ

نُقُ حَلقَ الكيسِ خَنقا

And if I say, or wish

He saved me from the miser who strangles

That truly I could tell

The neck of his purse with a choking grip—

واجِداً مِن غَيرِ وَجدٍ

لاوِياً خَطماً وَشِدقا

The Niles flow from your palms,

One who possesses much, yet gives without joy,

Their streams cleft in twain by your love's spells

Twisting his snout and jaw in disdain.

قَسَمَ الرَحمَنُ لِلأُم

مَةِ مِن كَفَّيكَ رِزقا

You curse my father's name,

The Merciful has apportioned to the nation

Yet you're renowned each day

A sustenance flowing directly from your hands.

فَلَكَ المالُ المُلَقّى

وَلَكَ العِرضُ المُوَقّى

For your open hand, and he

So yours is the wealth that comes to meet you,

Who slanders should be cloven clean in twain!

And yours is the honor, guarded and pristine.

جادَ إِبراهيمُ حَتّى

جَعَلوهُ الناسُ حُمقا

Ja'far donned the plumes

Ibrahim has shown such generosity that

Of glory, soaring high

People have begun to call his largesse madness.

وَإِذا ما حَلَّ في أَر

ضٍ مِنَ الأَرضينَ شِقّا

Above all Quraysh clans

And whenever he settles in any land,

Quintessence of honor free from tie

In any tract among the regions of the earth,

كانَ ذاكَ الأُفقُ مِنها

أَخصَبَ الآفاقِ أُفقا

He glides as smoothly as

That horizon becomes, of all places,

A steed who by none is passed

The most fertile and bountiful of realms.

فَلَوَ اِنّي قُلتُ أَو آ

لَيتُ يَوماً قُلتُ حَقّا

Were I to speak, or were I to swear an oath—

And on that day speak nothing but the truth—

ما تَرى النيلَينِ إِلّا

مِن نَدى كَفَّيكَ شُقّا

You would see that the two Niles flow only

As streams derived from the dew of your palms.

أَيُّها الشاتِمُ وَهناً

مِن أَبي إِسحاقَ بَرقا

O you who hurls weak insults, filled with delusion,

At the lightning brilliance of Abu Ishaq:

كُلَّ يَومٍ أَنتَ لاقٍ

وَجهَهُ لِلجودِ طَلقا

Every day you are destined to encounter

His face beaming, open with generosity.

اِكتَسى ريشَ جَناحَي

جَعفَرٍ ثُمَّ تَرَقّى

He has clad himself in the feathers of Ja'far's wings,

Of Ja'far's lineage, and then ascended high.

وَتَنَقّى مِن قُرَيشٍ

جَوهَرَ العِزِّ المُنَقّى

He has selected from the tribe of Quraysh

The purest jewel of glory, refined and choice.

وَجَرى جَريَ جَوادٍ

قَد أَفاتَ الخَيلَ سَبقا

He has galloped with the stride of a noble steed

That leaves all other chargers trailing far behind.