رَبعُ البَلى أَخرَسُ عِمّيتُ

مُستَلَبُ المَنطِقِ سِكّيتُ

The abode of separation has rendered me mute,

The ruins of decay are mute and blindly obscure,

Stripped of speech, in silence absolute.

Stripped of all speech, habitually silent.

أَعارَهُ حيرَتَهُ عاشِقٌ

رَأى حَبيباً فَهوَ مَبهوتُ

A lover lent confusion his bewilderment,

A lover has lent them his own bewilderment,

When he saw his beloved, stupefied, mute.

Who saw a beloved and was left stunned.

وَلا عَجيبٌ إِن جَفَت دِمنَةٌ

عَن مُستَهامٍ نَومُهُ قوتُ

No wonder the inkwell ran dry,

And it is no wonder if the traces are harsh

When sleep was the writer’s only pursuit,

To a passion-struck soul whose sleep is scarce sustenance.

وَقَهوَةٍ كَالمِسكِ مَشمولَةٍ

مَنزِلُها الأَنبارِ أَو هيتُ

And coffee, musk-scented,

And wine like musk, chilled by the northern breeze,

From Annabar its abode, or Hīt’s repute,

Whose home is Al-Anbar or the city of Hit.

كَأَنَّها الشَمسُ إِذا صُفِّقَت

مَسكَنُها الكَبشُ أَوِ الحوتُ

As though it were the sun unveiled

As if it were the sun when the cup is poured,

Whose dwelling, Pisces or the whale acute,

Its dwelling place the Ram or the Whale.

أَو دارَةُ البَدرِ إِذا ما استَوى

وَتَمَّ لِلعَدِّ المَواقيتُ

Or the moon’s configuration at full phase,

Or the circle of the full moon when it stands complete,

When the timing of watches is astute,

And the appointed phases are fulfilled for the count.

كَأَنَّها هَذاكَ في حِسنِهِ

أَو وَجهُ عَبّاسٍ إِذا شيتُ

As if it were, in its beauty, that one,

It resembles that orb in the splendor of its beauty,

Or the face of Abbas when he salutes,

Or the face of Abbas, if you so choose.

بَل وَجهُ عَبّاسٍ لَهُ حُسنُهُ

لِأَنَّهُ دُرٌّ وَياقوتُ

Nay, the face of Abbas has its beauty,

Nay, the face of Abbas has a beauty all its own,

For it is a pearl and ruby to boot.

For he is composed of pearl and ruby.