يا ذا الَّذي يَخطِرُ في مِشيَتِه
قَد صَفَّفَ الشَعرَ عَلى جَبهَتِه
O you whose passing thought adorns
O you who struts proudly in his gait,
The verse aligned across his brow
Who has carefully arranged the hair upon his brow,
وَسَرَّحَ المِئزَرَ مِن خَلفِه
وَدَقَّقَ البانَ عَلى وَفرَتِه
Who's tucked his gown behind his back
And let his robe trail loosely behind him,
And tapped his staff upon the ground
And applied the oil of the Ban tree to his flowing locks.
قَلبي عَلى ما كانَ مِن شِقوَتِه
صَبٌّ بِمَن يَهوى عَلى جَفوَتِه
My heart is filled with all the pain
My heart, despite the misery it has endured,
His cool neglect has rendered now
Is lovesick for the one it desires, despite his cruelty.
يَختَلِقُ السَخطَةَ لي ظالِماً
أَحوَجُ ما كُنتُ إِلى رَحمَتِه
With blame he constantly provokes
Unjustly, he feigns anger towards me,
When mercy's what I need from him
At the very moment I am most in need of his mercy.
أَكُلَّما جَدَّدَ لي مَوعِداً
أَخلَفَهُ التَنغيصُ مِن عِلَّتِه
Each time he makes some tryst with me
Is it that every time he renews a promise to me,
His sickness breaks it, I'll allow
Vexation breaks it through some excuse of his?
أُضمِرُ في البُعدِ عِتاباً لَهُ
فَإِن دَنا أُنسيتُ مِن هَيبَتِه
When distant, silently I blame
While apart, I harbor intended reproaches for him,
Draw near, his awe makes me endow
But when he draws near, I am made to forget them by his awe.
مُبَتَّلٌ تَثنيهِ أَعطافُهُ
أَميَسُ خَلقِ اللَهِ في خَطرَتِه
All dressed in clothes flung open wide
Slender and graceful, his swaying sides incline him,
God's creature restless in his style
He is the most swaying of God's creation in his stride.
مُهَفهَفٌ تَرتَجُّ أَردافُهُ
يَتيهُ بِالحُسنِ عَلى جيرَتِه
With thighs a-quiver as he strides
Slim of waist, his heavy hips trembling with every step,
Beauty confusing, tempting, guile
He parades his beauty haughtily before his neighbors.
يَحارُ رَجعُ الطَرفِ في وَجهِهِ
وَصورَةُ الشَمسِ عَلى صورَتِه
Bewildered, sight confounded, stilled
The returning glance is bewildered by his face,
His face, the sun in all its smiles
As if the image of the sun is cast upon his features.
يَنتَسِبُ الحُسنُ إِلى حُسنِهِ
وَالطيبُ يَحتاجُ إِلى نَكهَتِه
Beauty itself to him is build
Beauty itself traces its lineage to his beauty,
Fragrance from him all else beguiles
And perfume stands in need of his breath's fragrance.
وَلَيلَةٍ قَصَّرَ في طولِها
بِالكَرخِ أَن مُتِّعتُ مِن رُؤيَتِه
One night, seemed long for rendezvous
And [many] a night whose length was shortened,
I glimpsed him briefly, my heart thrilled
In Al-Karkh, when I was granted the delight of gazing upon him,
في مَجلِسٍ يَضحَكُ تُفّاحُهُ
بَينَ الرَياحينِ إِلى خُضرَتِه
A jesting gathering's apple, he
In a gathering where the apples seemed to laugh,
Among the blooms, fresh, dew distilled
Amidst the aromatic basil and its greenery.
ما إِن يَرى خَلوَتَنا ثالِثٌ
إِلّا الَّذي نَشرَبُ مِن خَمرَتِه
No third will know our secret thought
No third party witnessed our seclusion,
Save he from whose cup we both filled
Save for the vintage from which we drank.
خَمرَتُهُ في الكَأسِ مَمزوجَةٌ
كَالذَهَبِ الجاري عَلى فِضَّتِه
His wine within the cup doth blend
His wine, mixed within the cup, appeared
Like gold on silver gilt, fulfilled
Like liquid gold flowing over silver.
