ذَكَّرَني الوَردُ ريحَ إِنسانِ

أَذكُرُهُ عِندَ كُلِّ رَيحانِ

The rose reminded me of a person's scent

The rose brought back to me a human scent,

I remember him at every sweet basil

One I recall with every fragrant plant.

إِن فاحَ لَم أَملِكِ البُكا فَإِذا

ما اِهتَزَّ قامَ النَديمُ يَنعاني

If it emanated I could not hold back tears so when

If it wafts, I cannot check my tears; and if

The gentle breeze swayed, it consoled me

It sways, my comrade rises to mourn my doom.

فَقَد حَمَوني الرَيحانَ خَوفاً عَلى

نَفسِيَ تَقضي لِذِكرِ حَيّانِ

So the basil shielded me out of fear for

For they denied me basil, out of fear

My soul fulfilling the memory of a sweetheart

My soul would perish remembering Hayyan.

وَلَيسَ حَيّانَ مَن عَنَيتُ وَلَ

كِنَّهُما في الهِجاءِ سِيّانِ

And it's not the sweetheart whom I meant but

Yet it is not Hayyan whom I truly meant,

Both are equal in estrangement

Though in their spelling, the two appear the same.

وَيلي عَلَيها وَيلٌ يَحِلُّ مَعي

في القَبرِ بَيني وَبَينَ أَكفاني

Woe unto me and woe that befalls me

Woe is me for her, a woe that descends with me

In the grave between me and my shroud

Into the grave, betwixt me and my shroud.

شاطِرَةٌ إِن مَشَت مُكَرَّهَةً

تَأخُذُ تَكريهَها بِسُلطانِ

A troublemaker, if she walks displeased

A cunning beauty: if she walks reluctantly,

Takes her displeasure by force

She wields that reluctance with a sultan's power.