أَيا مَن سارَ مُنطَلِقا

وَزَوَّدَ مُقلَتي الأَرَقا

O you who journeyed forth

O you who journeyed, setting forth,

And saddled my sleepless nights

And stocked my eyes with wakefulness,

سَقاكَ اللَهُ وَالأُفُقَ ال

لَذي يَمَّمتَهُ أُفُقا

May God quench your thirst

May Allah water you, and the horizon

And lead you to the horizons you sought

Toward which you turned your face,

لَئِن أَشعَرتَني حُبّاً

لَقَد أَشعَرتَني فَرَقا

If you made me feel love

If you have made me know love,

You made me feel separation more

You have surely made me know fear.

فَما لي عِندَكُم سَمِجاً

وَعِندَ سِواكُمُ لَبِقا

I have no charm around you

Why do I seem repulsive in your sight,

Or grace except in your company

When to all others I appear refined?

كَأَنَّكَ خَيرُ مَعشوقٍ

يَراني شَرَّ مَن عَشِقا

It's as if you're the best beloved

As if you are the finest of all beloveds,

Who sees me as the worst lover

Who deems me the wretchedest of lovers.

سَلَبتَ الظَبيَ مُقلَتَهُ

وَلَم تَترُك لَهُ العُنُقا

You robbed the gazelle of its glance

You plundered the gazelle of its dark gaze,

And left it nothing but the neck

And left it not its slender neck.

وَقالوا مَن عَشِقتَ فَقُل

تُ خَيرُ وَشَرُّ مَن عُشِقا

And when asked who you loved, you said

They asked, "Who is it you adore?" I said:

The best and worst of those who loved

"The best and worst of all who are loved;"

فَخَيرُهُمُ مَعاً خُلُقاً

وَشَرُّهُمُ مَعاً خُلُقا

The best of them in character

The best of them all in beauty of form,

The worst of them in character

And the worst of them all in temper of heart.

تُغَمِّسُ في العَبيرِ قَمي

صَها حَتّى شَكا الغَرَقا

You dip your perfect body in perfume

She steeps her shift in ambergris and scent,

Until it almost drowned

Until the fabric cries out that it drowns,

وَسالَت مِن عَقيصَتِها

سَلاسِلُ كُسِّرَت حَلَقا

And chains slipped from her throat

And from her plaited locks flow down

Onto skin like pearls when they sweat

Chains shattered into rippling rings,

عَلى بَشَرٍ كَأَنَّ الدُر

رَ يَعلوهُ إِذا عَرِقا

So if you saw her, you'd fall

Upon a skin where pearls seem

At her door, struck down

To rise upon the surface when she sweats.

فَلَو أَبصَرتَها لَخَرَر

تَ عِندَ دُنُوِّها صَعِقا

Were you to see her, you would surely fall

Thunderstruck, the moment she drew near.