إِلى اللَهِ أَشكو حُبَّ مَن جُلُّ نَيلِهِ

عَلَيَّ كَلامٌ مِن وَراءِ جِدارِ

I complain to God of the love of one whose attainment is difficult for me

To God I complain of loving one whose greatest grace to me is merely speech from behind a wall.

A voice comes to me from behind a wall

I bore it patiently until the springs of passion burst forth around me, and my veil of prudence flew away.

صَبَرتُ لَها حَتّى إِذا ما تَفَجَّرَت

عُيونُ الهَوى حَولي وَطارَ خُماري

I was patient with her until the fountains of passion burst forth around me

I made the sword my companion then sought her by night, courting danger, casting all restraint aside.

And my virtue took flight

And when we met, I saw our reaching hands fell short, though in days past they were never known to fail.

جَعَلتُ رَفيقي السَيفَ ثُمَّ طَرَقتُها

مُقارِضَ أَهوالٍ خَليعَ عِذارِ

I made my sword my companion, then sought her

Yet if the eye was stingy in kissing its sister-eye, the hand was not stingy in untying the waist-sash.

Amid perilous, shameless straits

We nearly swooned, save that our mingling lips exchanged a draught of sugar mixed with wine.

فَلَمّا تَلاقَينا رَأيتُ أَكُفُّنا

قِصاراً وَقِدماً كُنَّ غَيرَ قِصارِ

When we met I saw our palms were

I bade her farewell at dawn—never forgetting her grief—after she traded a ring for my bracelet as a pledge.

Too short to attain what we desired

فَإِن بَخِلَت عَينٌ بِتَقبيلِ أُختِها

فَما بَخَلَت كَفٌّ بِحَلِّ إِزارِ

If an eye is reluctant to kiss its sister

A hand is not reluctant to loose a girdle

فَكِدنا وَلَمّا غَيرَ أَنَّ شِفاهَنا

تَعاطَت خَليطَي سُكَّرٍ وَعُقارِ

We almost succeeded, except our lips

Partook of a mixture of sugar and poison

وَوَدَّعتُها صُبحاً وَلَم أَنسَ صَدَّها

وَقَد بادَلَتني خاتَماً بِسِوارِ

And I bade her farewell in the morning, forgetting her hostility

For she had given me a ring in exchange for a bracelet