وشاعرٍ ما يفيقُ من خطلِه

أقام من جهلهِ على زلَله

And a poet who does not wake from his folly,

Persisting in his error out of his ignorance,

يفضّل المردَ في قصائدهِ

عجبتُ من جهلهِ ومن مثلِه

Preferring beardless boys in his poems—

I marveled at his ignorance and those like him.

يزعمُ أنّ الغلامَ ذو غنج

يؤمن من طمثهِ ومن حبلِه

He claims the boy possesses coquettish charm,

And is safe from menstruation and pregnancy.

يا هاجرَ الغانيات مكتفياً

بالمردِ يحكي سباء في عمله

O you who abandons women, contenting yourself

With beardless boys, imitating a predator in his deed:

ما شاطرٌ في اللواطِ منغمسٌ

مجانبٌ للرشادِ عن سبُلِه

A scoundrel immersed in sodomy,

Straying from the paths of guidance,

كواحدٍ بالنساءِ مرتهنٌ

أروَع ما يستفيقُ من غزلِه

Is not like one who is pledged to women,

A magnificent man who never recovers from his courting.

وما غلامٌ عشقتهُ زمناً

كأنّما البدر حلّ في حللِه

And what is a boy whom you adored for a time,

As though the full moon had settled in his robes?

حتى إذا ظفرت يداك به

وسُلَّ من مطلهِ ومن عِلَلِه

Until, when your hands finally seized him,

And he was drawn forth from his delays and excuses,

بدت له لحيةٌ مشوّهةٌ

فصدّتِ العاشقينَ عن قُبلِه

A disfigured beard appeared upon him,

Turning lovers away from his kiss.

كطفلةٍ نصفُها كثيبُ نقا

ونصفُها كالقضيبِ في ميلِه

Is he like a maiden, half of whom is a sand-dune,

And the other half like a branch in its swaying?

يهتّز ما كان فوق مئزرِها

مُسبطرّ يميلُ في خصلِه

That which lies above her waistband trembles,

Sleek and long, swaying in its tresses.

هل للغلام الذي كلفتَ بهِ

كخدّها إذ يلوحُ في خجلِه

Does the boy you are infatuated with possess

Anything like her cheek when it glows with shyness?

حُبّ الغواني من الرشاد ولو

يكاد يُدني المحبّ من أجلِه

The love of beautiful women is of righteousness, even if

It nearly brings the lover close to his death.

فتنّ بالحسنِ يوسفاً وكذا

داود حتى بغى على رجلِه

They tempted Joseph with beauty, and likewise

David, until he transgressed against his man;

فاغتالهُ كي يحوزَ نعجتَهُ

ولانَ للحبِّ عند مُقتَلبِه

He killed him to possess his ewe,

And yielded to love in his turning.

موسى كليم الإله عنّ لهُ

عارضُ حبٍّ عراهُ عن رحلِه

Moses, the Speaker with God—there appeared to him

An obstacle of love that distracted him from his journey.

وهاجرٌ هاجرَ الخليلُ بها

إلى متيهٍ يتاهُ في سبله

And Hagar—the Friend Abraham migrated with her

To a wilderness where one is lost in its paths.

وزينبٌ تيّمت محمّدَنا

فبانَ زيدٌ وصارَ من بدلِه

And Zaynab enslaved our Muhammad with love,

So Zayd departed, and he became his substitute.

وصوّرَ اللَهُ آدماً فَصَبا

إلى الغواني وكُنّ من أمله

God fashioned Adam, and he yearned

For women, for they were part of his hope.

وأبدعَ اللَهُ خَلقهنَّ لنا

فجاء حُبُّ النساءِ من قبلِه

God created them with beauty for us,

So the love of women came from Him.

والبكرُ تهوى ضرابَ نيّقةٍ

ولا تراهُ ينزو على جملِه

The young she-camel desires the breeding of a stallion,

And you do not see him leaping upon his own male camel.

فلا تكن بالشقاء متّبعاً

إبليسَ إنّ اللواطَ من حيلِه

So do not be, in misery, a follower

Of Iblis, for sodomy is one of his ruses.