دَع عَنكَ لَومي فَإِنَّ اللَومَ إِغراءُ

وَداوِني بِالَّتي كانَت هِيَ الداءُ

Cease your blame, for blame only incites me further,

And cure me with the very thing that was the disease.

صَفراءُ لا تَنزَلُ الأَحزانُ ساحَتَها

لَو مَسَّها حَجَرٌ مَسَّتهُ سَرّاءُ

A golden vintage, in whose courtyard sorrows never dwell;

Were a stone to touch her, even it would feel delight.

مِن كَفِّ ذاتِ حِرٍ في زِيِّ ذي ذَكَرٍ

لَها مُحِبّانِ لوطِيٌّ وَزَنّاءُ

From the hand of a maiden dressed in the guise of a man,

Pursued by two lovers: the sodomite and the fornicator.

قامَت بِإِبريقِها وَاللَيلُ مُعتَكِرٌ

فَلاحَ مِن وَجهِها في البَيتِ لَألَاءُ

She rose with her ewer while the night was pitch dark,

And a radiance flashed from her face, illuminating the house.

فَأَرسَلَت مِن فَمِ الإِبريقِ صافِيَةً

كَأَنَّما أَخذُها بِالعَينِ إِغفاءُ

Then from the pitcher’s mouth she poured a clear wine,

That captivates the eye like the onset of slumber.

رَقَّت عَنِ الماءِ حَتّى ما يُلائِمُها

لَطافَةً وَجَفا عَن شَكلِها الماءُ

She is more subtle than water, such that she cannot abide it

In her delicacy, and water is too coarse for her nature.

فَلَو مَزَجتَ بِها نوراً لَمازَجَها

حَتّى تَوَلَّدُ أَنوارٌ وَأَضواءُ

Yet were you to mix her with light, it would blend perfectly,

Until new lights and radiances are born.

دارَت عَلى فِتيَةٍ دانَ الزَمانُ لَهُم

فَما يُصيبُهُمُ إِلّا بِما شاؤوا

She circulated among youths to whom Time itself has yielded,

So that it strikes them with nothing but what they desire.

لِتِلكَ أَبكي وَلا أَبكي لِمَنزِلَةٍ

كانَت تَحُلُّ بِها هِندٌ وَأَسماءُ

It is for her I weep, not for some ruined campsite

Where Hind or Asma’ once made their home.

حاشا لِدُرَّةَ أَن تُبنى الخِيامُ لَها

وَأَن تَروحَ عَلَيها الإِبلُ وَالشاءُ

Far be it for such a pearl to have tents pitched for her,

Or to be wandered about by camels and sheep.

فَقُل لِمَن يَدَّعي في العِلمِ فَلسَفَةً

حَفِظتَ شَيئاً وَغابَت عَنكَ أَشياءُ

So say to him who claims to possess philosophical knowledge:

You have preserved one truth, but many have escaped you.

لا تَحظُرِ العَفوَ إِن كُنتَ اِمرَأً حَرِجاً

فَإِنَّ حَظرَكَهُ في الدينِ إِزراءُ

Do not forbid divine forgiveness, if you are a rigid man,

For your restriction of it is a disparagement of the faith.