أَفنانِيَ الدَهرُ نَهسا

وَزادَني الحُبُّ نُكسا

Time has worn me out with sighs,

Fate has ravaged me with its gnawing bite,

And love has increased my sorrows.

And love has plunged me deeper into ruin.

وَصارَ حُبُّ حَبيبي

لِلقَلبِ إِلفاً وَحِلسا

My beloved's love

The love of my beloved has become

Has become intimate company for my heart.

To my heart, an inseparable mate and second skin.

وَخالَطَ النَفسَ حِبّي

قَد صارَ لِلنَفسِ نَفسا

My passion has immersed my soul,

My passion has mingled with my very soul,

It has become the very soul of my soul.

Becoming the very breath of my spirit.

أَضَلَّني بَعدَما كُن

تُ في العِبادَةِ قَسّا

After having led me astray

He led me astray, though I had once been

From a life of devotion and spiritual rigor,

Like a devout priest in my worship,

لا أَستَفيقُ صَلاةً

وَلا أَفتَرُّ دَرسا

I can no longer wake up for prayers

Never waking from my prayers,

Nor can I study consistently.

Nor slackening in my sacred study.

فَطارَ عَقلي فَما إِن

أُحِسُّ لِلعَقلِ خَلسا

My reason has flown away,

But then my reason fled, and now,

I cannot sense even a trace of it.

I sense not a trace of its presence left.

وَكُلُّ ذا ذَنبُ طَرفي

طُمِستَ يا طَرفُ طَمسا

The glance of my eye is to blame—

All this is the crime of my own gaze—

Oh glance! You have been blinded.

May you be utterly blinded, O traitorous eye!

هَلّا طَرَقتَ وَلَم تَل

قَ في القُراطِقِ شَمسا

If only you had knocked before gazing

Would that you had looked elsewhere, and not met

At the shining sun.

A sun wrapped in silken robes.

فَقُلتُ يا نورَ عَيني

خَلَستَ عَقلِيَ خَلسا

I said: O light of my eyes!

I cried out, "O light of my eyes,

You have stolen my reason stealthily.

You have snatched my reason away entirely.

فَاِردُد عَلَيَّ حَياتي

عَضّاً بِفيكَ وَلَحسا

So give me back my life,

Restore my life to me now,

Biting with your teeth and licking.

With a bite from your mouth and a lingering kiss."

فَما تَمالَكَ حَتّى اِف

تَرى عَلَيَّ وَخَسّا

He could not resist

But he could not restrain himself

Until he was intimate with me and then turned away.

Before he slandered me and turned vile.

فَاِسوَدَّ وَجهِيَ مِنهُ

حَتّى تَحَوَّلَ نِقسا

My face turned black because of him

My face turned dark with humiliation because of him,

Until it was transformed with misery.

Until it became as black as ink.

وَلَيسَ في ذاكَ يَعدو

سَبّي صَباحاً وَمُمسى

But in this he does nothing more

And in this, he does nothing but continue

Than insult me morning and evening.

To curse me, morning and evening.

فَقُلتُ وَيلي مِمَّن

لِمِثلِ ذا لَيسَ يَنسى

I said: woe is me! Who can forget

So I said: Woe is me, suffering from one

One who does the likes of this?

Who never forgets to inflict such pain.

لا يُحسِنُ الدَهرُ إِلّا

شَتيمَةً لي وَبَخسا

Time knows only how

Fate knows no skill but one:

To insult and belittle me.

To heap abuse and scorn upon me.

فَما رَأَيتُ كَحِبّي

أَفَظَّ قَلباً وَأَقسى

I have not seen a love

For I have never seen anyone like my beloved,

With a harder heart and crueler.

With a heart more savage and stone-cold.