لِلَّهِ طَيفٌ سَرى فَأَرَّقَني

نَفَّرَ عَنّي لِشَقوَتي وَسَني

A phantom of God passed by and kept me awake,

By God, a phantom journeyed by night and stole my sleep,

It startled me due to my misery and years.

Banishing slumber from me, to my utter misery.

قَد جازَ عَنّي بِالوَصلِ مُرتَحِلاً

وَلَزَّني وَالهُمومَ في قَرَني

It passed me by, a sojourner, without union,

It passed me by with a fleeting union, then departed,

And saddened me while worries paired with me.

Leaving me and my sorrows yoked together in a bond.

لَم يَخلُقِ اللَهُ مِثلَهُ بَشَراً

سُبحانَ ذي الكِبرِياءِ وَالمِنَنِ

God did not create the like of it among mortals.

God has created no mortal human his equal,

Glory to the Lord of Greatness and Favors!

Glory be to the Lord of Grandeur and Grace.

كَأَنَّما الوَجهُ مُذ بَدا قَمَرٌ

مُرَكَّبٌ فَوقَ قامَةِ الغُصُنِ

Its face seemed, since appearing, a moon

As though his face, when revealed, is a full moon,

Mounted over the stature of a branch.

Set high upon a figure like a swaying bough.

يا ذا الَّذي طُوِّحَ العِبادُ بِهِ

في فِتنَةٍ مِن أَعاظِمِ الفِتَنِ

O you by whom servants were abased

O you by whom all men are cast into peril,

In a temptation among gravest temptations!

Lost in a seduction, the greatest of all trials.

أَقبِل بِوَجهِ الهَوى عَلَيَّ فَقَد

أَطَلتَ بِالصَدِّ مُعرِضاً حَزَني

Turn to me with the face of love, for you have

Turn the face of passion toward me, for truly,

Prolonged estrangement, turning away my sorrow.

You have prolonged my sorrow by turning away in disdain.

أَنتَ غَرامي وَإِن أَبَيتَ هَوىً

وَأَنتَ سُؤلي وَمُنتَهى شَجَني

You are my passion, though you refuse love,

You are my obsession, even if you refuse my love,

And you are my plea and utmost longing.

You are my sole desire and the utmost limit of my grief.

فَاِرثِ لِمَن قَد تَرَكتَهُ كَمِداً

وَاِمنُن بِوَصلٍ عَلَيهِ يا سَكَني

Show kindness to one whom you left pining

So have pity on the one you have left in anguish,

And favor with a union that will bring me peace.

And grant him the grace of union, O my solace.

وَلائِمٍ لامَ إِذ رَأى كَلَفي

وَالدَمعُ في مُقلَتَيَّ ذو سَنَنِ

One blaming my weakness shed tears

And to the blamer who chided when he saw my passion,

Whose channels in my eyelids had old traces.

While tears flowed in a torrent from my eyes,

فَقُلتُ دَعني وَمَن كَلِفتُ بِهِ

أَلوى بِعَقلي الهَوى فَدَلَّهَني

I said, "Leave me and him by whom I’m troubled;

I said: "Leave me be with the one I adore,"

I will set right love and guide it wisely."

"For love has seized my reason and driven me to madness."

فَلَستُ أَبكي لِأَربُعٍ دُرُسٍ

دارَت عَلَيها دَوائِرُ الزَمَنِ

Thus I do not weep for a home declined,

I do not weep for encampments long effaced,

Around which the turns of time revolved.

Upon which the cruel cycles of time have turned.

لا لا وَلا أَنعَتُ القَلوصَ وَلا

أُشغَلُ إِلّا بِوَصفِهِ الحَسَنِ

No! Nor do I grieve over past friends

No, no! I sing not of the riding camel, nor,

Or heed aught but depicting his beauty.

Do I concern myself with aught but his exquisite beauty.