ومُلحةٍ بالعذل ذات نصيحةٍ

ترجو إنابةَ ذي مجونٍ مارقِ

And a persistent woman, full of advice and blame,

Hoping for the repentance of a shameless renegade.

بكرَت تبصّرني الرشادَ وشيمتي

غيرُ الرشاد ومذهبي وخلائقي

She came at dawn to show me the path of rectitude, though my nature

Is other than rectitude, as are my creed and character.

لمّا ألحّت في العتابِ زجرتُها

فتأخّرت عنّي بقلبٍ خافقِ

When she persisted in her reproach, I rebuked her,

So she withdrew from me with a trembling heart.

كم رضتُ قلبي فاعلمي وزجرتهُ

فرأى اتّباع الرّشد غيرَ موافق

How often I disciplined my heart—know this—and restrained it,

But it saw the following of guidance as unsuitable.

ومُدامةٍ مثل الخلوقِ عتيقةٍ

حُجِبت زماناً في كنائسِ دابقِ

And many a wine like saffron ointment, ancient,

Hidden away for ages in the churches of Dabiq.

تختالُ ألواناً إذا ما صُفّقَت

في الكأس تُخرسُ من لسانِ الناطقِ

It struts with changing colors when decanted,

Silencing, in the cup, the tongue of the eloquent.

ذهبيّةٌ تختالُ في جنباتِها

كالدرّ ألفَهُ نظامُ الراتقِ

A golden vintage, swaggering within its rims,

Like pearls arranged on a jeweler's string.

باكرتُها من كفّ أغيدَ شادنٍ

حسنِ التنعّم فوق سُؤلِ العاشق

I sought it early from the hand of a lithe young gazelle,

Exquisitely pampered, surpassing a lover’s desire.

مُتَعَقربِ الصدغينِ في لحظاتهِ

فِتَنُ لها مقرونةٌ ببوائق

With scorpion-curled locks; in his glances

Are temptations coupled with calamities.

متخرّسٍ دينُ النصارى دينهُ

ذي قُرطقٍ لم يتّصل ببنائقِ

A silent one, the faith of the Christians is his faith,

Clad in a tunic fitted tight without gussets.

لَبِقٍ بديع الحسنِ لو كلّمتهُ

لنبذتَ دينكَ كلّهُ من حالقِ

Elegant, of wondrous beauty; were you to speak to him,

You would cast your entire religion from a high precipice.

واللَهِ لولا أنّني متخوّفٌ

أن أُبتلى بإمام جَورٍ فاسقِ

By God, were it not that I am afraid

Of being tested by a tyrannical, depraved ruler,

لتبعتهُ في دينهِ ودخلتهُ

ببصيرةٍ فيه دخولَ الوامقِ

I would have followed him in his faith and entered it,

With clear insight, entering like a devoted lover.

إنّي لأعلمُ أن ربّي لم يكن

ليخُصّهُ إلّا بدينٍ صادقِ

For I certainly know that my Lord would not

Have singled him out, save with a true religion.