طَيف أَلَمَّ بِمُدنِفِ

أَجفانُهُ لَم تَطرف

A spectre pained the lover

His eyelids did not blink

أَسرى بِهِ فكر نَمى

وَأزارهُ سرٌّ خَفي

A thought captured him

And a secret veiled him

فَأَتى إِلَيَّ يَخوضُ في

ضَحضاح دَمع مُسرف

He came to me, delving

Into copious tears overflowing

وَيَقول لي مَولايَ لَم

تَرَع الوِداد وَلَم تَفِ

And said, my beloved, why

Did you not tend devotion nor excel

ما صَبر يَعقوب الهَوى

وَسَلوّه عَن يوسف

What patience did Jacob have

When asked of Joseph?

فَأَجَبتُهُ بِتوجس

وَتَذَلُل وَتَلهف

So I answered him with apprehension

And pleading and yearning

أَفديك ما هَذا الجَفا

يا قاتِلي وَمعنفي

My life for you! What is this aloofness

That kills and repels me?

لا وَالَّذي قَد أَودَع ال

جسرات قَلب المُدنف

No - by Him who has deposited

In the heart of the lover

لَم أَسَل قُربك إِنَّما ال

أَيام لي لَم تُسعف

I did not seek your nearness

But time has not aided me

ما حِيلَتي وَالدَهر خَص

مي وَالزَمانُ مسوفي

What can I do? Fate has opposed me

And days have betrayed me

إِن المَحبة وَالوَفا

طَبعي بِغَير تَكَلُف

For love and loyalty

Are my nature without pretense

أَنا مِن صَفا لَكَ وُدُهُ

لَكِنَّني لَم أُنصِف

I, of purity to you, my affection

But I have not been just

يَبكي المُحب لِتَنطَفي

نار الغَرام المُتلف

The lover weeps so the fires

Of passionate love are quenched

فَالدَمع فَوقَ خُدودِهِ

يَجري وَنار الشَوق في

And tears flow down his cheeks

While the flames of longing are within

وَيَح الغَريب قَضى أَسى

وَحَبيبُهُ لَم يَعرف

Oh stranger! He has spent sorrow

While his beloved does not know him