أَطاعَكَ قَلبي جاهِداً فَعصيتهُ

وَأَصلَيتُهُ نار التَجَني وَلَم يَجن

My heart obeyed you striving, yet I disobeyed it

And I scorched it with the fire of disloyalty, but it was not burnt

فَيا لَيتُهُ في الدَهر يَوماً يَطيعُني

فَقَد عَقَني حَتّى كَأَن لَم يَكُن مني

Oh, if only one day it would obey me

For it has disappointed me, as if it had never been mine

وَقَد جَدَ في اتلاف نَفسي مَع الهَوى

وَاِنحَلَ جِسمي فَهُوَ أَوهى مِن العَهنِ

It has struggled in destroying my soul with passion

And my body melted, yet it is weaker than a bough

وَلَيسَ اِنسِكاب الدَمع بِبَرد غلةً

مِن الوَجد وَيَجدي مِن الشَوق أَو يَغني

The shedding of tears is no mere coolness

Of ecstasy, neither does it avail against yearning

رَعى اللُه مَن لَم يَرعَ عَهديَ إِذ جَفا

وَأَعرض حَتّى طيفُهُ مُعرض عَني

May God watch over those who did not keep my covenant when they were unfaithful

And turned away until their image turned away from me

وَكَيفَ يَزور الطَيف حَيران لَم يَقع

لِمُقلَتِهِ في الدَهر جفن عَلى جفن

How can an apparition visit confused, when its eyelid

In life has never fallen upon an eyelid

إِذا أَنتَ لا تُحسن فَما ثمَّ محسن

وَهَل يُوجد الإِحسان إِلّا مَع الحُسن

Since you cannot do good, so who can do good?

Is benevolence found except with beauty?

وَإِن تَبغِ إِتلافي فَفي الدَهر مقنع

يَسوق الرَدى لِلحَرّ بِالهَم وَالحُزن

And if you seek to destroy me, in life there is consolation

Which leads the firm to sorrow with anxiety and grief

وَمَن لَم يَمُت في طاعَة الحُب راضياً

فَلا جادَ مَثواهُ سَكوب مِن المُزن

Whoever does not die satisfied in obedience to love

His resting place has never poured with syrup of sweetness

عَذيريَ مِن دَهر يَجور مَع الهَوى

وَيُفسد ما يُسديهِ بِالرَد وَالمنّ

My excuse is a life that is unjust with passion

And corrupts what it provides with rejection and prevention

سَأَفني زَماني بِالتَوَكُل وَالرِضى

وَأَزجر نَفسي عَن مواردة الأَجن

I will spend my time trusting and satisfied

And restrain my soul from encountering misfortune

وَأَعرض عَن ود اللِثام وَالتَجي

بِنَفسيَ مِن عِز الإِباءِ إِلى حصن

And I will turn away from the love of veils and temptation

With my soul, from the honor of dignity, to a fortress

وَهَل يَرتَضي الحُرّ الهَوان لِنَفسِهِ

وَلَو أَنَّهُ في جَنة الخُلد أَو عَدَن

Can the free man consent to disgrace for himself

Even if he were in the Garden of Eternity or Eden?

فَلا وَالدُجى وَالبيد وَالعيس وَالسَرى

وَما قَد أُقاسي لَيسَ ذَلِكَ مِن شَأني

No, by the night and daybreak, the full moon and Sirius

And what I have endured, that is not my way

وَلَيسَ بِبَيع النَفس مَن دُون وَجهِها

وَلا في فُراق الدار لِلحرّ مِن غبن

Selling one's soul unjustly and leaving one's home

Brings no loss or regret to the free

وَما فَضل نَفسي الحُرّ وَاللَهُ كافل

لِأَرزاقِهِ إِن ذلَّ يَوماً لِيَستَغني

My noble soul, and God is its guarantor

For its livelihood, if one day it becomes needy