أَتَطمَعُ يا عَبّاسُ في غَيرِ مَطمَعِ

بَعُدتَ دَعِ التَطلابَ مِن كَثَبٍ دَعِ

Do you aspire, O Abbas, to the unattainable?

You have wandered far, leave this fruitless longing!

أَلَم تَرَ داوُدَ النَبِيَّ هَوَت بِهِ

حِبالُ الهَوى فيما سَمِعتَ أَو اِسمَعِ

Have you not seen how the ropes of passion

Ensnared David the prophet, whether you have heard or not?

وَمازالَ لِلناسِ الهَوى ذا عَداوَةٍ

مُضِرّاً بِهِم مُذ عَهدِ عادٍ وَتُبَّعِ

And passion has always been hostile to people

Harming them since the time of Ad and Tubba'.

كَأَنَّ هُمومَ الجِنِّ وَالإِنسِ أُسكِنَت

فُؤادي فَما تَعدو فُؤادي وَأَضلُعي

It seems the sorrows of jinn and mankind

Have lodged in my heart, they exceed it and my ribs.

أُنيخَت رِكابُ اللَيلِ مِن كُلِّ جانِبٍ

وَحادَت نُجومُ اللَيلِ عَن كُلِّ مَوقِعِ

The mounts of night have knelt down on all sides,

And the stars of night have retreated from their positions.

وَلَو أَنَّ خَلقَ اللَهُ حَلَّت صُدورَهم

تَباريحُ ما بي سُيِّبَت كُلُّ مُرضِعِ

If the minds of people were revealed, every suckling babe

Would be weaned from its wet nurse.

شَكَت ما بِها نَفسي مِنَ الشَوقِ وَالهَوى

فَقُلتُ لَقَد طالَبتِ وِدَّ مُمَنَّعِ

My soul complained to me of longing and love,

So I said, “You have sought the affection of one who refuses!”

وَما كانَ مِنكِ العِشقُ إِلّا لَجَاجَةً

وَلَو شِئتِ لَم تَهوي وَلَم تَتَطَلَّعي

This love of yours was but stubbornness,

Had you wished otherwise, you would not have desired or aspired.

وَما هُوَ إِلّا ما تَرَينَ وَذو الهَوى

يُعالِجُ ثِقلاً فَاِصبِري أَو تَقَطَّعي

It is but what you see, and the passionate lover

Struggles with a burden, so be patient or split apart!

عَسى اللَهُ أَن يَرتاحَ يَوماً بِرَحمَةٍ

فيُنصِفَني مِن فاضِحي وَمُرَوِّعي

May God one day grant respite with mercy,

And vindicate me from my disgracer and terrifier.

لَعَمري لَشَتّى بَينَ حَرّانَ هائِمٍ

وَبَينَ رَخِيٍّ بالُهُ مُتَوَدِّعِ

By my life! It varies between one madly wandering

And one relaxed while his mind is bidding farewell.

كَتَمتُ اِسمَها كِتمانَ مَن صانَ عِرضَهُ

وَحاذَرَ أَن يَفشو قَبيحُ التَسَمُّعِ

I concealed her name with the concealment of one who protects his honor

And is wary of vile eavesdropping.

فَسَمّيتُها فَوزاً وَلَو بُحتُ بِاِسمِها

لَسُمّيتُ بِاِسمٍ هائِلِ الذِكرِ أَشنَعِ

So I called her Fawz, though had I declared her name

I would have named her with a tremendous, horrendous name!

فَوا حَسرَتي إِن نُحتُ لَم تُقضَ نَهمَتي

وَلَم يُغنِ عَنّي طولُ هذا التَضَرُّعِ

Oh my regret that carving has not fulfilled my appetite,

Nor has the length of this pleading helped me.

وَهَبتُ لَها نَفسي فَضَنَّت بِوَصلِها

فَيا لَكَ مِن مُعطٍ وَمِن مُتَمَنِّعِ

I gifted her my soul, but she was miserly in uniting with me,

What a giver you are, and what a withholder!

إِلَيكِ بِنَفسي أَنتِ أَشكو بَلِيَّتي

وَقَد ذُقتُ طَعمَ المَوتِ لَولا تَشَجُّعي

To you I complain of my affliction,

And I have tasted the flavor of death, had it not been for your encouragement.

هَبي لي دَمي لا تَقتُليني بِلا دَمٍ

فَما يَستَحِلُّ القَتلَ أَهلُ التَوَرُّعِ

Grant me my blood, do not kill me without blood,

For the chaste do not deserve murder.

إِذا ذَكَرَتكِ العَينُ يَوماً تَبادَرَت

دُموعي عَلى الخَدَّينِ تَجري بِأَربَعِ

Whenever the eye remembers you one day,

My tears flow down my cheeks in fours.

فيا كُلَّ هَمّي أَقطِعيني قَطيعَةً

مِنَ الوَصلِ تَبقى لي وَلَو قَدرَ إِصبَعِ

So end all my worries with a separation

From union, leaving for me even a finger's worth.

أَنا لَكِ مَملوكٌ فَإِن شِئتِ عَذِّبي

وَإِن شِئتِ مُنّي أَيَّ ذا شِئتِ فَاِصنَعي

I am your slave, so if you wish, torment me,

And if you wish, favor me however you want and do as you please.

تُريدينَ إِلّا مُشفِقاً ذا نَصيحَةٍ

فَدونَكِ حَبلَ الطائِعِ المُتَطَوِّعِ

You want none but a caring advisor,

So I am the obedient one, voluntarily submitting.

عَلامَةُ ما بَيني وَبَينَكِ أَن تَرَي

كِتاباً عَلَيهِ فَصُّ خَتمٍ مُرَبَّعِ

The sign between me and you is that you see

A sealed letter, the seal a square.

مُسَلسَلَةً حافاتُهُ في لَطافَةٍ

وَفي نَقشِهِ يا أُذنَ فَوزٍ تَسَمَّعي

A bracelet whose edges are soft,

And in its engraving, “O ear of Fawz, listen!”

تَمَنَّيتُ أَن تُسقَي مِنَ الحُبِّ شَربَتي

وَأَن تَرتَعي مِن لَوعَةِ الحُبِّ مَرتَعي

I wished you would quench my thirst for love,

And graze in the meadows of love’s agony.

وَأَن تُصبِحي صُبحي وَأَن تَتَضَجَّعي

إِذا اللَيلُ أَلقى سِترَهُ كَتَضَجُّعي

That you would be my morning and retire

When the night casts its veil like your retiring.

بِحَسبِ الهَوى أَن قَد بُليتُ وَأَنَّني

مَتى ما أَقُل قَد غاضَ دَمعِيَ يَهمَعِ

It is enough that I have been tested by love, and that

Whenever I say I have wept, my tears flow.

وَرَدتُ وَبَعضُ الوِردِ فيهِ مَرارَةٌ

حِياضَ الهَوى مِن كُلِّ أَفيَحَ مُترَعِ

I returned, and some of the return was bitter,

The meadows of passion from every slope are a pasture.

فَما زِلتُ أَحسوها بِكَأَسَينِ كُلَّما

شَرِبتُ بِكَأسٍ لَم تَزَل أُختُها مَعي

So I continued to toast her with two cups, whenever

I drank from one cup, its sister remained with me.

أُديرُهُما مِن كُلِّ حَوضٍ إِلى فَمي

فَطَوراً لِإِدلاءٍ وَطَوراً لِمَجرَعِ

I passed them from every basin to my mouth,

At times to provoke, at others to a drinking place.

عَلى عَطَشٍ حَتّى بَدَت وَهيَ مَشرَعٌ

حَياضُ الهَوى مِن بَعدِ إيرادِ مَشرَعي

With thirst, until the meadows of passion appeared

Spread out after my pasture was spread.

وَوَلَّيتُ قَد زَلَّت لِسُكري مَفاصِلي

أَميلُ كَجِذعِ النَخلَةِ المُتَزَعزِعِ

I wavered, my joints loosened from intoxication,

I sway like the trunk of a shaking palm tree.