يا قَلبِ ما لَكَ لا تَناهى
عَن خُلَّةٍ شَحَطَت نَواها
O my heart, why do you not cease
Yearning for a beauty who wandered in her fancy?
لَهفي وَيا أَسَفي عَلَيـ
ـها كَيفَ لا يُبكي هَواها
My anguish - how I grieve
For her! How can her lover not weep for her?
أُمسي بِغَيرِ بِلادِها
ما إِن أُريدُ بِها سِواها
I spent the evening far from her land.
I wanted none but her.
لَهفي لِبُعدِ فِراقِها
يا لَيتَ قَلبي قَد تَناهى
My anguish - because we're parted!
O if only my heart had ceased!
هَيهاتَ كَيفَ وَلَو يُقا
لُ تَخَيَّرَنَّ لَما عَداها
Alas, how could it, even were I to say:
“Make your choice - let it be none but her!”
لَو كانَ قَلبي يَستَطيـ
ـعُ يَطيرُ مِن شَوقٍ أَتاها
If only my heart could
Fly on wings of passion to her!
بانَت بَعَقلِ مُتَيَّمٍ
صَبِّ الفُؤادِ قَد اِرتَجاها
She appeared in place untrodden,
Pouring passion into my heart that longed for her.
فَتراهُ يَدعو بِاِسمِها
كَيما يُجابَ إِذا دَعاها
So I call her name
That she may answer if I call to her.
يا حَبَّذا يا حَبَّذا
تَبدو لِعَينِكَ مُقلَتاها
How excellent, how excellent,
If she would show herself to you, her eyelids lowered,
بَيضاءُ لَم يَرَ مِثلَها
بَشَرٌ تَبارَكَ مَن بَراها
Purer than any mortal man has seen -
Blessed is He who created her!
فَكَأَنَّها شَمسٌ تَجَـ
ـلَت في البِلادِ لَهُ فَراها
She is like a sun appearing
In the land for him alone who saw her,
أَو دُرَّةٌ عِندَ الخَلا
ئِفِ لَيسَ يُدرى مَن سَباها
Or a pearl with the caliphs
None knows who retrieved it.
خَودٌ كَأَنَّ بِريقِها
مِسكاً يَفوحُ لَدى كَراها
Her cheek is like myrrh:
Its sheen breathes perfume when she turns her face.
فيما أَرى وَأَظُنُّهُ
مِن غَيرِ أَن أَكُ ذُقتُ فاها
As I see and reckon,
Without having tasted her mouth.
كانَت لَدَينا وَالحِبا
لُ ضَعيفَةٌ مِنها قُواها
She had with us a frail
Desire - its strength was in her.
وَإِذا خَضَعتُ بِمُقلَتي
مُتَتَبِّعاً مِنها رِضاها
And if I bowed before her glance,
Following her pleasure,
بانَت فَلَيتَ فِراقَها
إِذ كانَ مِن صَدري مَحاها
She would show herself. Would that we'd never parted!
For she wiped her from my breast.
فَكَأَنَّني ذو غُربَةٍ
بِمَفازَةٍ مِلحٍ حُساها
It's as if I'm a stranger
In a salty wasteland that burned her trace.
قَد جَفَّ ريقُ لِسانِهِ
وَالنَفسُ يُجهِدُها صَداها
My tongue is dry; its saliva
Exhausts me, its sound echoes.
عَطشانُ أَدلى دَلوَهُ
خَوفَ المَنِيَّةِ في دِلاها
Thirsty, I let down my bucket -
Fearing death in its hollow.
فَثَوى يَمُدُّ رِشاءَها
وَالنَفسُ تَجهَدُ مِن لَظاها
I spread its rope and my soul
Is exhausted by its intense heat.
حتّى إِذا اِرتَفَعَت وَظَـ
ـلَّ يَجُرُّها اِنحَلَّت عُراها
Until when it was raised up and
Its shadow lengthened, it slipped from its moorings,
فَهَوى وَخَرَّ بِإِثرِها
مُتَلَمِّساً مِنها ثَراها
So it fell, and I fell after it,
Feeling for its coolness.
فَأَسالَ فيها نَفَسَهُ
وَالنَفَسُ تَبلُغُ مُنتَهاها
I poured out my soul in it
As the soul reaches its end.
