قالَت مَرِضتُ فَعُدتُها فَتَبَرَّمَت

وَهِيَ الصَحيحَةُ وَالمَريضُ العائِدُ

She said she was sick, so I returned to her, but she was ungrateful

While she's the healthy one and the sick man is the returning one

وَاللَهِ لَو أَنَّ القُلوبَ كَقلبِها

ما رَقَّ لِلوَلَدِ الصَغيرِ الوالِدُ

By Allah, if all hearts were like hers

No father's heart would ache for his little child

كَتَبَت بِأَن لا تَأتِني فَهَجَرتُها

لِتَذوقَ طَعمَ الهَجرِ ثُمَّ أُعاوِدُ

She wrote to me not to visit her, so I abandoned her

So she would taste the flavor of abandonment, then I would return

ماذا عَلَيها أَن يُلِمَّ بِبابِها

ذو حاجَةٍ بِسَلامِهِ مُتَعاهِدُ

What fault is it of mine if one in need

Knocks at her door, hopeful and loyal?

إِن كانَ ذَنبي في الزيارَةِ فَاِعلَمي

أَنّي عَلى كَسبِ الذُنوبِ لَجاهِدُ

If my sin was in visiting, then know

That I am insistent on committing sins

سَمّاكِ لي قَومٌ وَقالوا إِنَّها

لَهيَ الَّتي تَشقى بِها وَتُكابِدُ

Some people told me she

Is the one I suffer and struggle for

فَجَحَدتُهُم ليَكونَ غَيرَكِ ظَنُّهُم

إِنّي لَيُعجِبُني المُحِبُّ الجاحِدُ

So I denied them, so their assumption would be

That I love the denying lover

إِنَّ النِساءَ حَسَدنَ وَجهَكِ حُسنَهُ

حُسنُ الوجوهِ لِحُسنِ وَجهِكِ ساجِدُ

Indeed, women envied your beautiful face

The beauty of faces bows to your beautiful face

جالَ الوِشاحُ عَلى قَضيبٍ زانَهُ

رُمّانُ صَدرٍ لَيسَ يُقطَفُ ناهِدُ

The scarf hung on a branch adorned

With a breast that no eager hand could pluck

لَمّا رأَيتُ اللَيلَ سَدَّ طَريقَهُ

عَنّي وَعَذَبَّني الظَلامُ الراكِدُ

When I saw the night block my path

And the stagnant darkness tortured me

وَالنَجمَ في كَبِدِ السَماءِ كَأَنَّهُ

أَعمى تَحَيَّرَ ما لَدَيهِ قائِدُ

The star in the liver of the sky was as if

A blind man lost, with no guide before him

نادَيتُ مَن طَرَدَ الرُقادَ بِنَومِهِ

عَمّا أُعالِجُ وَهوَ خِلوٌ هاجِدُ

I called on the one whose sleep had banished sleepiness

From what I was suffering, while he lay prostrate

يا ذا الَّذي صَدَعَ الفُؤادَ بِصَدِّهِ

أَنتَ البَلاءُ طَريفُهُ وَالتالِدُ

O you who cracked my heart with your aloofness

You are the sweet affliction, the everlasting one

أَلقَيتَ بَينَ جُفونِ عَيني فُرقَةً

فَإِلى مَتى أَنا ساهِرٌ يا راقِدُ

You cast separation between my eyelids

So how long will I stay awake, o sleeper?

وَإِلى مَتى أَبكي وَتَضحَكُ لاهياً

عَنّي وَأُدني في الهَوى وَتُباعِدُ

And how long will I weep while you laugh heedlessly

Turning from me, as I draw near in love and you distance yourself?

وَإِلى مَتى أَنا هاتِفٌ بِكَ في دُجّىً

أَبكي إِلَيكَ وَأَشتَكي وَأُناشِدُ

And how long will I call out to you in the darkness

I cry to you, complain and recite poetry?

أُردُد رُقادي ثُمَّ نَم في غِبطَةٍ

إِنّي اُمرُؤٌ سَهَري لِنَومِكَ حاسِدُ

I wish for my sleep then sleep in bliss

I am one whose wakefulness envies your sleep

يَقَعُ البَلاءُ وَيَنقَضي عَن أَهلِهِ

وَبَلاءُ حُبِّكَ كُلَّ يَومٍ زائِدُ

Affliction befalls and passes from its people

But the affliction of your love increases every day

أَنّى أَصيدُ وَما لِمِثلي قُوَّةٌ

ظَبياً يَموتُ إِذا رآهُ الصائِدُ

How can I hunt when one like me has no strength

A gazelle who dies when the hunter sees him?