كَأَنّي لَم أَكُن شَجَناً لِفَوزٍ
وَلَم يَكثُر عَلَيَّ لَها عَويلُ
As though I had never grieved for Fawz,
nor had her wailing ever troubled me;
وَلَم يَسَعَ الرَسولُ إِليَّ مِنها
بِأَحسَنِ ما يَجيءُ بِهِ الرَسولُ
nor had a messenger hastened to me from her,
bearing the finest thing a messenger can bring;
وَلَم نَجلِس جَميعاً في خَلاءٍ
نُسَرُّ بِما أَقولُ وَما تَقولُ
nor had we ever sat together in seclusion,
delighting in what I say and what she says.
وَلَو حُدِّثتُم عَني وَعَنها
عَلِمتُم أَنَّ قِصَّتَنا تَطولُ
Had you been told of me and her,
you would know that ours is a long story.
وَكُنّا آيَّةً لِلناسِ دَهراً
إِذا وُصِفَ الخَليلَةُ وَالخَليلُ
For an age we were a wonder among the people,
whenever two lovers—or a lover—were spoken of.
أَلا يا فَوزُ أَنتِ صَرَمتِ حَبلي
وَصَرمُكِ عِندَنا خَطبٌ جَليلُ
Ah, Fawz! You have severed my bond,
and your severing it is, in our eyes, a grave calamity.
وَكُنتُ أَظُنُّ أَنّا سَوفَ نَبلى
وَما بَيني وَبَينَكِ لا يَزولُ
I had thought that we ourselves would wear away,
while what lay between you and me would never fade.
فَلَو قَوِيَت لَعَزَّت عَنكِ نَفسي
وَلَكِنَّ المُحِبَّ هُوَ الذَليلُ
Had I the strength, I would hold myself proudly aloof from you;
but I—the lover—am the one brought low.
إِلى الرَحمَنِ أَشكو حُبَّ فَوزٍ
وَأُنكِرُها وَذاكَ لَها قَليلُ
To the All-Merciful I complain of my love for Fawz,
and I reproach her—though that is little beside what she deserves.
وَأَكتُمُ سِرَّها ما عِشتُ حَتّى
أَموتَ وَلا أَخونُ وَلا أَحولُ
I shall conceal her secret as long as I live, until
I die—never betraying, never turning away.
Sol 5.6