حالي غدا عاطلاً مِن وصلكِ الحالي

فكم أُغالطُ عن ذا الهجرِ آمالي

My present has become devoid of your connection

So how I delude myself about this separation and my hopes

كتمتُه فوشتْ بي وهي جالهةٌ

مدامعٌ أَرْخَصَتْ مِن سريَ الغالي

I concealed it, but it was exposed through my tears

Flowing freely from my innermost feelings

يا جيرةَ الحيَّ أشمتُّمْ بهجركمُ

قبلَ التفرُّقِ لُوّامي وعُذّالي

O neighbors of the dear quarter, you rejoice at your estrangement

Before we parted, you blamed and rebuked me

تلقونَني ثمَّ القاكمْ ولا عجبٌ

عندَ العتابِ باِدلالٍ واِذلالِ

You meet me, then turn away - no wonder

You reproach and humiliate me

أبكي على مربعٍ من بعد بينكمُ

عافٍ وجسمٍ على أطلالكمْ بالِ

I lament over a pasture, after you are gone

A sound body, at your abandoned dwellings

بأدمعٍ لم يزلْ في الوجدِ صَيَّبُها

وقفاً على جيرةٍ تنأَى وأطلالِ

With tears that have not ceased flowing in sadness

Pausing at the neighborhood that has moved away and dwellings in ruins

وزَّعتُه بين هجرٍ أو أليمِ هوًى

ما بين ساكبِ تَهماعٍ وتَهمالِ

I have distributed it between painful separation or tormenting passion

Between a pouring of gatherings and assemblies

في أربعٍ حكمتْ أيدي النوى عبثاً

فيها بما لا جرى منّي على بالي

In four lines, the hands of fate have randomly

Inscribed what has not crossed my mind

وقفتُ فيها

وقد سارتْ ركائبُهمْ

I stood amongst them

As their riding camels departed

على ضِرامٍ لنيرانِ الهوى صالِ

ما بين ناشدِ قلبٍ ضلَّ من وَلَهٍ

On the burning embers of passion’s fire

Between a heartfelt lover and an avid reciter of poetry and verse

وبين منشدِ أشعارٍ وأغزالِ

منازلٌ طالَ فيها بعدما دَرَستْ

The dwellings where, after they were ravaged,

I wandered and questioned about the loved ones

عنِ الحبائبِ تَردادي وتَسآلي

لبئس ما اعتضتُ فيها عن جمالِهمُ

Evil is what I found in them after the bloom of their kindness and beauty

Will time ever return to its course, though its ways are gone

من بعدِ رونقِِ اِحسانٍ واِجمالِ

يا هل يردُّ زماناً بانَ مُذْهَبُه

I passed by them and could glimpse naught

But traces like the shavings of patience piled up

بكايَ في رسمِ دارٍ غيرِ محلالِ

مررتُ فيها فلم ألمحْ

And fate forever continues in its varying states

Between receding and advancing

وقد دَرَسَتْ

سوى رسومٍ كَبُردِ الصَّبرِ اسمالِ

O bending shape of sadness - my heart calls on me

For what was destined for us in your departed era

والدهرُ ما زالَ في حالاتهِ أبداً

مذ كانَ ما بين ادبارٍ واِقبالِ

Of the beauty of intimate friends and a pleasant gathering

And the fragrance of pre-dawn and evening gatherings

يا منحنى الجِزعِ لي قلبٌ يطالِبُني

بما تقضَّى لنا في عصرِكَ الخالي

Their dwellings made their doves weep

And they sang over the tamarisk and honey plant

مِن حسنِ اِلفةِ أحبابٍ ومجتمعٍ

وطيبِ أوقاتِ أسحارٍ وآصالِ

They flowed my tears in playfulness

While we are between warbling and moaning

تلكَ المنازلُ أبكتنا حمائمُها

وقد تغنَّينَ فوق الطلحِ والضّالِ

Dwellings ravaged by the blowing winds

And rainfall between springs and runnels

أجرينَ بالنوحِ دمعي في ملاعبها

فَنَحْنُ ما بين تغريدٍ واِعوالِ

O Rema, who has surrendered me

To those determined to make me forget and neglect

منازلٌ درستْها الريحُ سافيةً

والقَطرُ ما بين مُنهلًّ ومُنهالِ

My heart and body are what you have known

In times of pain and affliction

يا ريمَ رامةَ قد أمسيتَ تُسلِمُني

الى الممضَّينِنسياني واِغفالي

Do not stay away, for in love there is much discontent

Blame, talk and words

قلبي وجسمي هما ما قد عرفتَهما

في النائباتِ لأوجاعٍ وأوجالِ

I have left it to people who care for it

While my passion and reproach have diminished

لا تَبْعُدَنَّ فكم في الحبَّ مِنْ نُغَصٍ

ومِنْ ملامٍ ومِنْ قيلٍ ومِنْ قالِ

Blessed is an era when my she-camel was not prodded

To travel to the dwellings and camel pens

تركتُه لأناسٍ يَحفِلُونَ به

وقلَّ بالعذلِ واللوامِ اِحفالي

No, never was I prodded

For the days gathered us before separation

يا حبذا زمنٌ لم تُمْنَ راحلتي

فيه بشدًّ إلى السرى واِرقالِ

With hopes and traveling

Days when the doe of the neighborhood entrusted

كلاّ ولم أُمْنَ

والأيامُ تجمعُنا

Passion, undeterred by gossip

While today in my love and burning

قبلَ الفراقِ

باِزماعٍ وتَرحالِ

I am isolated from the fervor of my heart and its secrets

A frightened gazelle avoiding its glances

ايامَ كان غزالُ الحيَّ مؤتَمناً

على الهوى لم تَشُنْهُ نفرَةُ القالِ

Fearing for it, from sword and arrow

None among lovers is like me in my ardency

واليومَ أُصبِحُ في وجدي وفي حُرَقي

بمعزلٍ عن جوى قلبي وبَلْبَالي

Oh remoteness of what my peers and likenesses seek

By God, I will neither forget his love nor ever

نبّاذُ فيه حضماهُ مِن لواحظِه

خوفاً عليه بسيّافٍ ونبّالِ

See myself, as long as I live, distracted from him and his love

And I will not take any substitute, even if

ما في المحبينَ مثلي في صبابتهِ

يا بُعدَ مطلبِ أضرابي وأشكالي

Time allowed it, with other matters and changes

And I will not, as long as I live, be busy

تاللهِ أنسى هواه أو أُرى أبداً

عنه وعن حبَّهِ ما عشتُ بالسالي

With anything but him - for he is my life and purpose

O you who seek poetry, its ways exhaust you

ولا أرى عوضاً منه ولو سمحَ

الزَّمانُ عنه بأعراض وأبدالِ

So refrain from it, in distress and confusion

Take it - for there are many arts in its subtleties

ولستُ أُصبِحُ عنه الدهرَ في شُغُلِ

إِلاّ به فهو أوطاري وأشغالي

Containing wisdom flowing into proverbs

يا طالبَ الشَّعرِ تُعييهِ مذاهبُهُ

فينثني منه في ضيق ٍ واِشكالِ

خُذْها فكم مِن فنونٍ في طرائفِه

فيها ومِن حِكَمٍ تسري وأمثالِ