لا زلتَ تَفْدي نفسَكَ الأنْفُسُ

وتتَّقي اسعُدَكَ الأنْحُسُ

You still sacrifice yourself, O the most precious of souls,

And avoid what makes you most happy, O the unluckiest.

فُصِدْتَ والأيّامُ مُبْيَضَّةٌ

يَبْيَضُّ من مُبْيَضِّها الحِنْدِس

You were turned away while the days dawned white,

Whitened by their whiteness like Indian linen.

والأرضُ ضربانِ فذا مقمرٌ

إذا اجتليناهُ وذا مُشْمِس

The land is green here, and there blossomed,

Seeming like the moon when unveiled, or the sun when rising.

فلا وَنَتْ نُعماكَ مُخْضَرَّةً

يَحْسُدُها في الخُضْرَةِ السُّندُس

Would that your blessings remained green,

Envied in their greenness by Chinese silk.

أَفديكَ من مكتسبٍ كاتبٍ

النارُ من هاجِسِهِ تُقْبَس

I ransom you from an acquiring scribe

Whose obsessive thoughts are kindled by fire.

لما رآني غاب شخصي لَدُنْ

أبدَتْ له أشخاصَها الأكْؤس

When he saw me, my persona disappeared,

Revealing to him its unattractive aspects.

ما راعَني إلا مناجاتُهُ

كما يُناجي المؤنِسَ المؤنِسُ

What drew my attention was his whispers,

As a confidant whispers to another confidant.

إِذا حضرنا غبتَ أو إِن تَغِبْ

جيتَ فنحنُ الوردُ والنرجس

Whether present or absent, when you leave, you come,

For we are the roses and the narcissi.

لم يُجْمَعا للعينِ في روضةٍ

قطُّ ولم يحوِهما مَجْلِس

Never were the two gathered in a garden,

Or brought together in a sitting.

فقلتُ لو أَنَّ الليالي التي

أَصْحَبُها تُوفي كما تَبْخَس

So I said, "If only the nights I spend

Would disappear as they diminish."

إذاً لكنَّا السَّرورَ والآسَ لا

نخلُو ولا يخلو لنا مَجْلِس

Then we would not be without joy or sorrow,

Nor would a sitting be devoid of us.