ما حَرَّكَ الشَوقُ ذِكراً مِنكَ بِالبالِ
إِلّا وَزادَ بِهِ وَجدي وَبَلبالي
Longing never stirred a memory of you in my mind
My longing for you stirs no memory within
without increasing my passion and my turmoil.
But adds to my torment and inner turmoil
وَطيبُ ذِكراكَ لي أُنسٌ أَلذُّ بِهِ
فَما أُرى عَنهُ بِالساهي وَلا السالي
The sweetness of remembering you is companionship I delight in,
The sweet thought of you is joyful company
so I am never seen heedless of it or forgetful.
I'm not inclined from it, awake or dreaming
وَلَستُ أَذكُرُ هَذا كَي أَمُنَّ بِهِ
عَلى الَّذي مَوطِنُ الذِكرى لَهُ لا لي
Nor do I mention this to hold it as a favor
And I remember not to find peace therein
over him to whom remembrance's dwelling belongs—not to me.
But because remembrance is for you, not me
فَحَظُّهُ كُلّ إِعزازٍ لَدَيَّ وَإِن
جَفا فَحَظّي لَدَيهِ كُلُّ إِذلالي
For his lot with me is every honor, and even if
So you have all honor from me even if
he shuns me, my lot with him is utter humiliation.
You spurn me and I only humiliation
لَم يُعنَ يَوماً بِعانٍ في هَواهُ وَلَم
يُنقِذ بِوَصلٍ مُعَنَّىً بِاللَّظى صالي
Never has he cared for one captive to his love, nor
You never helped a lover in passion or
rescued through union a tormented lover burning in the blaze.
Revived one felled by the sword of separation
هُوَ المُقيمُ عَلى هَجرِ المُقيمِ وَما
جَنا قِيامَةَ لُوّامٍ وَعُذّالِ
He persists in forsaking the steadfast lover, and has not
You persist in avoiding one who persists
provoked an uproar of reproachers and censurers.
And never make just amends for wronging another
يُستَحسَنُ الخالُ في الخَدِّ المَليحِ وَكَم
في ذا العِذارِ فَدَتكَ النَّفسُ مِن خالِ
A mole is admired on a lovely cheek—and how many
A mole on a fair cheek is deemed beautiful
moles this cheek-down holds! May my soul be your ransom.
How many lives would be given for your moles!
يا صاحِ دَعني مِنَ الجُردِ الخُدودِ فَما
أَهوى رِياضَ المُنى تُمنى بِإِمحالِ
O friend, spare me hairless cheeks, for I do not
Leave off, friend, from smooth cheeked gardens, for I
love gardens of desire blighted by barrenness.
Do not wish blooms obtained through trickery
أَما تَرى حُسنَ مِسكِيِّ العِذارِ حَكى
مَدَبَّ ذَرٍّ فُوَيقَ الأَرضِ مُنهالِ
Do you not see how the beauty of his musk-dark cheek-down resembles
See the beauty of the doe's dark mole which
the trail of tiny ants streaming just above the ground?
Sprinkled earth with dew like a pouring cloud
لَو كُنتَ تَقرَأُ خَطّاً زانَ عارِضَهُ
ما كُنت في حُبِّهِ يَوماً بِعَذّالِ
If you could read the script that adorns his cheek,
If you but read the writing on his brow
you would never reproach me for loving him.
You'd not blame me for loving him at all
إِنَّ الخُدودَ بِلا نَبتٍ يُزَيِّنُها
رَبعُ الأَحِبَّةِ مِن سُكّانِهِ خالِ
Indeed, cheeks with no growth to adorn them
Cheeks without down are graced by
are the loved ones' dwelling, empty of its inhabitants.
The Beloved's beauty spot residents
لا تَحسَبَنّي رَخيصاً إِن خَضَعتُ لِمَن
أَهوى فَإِنَّ الهَوى قَد يُرخِصُ الغالي
Do not think me cheap if I submit to the one
Think me not cheap if I bow to my love
I love, for love may cheapen what is precious.
For passion itself can render the noble base
بي أَهيفٌ ضامِرُ الكَشحَينِ مُعتَدِلُ ال
قَوامِ لا ذاتُ أسوارٍ وَخَلخالِ
I am smitten with a slender man, lean-waisted, well-proportioned in
I am averse, gaunt with sunken cheeks
stature—not a woman with bracelets and an anklet.
Balanced in stature, no castle or anklet
مَتى اِنثَنى اِستَحيَتِ الأَغصانُ مِنهُ وَإِن
رَنا رَمى الريمَ مَذعوراً بِأَحجالِ
Whenever he sways, the branches blush before him; and if
When he sways, branches shy from his motions
he gazes, he casts the white gazelle, terrified, into fetters.
When he sings, gazelles flee in terror
ما العَيشُ إِلّا هَوى أَحوى أَغَنَّ غَضي
ضِ الطَرفِ مِن كُلِّ حُسنٍ رائِعٍ حالي
Life is nothing but love of one dark-lipped, sweetly nasal-voiced, with lowered
Life is but the love of one I love
eyes, adorned with every dazzling beauty.
Who delighted my downcast gaze beyond all other allure
يَزينُ حُسناً بِإِحسانٍ وَيرقُمُ حُل
لَةَ الجَمالِ لِمَن يَهوى بِإِجمالِ
He adorns beauty with kindness and embroiders the robe
He beautifies with kindness and traces the
of beauty, with graciousness, for the one he loves.
Line of beauty for one he loves completely
يَجنيكَ مِن خَدِّهِ وَرداً يَمُجُّ نَدىً
وَمِن لَماهُ رضاباً مِثلَ سَلسالِ
He gathers for you, from his cheek, roses that exude dew,
His cheek yields roses of heavy dew
and from his dark lips, saliva like sweet-flowing water.
His brilliance, necklaces like a chain
ما بالُ أَجفانِهِ سَكرى مُعَربِدَةً
يَصرَعنَنا بِفُتورِ اللَحظِ في الحالِ
What ails his eyelids, drunken and riotous,
With half-shut drunken eyes he fells us
that they fell us at once with the languor of their glance?
With a languid glance in an instant
وَالراحُ تَطويهِ أَحياناً وَتَنشُرُهُ
وَرِدفُهُ بَينَ إِعناتٍ وَزَلزالِ
And wine folds him up at times and unfolds him,
The wind makes him sway and then spreads him out
and his buttocks are caught between strain and trembling.
Bouncing him between softness and tremors
ما كَسَّرَت مِنهُ جَفناً غَيرَ مُنكَسِرٍ
وَلا أَمالَت قَضيباً غَيرَ مَيّالِ
It has made no eyelid of his droop that was not drooping already,
He's not caused an unbroken soul to break
nor bent a slender branch not already inclined to sway.
Nor bent an unbending rod.
لَكِن تَلاطَمَ مِنها خَطوُهُ فَمَشى
بَينَ النَدامى نَزيفاً مَشيَ مُختالِ
But under its influence his steps collided, so he walked
Yet his gait made the tears flow
among the drinking companions, drunk, with a swaggerer's gait.
And he walked with a proud, wounded pace
لَولا التِذاذُ نَداماهُ بِرُؤيَتِهِ
لَما اِشرَأَبّوا إِلى تَشرابِ جِريالِ
Had his drinking companions not delighted in seeing him,
If not for the joy of seeing him again
they would not have craned their necks to drink deep of crimson wine.
None would have sipped of the bitter cups.
Sol 6.1