كُلُّ مَليحٍ عَبدُ عَبدِ الرَحيم
لَكِنَّهُ ما قَلبُهُ بِالرَحيم
Every fair one is a slave to Abd al-Rahim,
Every beauty is a slave of the Merciful
yet his heart is not merciful.
But his heart is not merciful
واعَجَباً مِنّي وَمِنهُ وَما
أَعجَبَ لَيثاً صادَهُ لَحظُ ريم
Oh, how I marvel at myself and him! And how
How strange of me and of him, but what
astonishing is a lion caught by a gazelle's glance!
Is stranger than a lion startled by a glance of an antelope
كَيفَ خَلاصي مِن غَرامي بِهِ
وَهوَ الَّذي لا زَمَني كَالغَريم
How can I escape my passion for him,
How can I free myself of my love for him
when it clings to me like a creditor?
When he clung to me like a creditor
أَنا الَّذي مِن سُقمِ أَجفانِهِ
وَخَصرِهِ الناحِلِ جِسمي سَقيم
I am the one who, from his eyelids' languor
It is I whom the sickness of his eyelids
and his slender waist, is ailing in body.
And his slender waist made my body frail
يَنثُرُ إِن حَدَّثَني لُؤلُؤاً
مِن ثَغرِهِ وَالثَغرُ دُرٌّ نَظيم
He scatters pearls whenever he speaks to me,
He scatters pearls when he speaks to me
from his mouth, itself a string of pearls.
From his mouth, and his mouth is a well-arranged pearl
وَيُطلِعُ الشَمسَ عَلى الغُصنِ في
حِقفِ النَقا مِن تَحتِ خَصرٍ هَضيم
And he makes the sun rise upon the bough, in
He reveals the sun on the branch in
the curved ridge of the sand dune beneath a slender waist.
The delicate bend of the waist under a plump belly
وَوَجهُهُ وَالشَعرُ شَمسُ الضُحى
طالِعَةً مِن تَحتِ لَيلٍ بَهيم
And his face, with his hair, is the midmorning sun
His face and hair are the rising sun
rising from beneath a pitch-black night.
Appearing from under the darkness of night
مازالَ بِالوَصلِ بِخيلاً وَبِال
صُدودِ وَالإِعراضِ عَنّي كَريم
He remains miserly with union, but with
He remains generous when united, and when
rebuffs and turning away from me, generous.
Aloof and turning away from me, noble
وَهوَ الَّذي أَسكَرَني حُبُّهُ
وَلَيسَ إِلّا نَدَمي لي نَديم
And he is the one whose love has made me drunk,
He is the one whose love intoxicated me
and none but my regret is my drinking companion.
And nothing remains for me except regret as a boon companion
لا تَعذِلوا يَعقوبَ في حُبِّهِ
يوسُفَ إِنَّ العَذلَ إِثمٌ عَظيم
Do not reproach Ya'qub for his love
Do not blame Jacob for his love
of Yusuf; reproach is indeed a grievous sin.
Of Joseph, for blaming is a grave sin
إِنّي أَرى العاذِلَ لي في الهَوى
عَلى صِراطٍ لَيسَ بِالمُستَقيم
Indeed, I see the one who reproaches me for love
I see the one blaming me in passion
on a path that is not straight.
To be on a path that is not straight
Sol 6.1