نَأَتِ القُلوبُ وَسَوفَ تَنأى الدارُ
وَتَغَيَّرَت بِمَذاعِها الأَسرارُ
Hearts have drawn far away, and the dwelling too shall draw far away.
And secrets have changed through being divulged.
وَلَقَد شَقَقتُ حَشى الزَمانِ فَلَم يَكُن
فيهِ سِوى سِرَّ النَوى إِضمارُ
I split open Time’s very entrails, yet there was
nothing concealed within but separation’s secret.
ما لِلخُطوبِ تَبُزُّني ثَوبَ الهَوى
وَعَلَيَّ مِن أَحداثِها أَطمارُ
Why do calamities wrest from me the robe of love,
when their vicissitudes have already clothed me in rags?
أَلِفَت ضَميري النائِباتُ كَأَنَّها
لِعِتاقِ أَفراسِ الجَوى مِضمارُ
Calamities have grown accustomed to my inmost heart, as though it were
a racecourse for the thoroughbred steeds of anguish.
ما لي أُرَقرِقُ فيكَ دَمعاً تَرتَوي
مِنهُ الخُطوبُ وَما لَهُ مُشتارُ
Why do I let tears trickle for you—tears from which
calamities drink their fill, though no honey-gatherer draws them?
إيهاً مُؤَمِّلَ طَيِّءٍ لا تَنقُضَن
وُدّاً لَهُ مِن ذِمَّةٍ إِمرارُ
Enough, O my hope of Ṭayyiʾ—never break
a bond of love perpetuated by my pledged honor.
فَلَقَد حَلَلتَ مِنَ الفُؤادِ مَحَلَّةً
في حَيثُ لَيسَ مِنَ الوَرى لَكَ جارُ
For you have taken a dwelling place within my heart,
where no mortal is your neighbor.
فَلَئِن وَفَيتَ فَما الوَفاءُ بِبِدعَةٍ
إِنَّ الوَفاءَ لِذي الصَفاءِ شِعارُ
If you are faithful, fidelity is nothing unprecedented:
fidelity is the intimate emblem of one possessed of purity.
وَلَئِن غَدَرتَ وَلا عَجيبٌ أَنَّهُ
بَعضُ الزَمانِ بِبَعضِهِ غَدّارُ
But if you betray, there is no wonder, for
one part of Time is treacherous to another.
نَفسي فِداءُ الغادِرينَ تَباعَدوا
أَو قارَبوا أَو أَنصَفوا أَو جاروا
My soul be ransom for the faithless, whether they keep far away
or draw near, whether they act justly or wrong me.
Sol 5.6