شجاها من عهودك ما شجاها

وجنّ الليل فأدركت أساها

What grieved her from your past vows is what broke her heart,

And as night fell, she fully realized her sorrow.

هفت لشبابها و صبت إليه

ورقّ لها النصيح فما لحاها

She yearned for her youth and longed deeply for it,

And the counselor took pity on her, offering no blame.

و هيهات الشباب و أين منه

منى للنّفس تعثر في وجاها

But alas for youth, and how far out of reach

Are the soul's desires, stumbling in their pain?

كبا و ركائب الأعوام فيه

من العشرين لم تنقل خطاها

It stumbled, while the riding beasts of the years therein

Had not yet moved their steps beyond twenty.

أيخذلني الشباب ضنى و سقما

أفول الشمس تغرب في ضحاها

Does youth abandon me to wasting and illness,

Like a fading sun setting in its morning light?

و ما عذر الشباب كبرت فيه

و لي نفس فتيّات مناها

What excuse has youth? I grew old within it,

While I still possess a soul whose desires remain young.

سقاها من سلافته كؤوسا

و حنّت للمزيد فما سقاها

It poured for her cups of its finest wine,

And she yearned for more, but it poured no more.

يراخي بالعنان لها وريدا

فإن وثبت لغايتها ثناها

It gently loosens the reins for her,

Yet if she leaps toward her goal, it pulls her back.

و تدعوها الفتون و هنّ سحر

فتطرق لا تلبّي من دعاها

Enchantments call out to her, acting as pure magic,

But she bows her head, ignoring the caller.

تريد و لا يرد و كلّ نفس

يجاريها الشباب على هواها

She desires, but it does not, though every soul

Is usually accompanied by youth according to its whims.

يريها للمنى صورا ملاحا

فما همّت بها إلاّ أباها

It shows her beautiful images of her hopes,

But whenever she reaches for them, it refuses her.

فبا ظلّ الشباب أتتك غرثى

فكان أذى القطيعة من قراها

O shadow of youth, she came to you starving,

Yet the pain of abandonment was the only feast you offered.

أطلّت هوانها فاذهب حبيبا

رعته على المغيب و ما رعاها

Her humiliation has loomed, so depart as a beloved

Whom she cherished in absence, but who did not cherish her.

و ضمّ إليك عقدك و هو درّ

لأزين من سوارك معصماها

And take back your necklace, though it be made of pearls,

For her wrists are far fairer without your bracelet.

معذّبة إذا لمحت جمالا

هفت و جدا و عاودها ضناها

She is tormented whenever she catches sight of beauty,

Fluttering with passion as her wasting sickness returns.

و تنشد حبّها الأسمى و تأوي

إذا عيي السهاد إلى كراها

She seeks her highest love, finding refuge,

When insomnia grows weary, in her slumber.

فتلمح في الرؤى حسنا طريفا

و جلّ الحسن تخلقه روءاها

Then she glimpses a fresh beauty in her visions,

And the greatest beauty is what her own visions create.

تبّنته فجاء يهزّ عطفا

ببردتها و يخطر في حلاها

She embraced it, and it came swaying gracefully

Within her mantle, strutting proudly in her sweetness.

و كدت و سحره سحر خفيّ

أرى فيه المحبّب من صباها

And I almost felt—for its magic is a hidden magic—

That I could see in it the beloved essence of her youth.

هداها الله من حيرى أضاعت

لبانتها و بارك من هداها

May God guide her, a bewildered soul who lost

Her heart's desire, and blessed be the one who guides her.

نسائل عن أخيها من تلاقي

و كلّ أخيّة وجدت أخاها

We ask whomever we meet about her brother,

While every other sister has already found hers.

و أحسب أنّه أغفى كلالا

و مرّت في الظلام فما رآها

And I reckon that he dozed off from sheer exhaustion,

And she passed by in the darkness, so he did not see her.

أأخت الدّوح حسبك لا تغنّي

فأخت السّرب قد فقدت طلاها

O sister of the orchard, enough, do not sing,

For the sister of the flock has lost her young fawn.

و يا نفسي عبدتك عن يقين

و حسبي قد عبدت بك الإلها

O my soul, I have worshipped you with absolute certainty,

And it is enough that through you I have worshipped God.

أحبّ الحسن في الحدق الرّواني

و في ثغر الفتاة و في لماها

I love the beauty in deep, gazing eyes,

And in a young woman's mouth, and in her dark lips.

و في عطف يثير هوى ملحّا

إذا رفّت عليه ذوءابتاها

And in a graceful curve that stirs persistent passion,

Whenever her two locks of hair flutter over it.

و في نهدي منعّمة لعوب

و في ماء الخدود و في لظاها

And in the breasts of a pampered, playful girl,

And in the moisture of her cheeks, and in their blazing flush.

و في ضحك الطفولة و هو سحر

و في مرح الصّغار و في دماها

And in the laughter of childhood, which is pure magic,

And in the joy of the young ones, and in their vital blood.

أعانق قامة فيه و غصنا

و ألثم فيه سالفة وفاها

Through it, I embrace a figure and a supple branch,

And through it, I kiss a graceful neck and a mouth.

برئت إلى الحقيقة من غواة

تفرّ من الصباح إلى دجاها

I sought refuge in the truth from those who stray,

Who flee from the morning light into their darkness.

تريد رضاك تقييدا و أسرا

و أين رضاك ربّي من رضاها

They seek your pleasure through restriction and captivity,

But where is Your pleasure, my Lord, compared to theirs?

و أنكر قدرة الخلاّق روح

رأى صور الجمال و ما اشتهاها

A soul has surely denied the Creator's power

If it sees the forms of beauty and does not desire them.

لمن جليت بزينتها عروسا

و فيم أحبّها و لمن براها

For whom was she revealed in her adornment like a bride?

And why do I love her, and for whom did He fashion her?

عبدتك في الجمال و لا أبالي

ضلال النفس ذلك أم هداها

I worshipped You in beauty, and I do not care

Whether that is the soul's delusion or its true guidance.

ففي نفسي جحيمك من سيصلى

بها لشقائه و من اصطلاها

For within my soul is Your hell—who shall burn

In it to their misery, and who has already felt its blaze?

و في نفسي السماء و فرقداها

و من سمك السماء و من رقاها

And within my soul is heaven and its two bright stars,

And the One who raised the heavens, and the one who ascended.

و هل من أنّة خفيت و دقّت

أسى إلاّ و في نفسي صداها

And is there any moan of sorrow, hidden and subtle,

That does not find its resonant echo within my soul?

فيا لك من عمى و سلمت عينا

لو اختارت لما تركت عماها

Oh, what blindness! Yet safe is the eye

That, had it been given the choice, would not have left its blindness.

و يا لك حيرة عرضت لموسى

فضلّ سبيل غايتها و تاها

And oh, the bewilderment that appeared to Moses,

Causing him to lose the path to his goal and wander astray.

أراد جلاءها نفر كريم

فجلّلها الغموض و ما جلاها

A noble group sought to bring it to clarity,

But ambiguity veiled it, and they clarified it not.

فتحت سريرتي صفحات نور

و قد خبر الصحيفة من تلاها

I opened my innermost being as pages of light,

And whoever reads the page truly understands it.

و زحزحت الحجاب عن الخفايا

و قلنا شقوة بلغت مداها

And I pushed back the veil from the hidden mysteries,

And we said: it is a misery that has reached its utter limit.