هَدْهِدْ همومَكَ عندي

على حَيائي وصدّي

Cradle your sorrows with me,

Despite my shyness and rejection,

حورُ النعيم تمنّتْ

نُعمى هواي ووجدي

The houris of Paradise have wished for

The bliss of my passion and my longing.

هل عندهنّ رحيقي

و هل لديهنّ شهدي

Do they possess my nectar?

And do they have my honey?

يا ساكبَ الشعرِ خمراً

من ِشعر رَبِّك خدّي

O you who pours poetry like wine,

From the poetry of your Lord is my cheek.

ومن معانيه عِطري

ومن قوافيه وردي

And from its meanings is my perfume,

And from its rhymes are my roses.

تأنّقَ اللهُ دهراً

يعيدُ فيّ ويُبدي

God elegantly crafted for an age,

Recreating and innovating within me,

حتّى جلانيَ شعراً

يا حسرةَ الشعرِ بعدي!

Until He unveiled me as a poem—

Oh, the sorrow of poetry after me!

خيالُهُ السمحُ نَدّى

ثغري ونمنمَ عِقدي

His generous imagination bedewed

My lips and adorned my necklace.

وقلبه كان كأسي

وجفنهُ كان مَهدي

And His heart was my chalice,

And His eyelid was my cradle.

والأنجمُ الزُهْرُ حولي

دُمىً لِلَهوي وعدّي

And the luminous stars around me

Were dolls for my play and my counting.

فغارتِ الحورُ منّي

وكُلُّ زَهوٍ ومَجْدِ

So the houris grew jealous of me,

As did every pride and glory.

وهبَّ في روضِ عَدنْ

عليَّ عاصفُ حِقدِ

And there blew in the Garden of Eden

A storm of hatred against me.

فكان للّهِ حكمٌ

لشقوتي بل لسعدي

So God passed a decree,

For my misery—no, for my happiness:

و اختار بُعدِيَ عنه

وراح يبكي لبُعدي

He chose my distance from Him,

And began to weep for my absence.

دنياي أحلى و أغلى

من ألفِ جنّةِ خُلدِ

My world is sweeter and more precious

Than a thousand gardens of eternity.

أنّا الربيع المندّى

قارورةُ العطر نهدي

I am the dew-kissed spring,

A flask of perfume is my breast.

يهيم حُسني بحُسني

ويجتلي و يُفَدِّي

My beauty is infatuated with my own beauty,

Admiring itself and offering itself as ransom.

وجُنَّ ثَغري بريقي

وَحَنَّ جيدي لزندي

My mouth went mad for my own nectar,

And my neck yearned for my forearm.

وكلُّ وَشيِ حريرٍ

يودُّ لو لفَّ قدّي

And every embroidered silk

Wishes it could wrap around my waist.

وكلُّ عطرٍ تشهّى

أن أسفحَ العطرَ وحدي

And every fragrance desires

That I alone pour out the perfume.

شقراءُ تحلمُ شمسُ الـ

ضحى بخدّي وبردي

A blonde, of whom the sun of the

Morning dreams—of my cheek and my freshness.

رَفَّتْ خُصَيْلاتُ شَعري

بأشقر النور جَعدِ

The tresses of my hair fluttered

With blonde and curly light,

سكرانِ تيهٍ ودلٍّ ....

مخمورِ وهجٍ ووَقْدِ

Intoxicated by pride and coquetry....

Inebriated by radiance and burning heat.

يا شاكياً زورَ وعدي

أحلى من الوصلِ وعدي

O you who complain of the falseness of my promise,

Sweeter than union is my promise.

هِيامُنا يا حبيبي

طيوبُ خمرٍ ونَدِّ

Our passion, my beloved,

Is the fragrance of wine and incense.

أريدُ طيفاً لجفني

أريدُ حلماً لسُهدي

I want a phantom for my eyelid,

I want a dream for my insomnia.

كلُّ المحبّين ملكي

و أنت وحدكَ نِديّ

All lovers belong to me,

But you alone are my match.

و كبرياءُ جمالي

تريدُ منكَ التحدّي

And the pride of my beauty

Demands a challenge from you.

شقراءُ يا لونَ حُسنٍ

مُحَبَّبٍ مُسْتَبِدِّ

O blonde one, O color of beauty,

Beloved and tyrannical.

ويا جمالاً غريباً

على ظِباءِ مَعَدِّ

And O exotic beauty

To the gazelles of Ma'add,

لا وسمُ ليلايَ فيهِ

و لا ملامحُ هِندي

Bearing neither the mark of my Layla,

Nor the features of Hind,

ولا اسمرارُ الغريراتِ

بالعقيقِ ونَجْدِ

Nor the tan of the innocent maidens

In Al-Aqiq and Najd.

ظمآنُ أنشدُ وِرداً

وعند عينيكِ وِردي

Thirsty, I seek a watering place,

And at your eyes is my spring.

يا سكرةً بعد صحوي

وفتنةً بعد رُشدي

O intoxication after my sobriety,

And temptation after my rationality.

يا رغبةَ العين والقلب

بعد يأسٍ وزُهدِ

O desire of the eye and the heart

After despair and asceticism.

بيني وبينكِ حربٌ

وهولُ أخذٍ ورَدِّ

Between you and me is a war,

And the terror of attack and retreat.

صراعُ روحينِ فيه

عنفُ العدوِّ الألدِّ

A struggle of two souls, bearing

The violence of the fiercest foe.

وغزوُ قلبٍ لقلبٍ

فتحٌ يبيدُ ويُردي

And the invasion of a heart by a heart,

A conquest that ruins and slays.

فَناءُ دنيا بدنيا

وطيُّ بندٍ ببندِ

The annihilation of one world by another,

And the folding of banner upon banner.

الحبُّ لا حكمُ شورى

لكنَّهُ حُكمُ فَردِ

Love is not a rule by council,

But rather the rule of one.

فهيّئي فتنةَ الحُسنِ

كُلَّها واستعدّي

So prepare the seduction of beauty,

All of it, and get ready!