حنا السراب على قلبي يخادعه

بالوهم من نشوة السقيا و يغريه

The mirage leaned over my heart, deceiving it with the illusion of a quenching rapture, luring it in.

How then did I, fully knowing its falsehood, come to love the mirage, hoping for it and holding it dear?

فكيف رحت و لي علم ببطاله

أهوى السراب و أرجوه و أغليه

Woe to the mirage upon the desert, surrendered by the brown sands from one wasteland to another.

It conjures false water for the thirsty, while its own yearning burns for a spring to bend down and quench its thirst.

ويح السراب على الصحراء تسلمه

رمالها السمر من تيه إلى تيه

It displayed clear water, yet its own ribs were never moistened by the pure stream, nor were its tear ducts ever wet.

Its days deceive the caravans, laughing in mockery, and its nights belong to cruel nothingness.

يزوّر الماء للسقيا و لهفته

حرّى إلى منهل يحنو فيسقيه

Its victims, had they known the secrets, would not lament what they suffer, but rather what the mirage itself endures.

Does the vast mirage not weary of its solitude? Does it not yearn for a grace to bestow it with dew?

جلا النمير و ما ابتلّت جوانحه

من النمير و لا ابتّلت مآقيه

Thirsty and yearning, with no shelter for its desolation; my heart, which encompasses the universes, gives it refuge.

I weep for its affliction with tenderness and forgiveness; my soul embodies the spirit of divinity when I mourn for it.

أيّامه خدع الركب ضاحكة

سخرا و للعدم القاسي لياليه

Though deceived, I have requited its deception by offering excuses and folding away the sin.

I invite the mirage to my soul, for it is adorned with desires that will satisfy and tempt it.

صرعاه لو عرفوا الأسرار ما جزعوا

ممّا يعانون بل ممّا يعانيه

How I pity it, a captive in the hands of a fate that slays it every day, only to resurrect it again.

It vanishes before the flutter of a brimming eyelid; has its core run dry, or have its streams withered away?

ألا يملّ السراب الغمر وحدته

ألا يحنّ إلى نعمى تندّيه

It is water, yet no quenching moisture softens its nature; it is like words devoid of their meaning.

It paints beauty in myriad colors, yet its soul has never been swept by a storm of beauty that touches it.

هيمان لهفان لا مأوى لوحشته

قلبي الذي وسع الأكوان يؤويه

Here are its pastures, barren of their joy; its pastures long for the shepherd's flute.

Had the impassioned reed let out its sigh, it would have blossomed in his hands, and his valley would have turned lush.

أبكي لبلواه تحنانا و مغفرة

روح الألوهة روحي حين أبكيه

Why did the mirage draw near, only to distance its nearness the moment my eyes were adorned with the magic of its world?

You are that mirage, but despite my thirst, I would ransom it with the rivers of wine in Paradise.

إذا خدعت فقد جازيت خدعته

بالعذر أبسطه و الذنب أطويه

I have erased the world from my heart, and nothing survived within it but the phantoms of our passion alone.

ادعو السراب إلى روحي فقد حليت

بها اللبانات ترضيه و تغويه

لهفي عليه أسيرا في يدي قدر

يميته كلّ يوم ثمّ يحييه

يغيض قبل رفيف الجفن زاخرة

أقلبه جفّ أم جفّت سواقيه

ماء و لا ريّ يندي في شمائله

كأنّه القول فاتته معانيه

يزوّق الحسن ألوانا و ما عصفت

بروحه سورة للحسن تصيبه

هذي مراعيه عطل من بشاشتها

حنّت لشبّابة الراعي مراعيه

لو صعّد القصب الولهان زفرته

لنوّرت بيده و اخضلّ واديه

ما للسّراب دنا حتّى إذا اكتحلت

بسحر دنياه عيني شطّ دانيه

أنت السراب و لكني على ظمأي

بأنهر الخمر في الفردوس أفديه

محوت من قلبي الدنيا فما سلمت

إلاّ طيوف هوانا وحدها فيه