بينَ الكَتائِبِ والكُثْبانِ جَلْجَلَةٌ

تَهُزُّ قلباً مَتيناً كلُّهُ شِيَمُ

Between the battalions and the dunes a tumult

That shakes a steadfast heart filled with worries

رَنَّاتُ أَسرارِ أَحوالٍ يرَنِّحُها

من طِينِها بأَساليبِ الهوَى نَغَمُ

The melodies of the secrets of states moan in it

With the styles of passion from their clay a tune

فالأَنُّ مرتفِعٌ والحَنُّ منحدِرٌ

والجمرُ ملتَهِبٌ والبحرُ ملْتَطِمُ

Thus the joy is high and the sadness descends

And the embers are flaming and the sea pounding

أَقولُ واللَّيلُ في غَلغالِ عتمَتِهِ

يا ليلُ طُلْ ففُؤادي حَشْوُهُ همَمُ

I say and the night in the darkness of its shroud

O night, be long, for my heart is filled with concerns

صَبري جَليلٌ جميلٌ ثابِتٌ رَصِنٌ

وفي المحبَّةِ ما زلَّتْ به القَدَمُ

My patience is great, beautiful, steadfast, sturdy

And in love what my feet have slipped in

يا ليلُ تزعُمُ أَنِّي الآنَ نلتُ هوًى

في كلِّ آوِنَةٍ أَحيى وأَنعَدِمُ

O night, you claim that I have now attained a passion

That I revive and perish in every instant

سَلِ الفَريقَ الذي أَبكي لفرقَتِهِ

كم طاف منِّي بأَطْرافِ الفريقِ دَمُ

Ask the beloved whose separation I cry for

How much of my blood circulated in the beloved's parts

بعَثْتُ روحي إلى أَركانِ ساحتَهِمْ

تُمسي وتُصبحُ والأَركانَ تستَلِمُ

I sent my soul to the corners of their abode

It comes in the evening and leaves in the morning and the corners receive it

هوِّنْ عليكَ وطُلْ ما شِئتَ شِمْتَ فتًى

نارُ الخَليلِ به يا ليلُ تضْطَرِمُ

Be gentle with yourself and stay as long as you wish, enjoy yourself o night

The fire of the friend in it, o night, rages

تُؤمِّلُ النَّومَ منِّي منكَ واعَجَبي

أَنَّى تَنامُ عُيونٌ دمعُها دِيَمُ

You wish for sleep from me, from you, how strange

That eyes with endless tears would sleep

أَنا امرؤٌ تُرهِبُ الأَيَّام زفْرَتُهُ

واللَّيلُ منه لبَرِّ الفجرِ ينهزِمُ

I am a man whose snarls frighten the days

And the night from him to the dawn of morning is defeated

إِن كانَ مسَّ جُفوني في الهَوى وَسَنٌ

كما زعمْتَ فلا شُدَّتْ بيَ الحُزُمُ

If old age has touched my eyelids in passion

As you claimed, my determination has not been weakened

ولا تبِعْتُ جُدودي في مَفاخِرِهِمْ

ولا تَباهى بإِرْثي الحِجْرُ والحَرَمُ

Nor have I followed my ancestors in their glories

Neither does stone or sanctuary boast of my inheritance

ولا أَفاضَتْ لأَصحابِ القُلُوبِ يَدي

ولا سعتْ بي إلى صدرِ العُلى القَدَمُ

Nor have my hands been generous to the owners of hearts

Nor have my feet been far-reaching to the most high chest

أَنا ابنُ قومٍ إذا قالتْ مُعَرِّجَةٌ

في الأَرضِ من خيرُ أهلِ الأَرضِ قيلَ هُمُ

I am the son of a people who when a daring woman says

Who are the best people of earth, it is said they are

أَنا المُسَلْسَلُ من أَفلاذِ فاطمةٍ

بنت النَّبيِّ الذي يُعْزى له الكَرَمُ

I am the chained one from Fatima's offspring

The daughter of the Prophet to whom all generosity is attributed

نِيابَتي عن رسولِ اللهِ ثابتَةٌ

بها أَساطينُ علمِ الله قد عَلِموا

My representation of the Messenger of God is established

By it the pillars of the knowledge of God knew

ورِثْتُ شيخاً ببطْحاءِ العِراقِ له

مَنابِرُ الحالِ والبُرْهانِ والعَلَمُ

I inherited a Shaykh in Iraq's Baṭḥāʾ[^1] for him

The pulpits of state, proof and knowledge

حوِّلْ لسانَكَ يا ليلَ الدُّجى وأَمِطْ

عنكَ النِّقابَ فعَزْمي الأَوفَرُ العَزِمُ

Turn your dark night tongue and take off

From yourself the mask, for my resolve is most determined

أَنا وأَنتَ لأشواقٍ وزمزَمَةٍ

على طَريقَيْنِ في الأَمرَيْنِ ننقَسِمُ

I and you are for longing and murmuring

On two paths in the two matters we differ

ولهفَةِ الحُبِّ في قلبي ومَوْطِنِها

وإِنَّه قَسَمٌ أَنعِمْ به قَسَمُ

And the fervor of love in my heart and its abode

And it is a division I am content with as my division

لي قِسمَةٌ في طِيني مُخَمَّرَةٌ

والحاصِلاتُ لَعَمْري كلُّها قِسَمُ

I have a share in my being fermented

And all the yields, by my life, are a division