مَهلاً أَخي لَم تَلقَ ما قَد لَقيتُ

تَكادُ أَنفاسي بِروحي تَفوتُ

Slow down, my brother, you have not endured what I have endured

My soul almost slips away with my breath

في القَولِ يَأتيكَ بَيانُ الفَتى

وَالعَيُّ ما أَغناكَ عَنهُ السُكوتُ

In speech comes the eloquence of the young man

While blindness has not benefited you from silence

مِن حِكَمٍ صَمتٌ فَدَع مَنطِقاً

إِن كانَ خَيراً لَكَ مِنهُ الصُموتُ

Wisdom is in silence so leave off from speaking

If silence is better for you than prattling

إِن تَجفُني فَإِنّي اِمرُؤٌ

أَصبو وَأَصبي رُبَّما قَد جُفيتُ

If you are harsh to me, I am a man

Who is patient and forbearing, though I may be treated harshly

قُل أَيُّها اللائِمُ في حُبِّها

لَم تَدرِ ما وُدّي وَلا ما هَويتُ

Say, O faultfinder in his love

You know not who I love nor whom I desire

سَلمى هِيَ النَفسُ وَهَمُّ الفَتى

رَضيتُ مِنها بِمَقالٍ رَضيتُ

Salma is the soul, and the fancy of the young man

I was pleased by her with that which pleased me

مِن حُبِّ سَلمى عَبرَتي ثَرَّةٌ

تَمنَعُني النَومَ وَرَأيي شَتيتُ

From love of Salma my tears flowed copiously

Depriving me of sleep and scattering my thoughts

قَد مُتُّ مِن شَوقٍ إِلى وَجهِها

وَلَو أَراها في مَنامي حَيِيتُ

I am dying from yearning for her face

And if I saw her in my dreams I would come alive

يا حَبَّذا سَلمى عَلى بُخلِها

صَدَّت وَقَلبي هالِكٌ مُستَميتُ

Oh, how wonderful is Salma in her aloofness

She turned me away and my heart is utterly destroyed

وَبِالمُنَهّى يَومَ راحَ العِدى

ذَكَّرتُها وَأياً فَقالَت نَسيتُ

And on the day the beloved went away

I reminded her but she said "I forgot"

وَرُبَّما راحَت عَلى رِقبَةٍ

تَنوي لِقائي مَعَها العَنكَبوتُ

Sometimes she goes to a neck

Where spiders intend to meet her

أَيّامَ مَعروفٌ عَلَيَّ الضَنا

مِنها وَلَو لا حُبُّها ما ضَنيتُ

In days of estrangement she was unkind to me

And were it not for love of her I would not have felt it

لَمّا رَأَتني غَرِقاً في الحَوى

أَجرَضُ بِالمَوتِ وَحَولي كَتيتُ

When she saw me drowning in passion

Struggling with death, utterly devastated

قالَت ثَقيلٌ قَد دَنا مَوتُهُ

فَقُلتُ ما كُلُّ مَريضٍ يَموتُ

She said "His death is near"

But I said "Not every sick person dies"

تَحتَ يَدِ اللَهِ فَلا تَحزَني

إِن مُتُّ مِن داءِ الهَوى أَو بَريتُ

In God's hands so do not worry

If I die of lovesickness or am cured

وَروقَةٍ بِكرٍ يُصَلّى بِها

حينَ تُجَلّى وَيُطالُ القُنوتُ

In a blessed, chaste coffin I will be prayed over

When the prayer is prolonged and the supplication continues

جَهَّزتُها لَيلاً إِلى مالِكٍ

يَفوتُ أَجناداً وَمَن لا يَفوتُ

I prepared it at night for Malik

Missing regiments while others do not miss

لَمّا أَتَت قالَ لَها مَرحَباً

فَداكِ مَن ضُمَّت عَلَيهِ البُيوتُ

When she came he said "Welcome!"

"To whom the houses are contracted"

بِمِثلِها أَعطى الفَتى مالَهُ

وَمالُ ذي الوَفرِ مَعاشٌ وَصيتُ

With the like of her the young man gives his money

And the money of the wealthy is inheritance and bequest

عِندي لِمَن زَفَّكِ طولُ الغِنى

مِن نائِلٍ يَبقى لَهُ ما بَقيتُ

For the one who marries you I have abundant wealth

Remaining for him as long as I remain

مِن طَعَمِ اللَهِ المُحَيّا بِهِ

بَلجُ المُحَيّا أَريَحِيٌّ زَميتُ

From the sustenance of God by which I survive

The sustained live comfortably, I have found