تَعَجَّبَت جارَتي مِنّي وَقَد رَقَدَت

عَنّي العُيونُ وَباتَ الهَمُّ مُحتَشِدا

My neighbor was amazed to see me asleep

While my eyes had closed and my worries multiplied

قالَت لِسُعدى وَأُخرى مِن مَناصِفِها

ما هاجَ هَذا وَقَد خُيِّلتُهُ هَجَدا

She said to Sa'ada and another, her ally

"What's bothering him, though I thought him calm?"

قالَت فَقُلتُ لَها ما زِلتُ أَكتُمُكُم

وَساوِسَ الحُبِّ حَتّى ضافَ فَاِعتَمَدا

I said, "I've kept my love's torments from you

Until they accumulated and I leaned on them

أَرِقتُ مِن خُلَّةٍ باتَت وَساوِسُها

تَسري عَلَيَّ وَباتَت دارُها صَدَدا

I stayed up because of a beauty whose worries

Crept over me while her home barred me out

حَوراءُ كانَت هَوى نَفسي وَمُنيَتَها

لَو قَرَّبَ الدَهرُ مِن لُقيانِها أَمَدا

She was the desire of my soul and my demise

If only fate had brought me nearer to her

وَلَو تُكَلِّمُ مَحمولاً جِنازَتُهُ

قَد ماتَ بِالأَمسِ أَو تَرثي لَهُ خَلَدا

If only her funeral bier could speak

That she died yesterday or mourn her forever

فَالقَلبُ صَبٌّ مُعَنّىً حينَ يَذكُرُها

وَالعَينُ عَبرى تُقاسي الهَمَّ وَالسَهَدا

For when I remember her, my heart melts,

And my eyes weep to endure the grief and wakefulness

ما إِن نَأَيتُ كَمَشغوفٍ بِحُبِّكُمو

يَبقى وَلا مِثلَكُم يَعتَلُّ لَو رَقَدا

If I'm not lovesick for you, life has no joy

Nor is there anyone like you when I'm upset

وَعَدتِني ثُمَّ لَم توفي بِمَوعِدَةٍ

فَكُنتِ كَالمُزنِ لَم يَمطُر وَقَد رَعَدا

You promised me but didn't keep your word

So you were like rain clouds that thundered but did not pour

إِذا نَأَيتِ دَعاني مِنكُمو نَكَدٌ

فَإِن دَنَوتِ مَنَعتِ النائِلَ النَكِدا

When you're away, longing calls me

And when you're near, you deny the longing one

بُليتُ وَالنَأيُ مَتروكٌ عَلى حَزَنٍ

وَلا أَرى القَلبَ إِلّا زادَني بُعُدا

I'm worn out while distance remains causing sorrow

And I don't see my heart healed by distance

أَرعى مِنَ العَهدِ وَالميثاقِ حَقَّهُما

لا يُصلِحُ الحُرَّ إِلّا حِفظُ ما وَعَدا

I keep the promise and pact's due

A free man is only virtuous if he keeps his word

إِنّي حَلَفتُ يَميناً غَيرَ كاذِبَةٍ

عِندَ المَقامِ وَلَم أَقرَب لَهُ فَنَدا

I swore an oath I won't break

When I stood, not daring to transgress it

لَو خُيِّرَ القَلبُ مَن يَمشي عَلى قَدَمٍ

لَاِختارَ سُعدى وَلَم يَعدِل بِها أَحَدا

If my heart could choose who to love

It would choose Sa'ada and prefer none other

لَو ساعَفَتنا وَصَدَّ الناسُ كُلُّهُمو

لَما وَجَدتُ لِفَقدِ الناسِ مُفتَقَدا

If you abandoned me and people opposed me

I'd find no one I missed if you weren't there

تَرَكتِني مُستَهامَ القَلبِ في شُغُلٍ

لَهفانَ لا والِداً أَهوى وَلا وَلَدا

You left me with a heart busy with work

Yearning, without a parent I love or child

أَخا هُمومٍ وَأَحزانٍ تِّأَوُبُني

فَاِخشَي إِلَهَكِ إِنّي مَيِّتٌ كَمَدا

Oh sorrows and griefs, my sisters

Fear your God, I'm dying, wasted away

كَأَنَّني عابِدٌ مِن حُبِّ رُؤيَتِها

إِنَّ المُحِبَّ تَراهُ مِثلَ مَن عَبَدا

It's as if I'm a worshipper in my love to see her

For a lover seems to be one who worships

لا أَرفَعُ الطَرفَ في النادي إِذا نَطَقوا

وَلا أَزالُ مُكِبّاً بَينَهُم أَبَدا

I don't look up in the gathering when they speak

But stay bowed down among them forever

بِهَمِّ نَفسٍ مُعنّاةٍ بِذِكرِكُمو

إِذا أَقولُ خَبا مَشبوبُهُ وَقَدا

With a soul's worry remembering you all

When I speak my enflamed heart burns

وَالقَلبُ عِندَكِ مَأخوذٌ مَسامِعُهُ

فَلا يُرَوِّعُهُ مَن قامَ أَو قَعَدا

While my heart is caught up with you

It's not alarmed by whoever stands or sits

أَبلَيتِ جِسمي فَنَفسي غَيرُ آمِنَةٍ

أَن يُدرِكَ الروحَ ما قَد خامَرَ الجَسَدا

You've worn out my body and my soul isn't safe

From what has tempted my flesh reaching my spirit

أَلا تَحَرَّجتِ مِمّا قَد رُميتِ بِهِ

وَسَطَ النِساءِ لِمَن أَفنى وَقَد رَقَدا

Aren't you ashamed of what you've accused me of

Among women, for one who's chaste and asleep?

لَو كانَ ذا قُوَّةٍ أَعفَت جَلادَتُهُ

وَقَد أَزيدُ عَلى ذي قُوَّةٍ جَلَدا

If he had strength your torture would spare him

And I'm weaker than one with strength and endurance

لَكِنَّ في الحُبِّ أَسقاماً مُنَهَّلَةً

لِذي الحَلاوَةِ حَتّى يَجهَدَ الكَبِدا

But in love bodies grow feeble

For the sweet one until the liver is fatigued

فَلَن أَكونَ حَديداً في مَقالَتِكُم

كَما خُلِقتُ وَلا صَوّانَةً صَلَدا

So I won't be hard in what you've said

Since I wasn't created firm or impregnable

قالَت أَراكَ تَعَزّى عَن زِيارَتِنا

وَقَد يَزورُ بُيوتَ الحَيِّ مَن وَجَدا

She said, "I see you're avoiding visiting us"

Though the alive may visit whomever they wish

فَقُلتُ إِنّي عَداني أَن أَزورَكُمو

قَومٌ يَبيتونَ مِن بَغضائِنا رَصَدا

I said, "Those who lie in ambush against me

Have prevented me from visiting you all

مُغَفَّلونَ عَنِ الخَيراتِ عِنَدَهُمو

مِن فِطنَةِ الشَرِّ عِلمٌ لَم يَكُن رَشَدا

Oblivious to the good in their midst

Shrewder in evil than knowing what's right

ما ضَرَّ أَهلَكِ يا سُعدى فَقَدتُهُمو

مِن عاشِقٍ زارَ لَو قالوا لَهُ سَدَدا

No harm to your folk, Sa'ada, that I don't see them

If a lover visited would they say, 'Welcome'?

إِنَّ التَجَهُّمَ عَدّى عَن زِيارَتِكُم

مِمَّن عَلِقتُ وَأَمسى ذاكِ قَد جَهِدا

Frowning kept me from visiting you

Out of love for you, though you didn't reward that with chains

مُخلَّأً باتَ يَرعى كُلَّ بارِقَةٍ

لَو كانَ يَصفو لَهُ وِردٌ لَقَد وَرَدا

Staying up, on the lookout for any glimmer

If a bouquet had been presented I would have visited

فَأَرسَلَت حينَ كَلَّ الطَرفُ إِنَّهُمو

قَد نَوَّموا فَأتِنا إِن كُنتَ مُفتَأَدا

So when the eyelids had fully tired

She sent me a message—come if you can make it out—

وَوَطَّنتَ تِربَها الحَولاءَ لَيلَتَها

قَبلَ الرِسالَةِ حَتّى أَصبَحَت عَضُدا

And she'd perfumed the earth she sat on that night

Before the message till it was fragranced

وَلَم أَدَع زينَةً حَتّى لَبِستُ لَها

مِنَ الجَديدِ لِكَي أُلمِم بِهِنَّ غَدا

I left no finery until I wore for her

New clothes to complete them on the morrow

في لَيلَةٍ خَلفَ شَهرِ الصَومِ ناقِصَةٍ

تِسعاً وَعِشرينَ قَد أَحصَيتُها عَدَدا

On a night late in the fasting month, missing

Twenty nine, I had counted the days

حَتّى اِرتَقَيتُ إِلَيها في مُشَيَّدَةٍ

دونَ السَماءِ تُناغي ظِلَّها صَعَدا

Until I climbed up to her on a balcony

Under the sky, its shade climbed high

لَمّا رَأَت لَمحَةً مِنّي مُرَعَّثَةً

خُضراً وَحُمراً وَصُفراً بَينَها جُدَدا

When she glimpsed me disheveled

Green, red, and yellow all mixed together

قالَت لِتِربٍ لَها كانَت مُوَطَّنَةً

جاءَ المُرَعَّثُ فَاِثني عِنَكِ الوُسُدا

She said to the ground she was sitting on

The disheveled one has come, screen me from him

وَأَحسِني حينَ تَلقيهِ تَحِيَّتَهُ

وَلا تَكوني إِذا حَدَّثتِنا وَتِدا

And be kind when you greet him

Don't be curt if we converse for a bit

خِفّي قَريباً وَعودي إِنَّ حاجَتَنا

دونَ القَريبَةِ في قَلبَينِ قَد كَمِدا

Hide nearby and come back, for our need

Is not for one far, though our hearts are filled

طالَ التَنائي فَكُلٌّ غَيرُ مُتَّرَكٍ

حَتّى تَرَي عاتِباً مِنّا وَمُصطَرِدا

The estrangement has been long, neither of us unaffected

Until you see complainant and accuser from us

حَتّى اِلتَقَينا فَمِن شَكوى وَمَعتَبَةٍ

تَكُرُّها لا نَخافُ العَينَ وَالرَصَدا

So we met and complained and reproached

Fears we don't fear the eye or watchers gone

غابَ القَذى فَشَرِبنا صَفوَ لَيلَتِنا

حِبَّينِ نَلهو وَنَخشى الواحِدا الصَمَدا

The motes vanished and we drank the night's purity

Two lovers playing, fearing the One, Eternal

قالَت فَأَنّى بِنَفسي جِئتَ مُستَرِقاً

مِنَ العَدُوِّ تَخَطّى الوَعرَ وَالجَدَدا

She said, "How did you come here stealing

Through the enemy's land, the rugged roads?"

جَورٌ أَتى بِكَ أَم قَصدٌ فَقُلتُ لَها

ما زِلتُ أَقصِدُ لَو تُدنينَ مَن قَصَدا

I said, "My goal has been you, come nearer if you wish

Don't be surprised I answered night's call as a thief

لا تَعجَبي لِاِجتِيابي اللَيلَ مِنسَرِقاً

ما كُنتُ قَبلَكِ رِعديدا وَلا بَلِدا

I wasn't a bandit or wanderer before you

My Lord, one day a neighbor will say of me:

يارُبَّ قائِلَةٍ يَوماً لِجارَتِها

إِنَّ المُرَعَّثَ هَمّي غابَ أَو شَهِدا

'The disheveled one I worried for is gone'

I turned away and didn't persist in visiting

صَدَدتُ عَنها فَلَم أُدمِن زِيارَتَها

إِلى هَواكِ فَلَم تَجزي بِهِ صَفَدا

Preferring love of you, though you didn't reward that with chains

When we finished talking and reproaching

لَمّا قَضَينا حَديثاً مِن مُعاتَبَةٍ

وَكادَ يَبرُدُ هَذا الشَرُّ أَو بَرَدا

And this evil had cooled or frozen

She brought out a flower whose turban wasn't spun

جاءَت بِأَزهَرَ لَم تُنسَج عِمامَتُهُ

إِذا الزُجاجَةُ كادَت كَأسَهُ سَجَدا

When the flask inclined, its cup bowed

Flowing like wine, his cheeks and altar

رَيّانَ كَالريمِ خَدّاهُ وَمَذبَحُهُ

إِن لَم يُرَع بِسُجودٍ سامِراً رَكَدا

We draw near it and complain of our souls' woes

In night talk until the dark departs

نَلهو إِلَيهِ وَنَشكو بَثَّ أَنفُسِنا

في سَلوَةٍ وَزَوالُ اللَيلِ قَد أَفِدا

When a rooster crowed, his enmity flared up

At dawn, it had been good but he ruined it

حَتّى إِذ طارِقٌ ثارَت عَداوَتُهُ

بِأَوَّلِ الصُبحِ كانَت صالِحاً فَسَدا

She got up swaying to family watching her

Her gait like a fleeing camel seemed crippled

قامَت تَهادى إِلى أَهلٍ تُراقِبُهُم

مَشيَ البَهيرِ تَرى في مَشيِهِ أَوَدا

And the eye sheds a steady tear

Over the tracks of tears that had dried

وَالعَينُ تُحدِرُ دَمعاً جِدَّ واكِفَةٍ

عَلى مَساقِطِ دَمعٍ كانَ قَد جَمَدا

As if it were a pearl whose strands crumbled

So the first trickled down the thread, rushing away

كَأَنَّهُ لُؤلُؤٌ رَثَّت مَعاقِدُهُ

فَاِنسابَ أَوَّلُهُ في السِلكِ فَاِطَّرَدا

And I got up, having spent with her there

Only talk, and touched a hand

وَقُمتُ لَم أَقضِ مِنها إِذ خَلَوتُ بِها

إِلّا الحَديثَ وَإِلّا أَن أَمَسَّ يَدا

Until I went out while fate, since then, tore away

What the two had knotted and united

حَتّى خَرَجتُ فَكانَ الدَهرُ مُنذَحِلاً

بَينَ القَرينَينِ حَلّالاً لِما عُقِدا