أَلا يا خاتَمَ المُلكِ ال

لَذي في نَيلِهِ إِمرَه

Alas, O seal of the kingdom

Whose command lies in attaining it

أَما عِندَكَ لي رِزقٌ

أُرجّيهِ وَلا قُطرَه

Have you no sustenance for me

That I may hope for, not even a drop?

أَما لي مِنكَ إِلّا الشَو

قُ وَالوَسواسُ وَالحَسرَه

I have from you nothing but longing

And disquiet and regret

سَحَرتِ الرَجُلَ الحُرَّ

وَما حَلَّت لَكِ السَحرَه

You have enchanted the free man

But sorcery does not suit you

وَرَفَّ الهَمُّ يَبريني

وَيَدعوني الهَوى بُكرَه

Worry raises me up

And passion calls me early

كَأَنَّ القَلبَ مِن حُبِّ

كِ مَوضوعٌ عَلى جَمرَه

As if for love of you

My heart lies on burning coals

وَما يَلقَى الَّذي لاقَي

تُ مَولودٌ عَلى الفِطرَه

And he whom you have met

Was born in nature

فُؤادي بِكِ مِشغولٌ

وَعَقلي مِنكِ في سَكرَه

My heart is busy with you

And my mind drunk with you

أُريدُ القَتلَ أَحياناً

وَأَخشى السَيفَ وَالشُهرَه

I want to kill myself sometimes

And I fear the sword and notoriety

إِذا ما بِتُّ مِن حُبِّ

كِ أَصبَحتُ عَلى خُمرَه

If I pass the night in love of you

I wake in the morning drunk

وَتَأبَينُ الَّذي أَهوى

وَما تَأتينَ مِن عُسرَه

And you refuse what I love

And you do not come from hardness

وَلو تَلقينَنا وَاللَ

هِ أَو نَلقاكِ في سُترَه

If we met, by God

Or saw you in covering

قَضَينا حاجَةً مِنكِ

وَلَم نُقدِم عَلى فَجرَه

We would fulfill a need from you

And not commit immorality

وَصاحٍ مِن هَوى الخاتَ

مِ يَلحاني عَلى زَفرَه

I complain of passion for the seal

That insists me with sighing

فَما أَعتَبتُهُ إِلّا

بِأُخرى أَورَثَت فَترَه

So I blamed him with another

That caused abandonment

يَلومونَ عَلى الخاتَ

مِ لا طابَت لَهُم عِشرَه

They blame me for the seal

Their company was not good

وَلَو يُبصِرُها العُمّا

رُ ما طابَت لَهُم عُمرَه

If the blind man saw her

His life would not be good

أَلا لَيتَ ما شِعري

فَهَل في اللَيتِ مِن قُدرَه

Oh, would that I knew

Is there any power in wishes

أَتَجزينَ بِما ألقى

فَقَد ضاقَت بِيَ البَصرَه

Do you suffice with what I suffered

When the sight narrowed for me?

وَقَد قُلتُ لَها جودي

بِوَعدٍ مِنكِ أَو نَظرَه

And I told her my generosity

With a promise from you or a look

فَأَودى القَلبُ مِن حُبِّ

كِ والعَينانِ مِن عَبرَه

So the heart fainted from love of you

And the two eyes from tears

فَقالَت أَنتَ كَالشَبعا

نِ لا تَلوي عَلى كِسرَه

She said, “You are like the satiated

You do not twist on brokenness.”

أَتاني مِنكَ ما أَكرَ

هُ وَالمَكروهُ لي غُدرَه

There came to me from you what I disliked

And what is disliked by me is betrayal

إِذا لَجَّ الهَوى كُنتَ

سَراباً لاحَ في قَفرَه

When passion was intense you were

A mirage appearing in the desert

وَإِن كُنتَ كَذي كُنتَ

هِلالاً لاحَ في غُبرَه

And if you were this, you were

A crescent appearing in dust