إحفَظْ فؤادَكَ إن مَرَرْتَ بحاجرٍ

فَظِبَاؤُه منها الظُّبى بمَحاجِرِ

Guard your heart if you pass by a love

Whose passion is madness to those enamored

فالقلبُ فيه واجبُ من جائزٍ

ان يَنْجُ كان مُخاطِراً بالخاطرِ

For the heart must be safe from harm

If it dares such perilous matters

وعلى الكَثيبِ الفرْد حَيٌ دونهُ ال

آسادُ صرْعى من عيون جآذرِ

On an isolated dune a living man

While lions surround their slain preys

أحبِبْ بأسمَرَ صِيْنَ فيه بأبيضٍ

أجفانُهُ مِنّي مكانَ سرائِري

Love the dark complexioned beauty

Her eyelids have replaced my secrets

ومُمَنَّعٍ ما إنْ لنا من وَصْلِه

إلاّ توهُّمُ زَورِ طيفٍ زائر

That which is denied of attaining union with him

Except fancying an imagined fleeting specter

لِلَماهُ عُدْتُ ظَماً كأصدى واردٍ

مُنِعَ الفُراتَ وكنتُ أروى صادر

I have become tearful like a missing beloved

The Euphrates was banned and I quenched my own thirst

خيرُ الأُصَيْحَابِ الذي هو آمري

بالغَيّ فيِه وعن رشادي زاجري

The best companion is he who commands me

To neglect him yet stops me from misguidance

لَوْ قيلَ لي ماذا تُحِبّ وما الذي

تهواهُ منهُ لقُلتُ ما هوَ آمِري

If I were asked what do you love and what

Do you passionately desire, I would say: my commander

ولقد أَقولُ للائمي في حُبّه

لَمّا رآهُ بُعَيْدَ وَصْلي هاجري

And I say to those blaming me for loving him

When they saw him distancing me, making me immigrate

عَنّي إليكَ فَلي حشاً لم يَثْنِها

هُجْرُ الحديثِ ولا حديثُ الهاجر

I have ardor for you that was not diminished

By the estrangement of time or by the estranger

لكِنْ وجدْتك من طريقٍ نافعي

وبلَذْعِ عَذْلِي لو أَطعتُك ضائري

But I found you to be my beneficial path

And by rebuking me you would have harmed me if I obeyed you

أَحسنَت لي من حيثُ لا تدْري وإن

كُنْتَ المُسيءَ فأنت أعدَلُ جائر

You have done good to me without you knowing

And even if you wronged me, you are the most just of tyrants

يُدْني الحبيبَ وإن تناءتْ دارُهُ

طَيْفُ المَلامِ لطَرْفِ سمعي الساهر

The beloved comes close even if his house is distant

By the specter of blame to my sleepless hearing

فكأنّ عَذْلَكَ عيسُ مَن أحبَبْتُهُ

قَدِمَتْ عَليّ وكانَ سمعيَ ناظري

It is as if your rebuke is Jesus whom I loved

He visited me and my hearing was witnessing

أتْعَبتَ نفسَك واسترَحتُ بذكْره

حتّى حسِبْتُك في الصّبابِة عاذري

You exhausted yourself and I found rest by his mention

Until I imagined you were excusing me in my infatuation

فاعْجَبْ لِهاجٍ مادحٍ عُذّاَلْه

في حُبّه بلِسَانِ شاكٍ شاكِر

So wonder at a blamer praising his beloved

With a thanking tongue yet complaining

يا سائِراً بالقَلْب غدراً كَيفَ لَمْ

تُتْبِعْهُ ما غَادَرْتَهُ من سائري

O fleer, why did you not make your heart

Accompany what you have forsaken of me

بَعضي يَغارُ عليكَ من بَعضي ويحْ

سُدُ باطني إذ أَنتَ فيه ظاهري

Some of me envies you over the other and wishes

To hide my essence when you have appeared from within me

ويوَدّ طَرْفي إن ذُكِرْتَ بمَجلسٍ

لو عاد سَمعاً مُصغياً لمُسامري

And my eyes would love if you were mentioned in a gathering

To turn into hearing, listening to my conversing friend

مُتَعَوّداً انجازَهُ مُتَوعّداً

أبداً ويَمطُلُني بوَعْدٍ نادر

Habitually promising me, habitually threatening me

Forever, and keeping me waiting for a rare promise

ولبُعْدِهِ اسوَدّ الضّحى عندي كما ابْ

يَضّتْ لقُربٍ منهُ كان دَياجري

By his distance, daylight has darkened around me

As it whitened by his nearing that chased away my slumber