يا بدرَ تِمٍّ بالجمالِ تَبَرْقَعا

وقضيبَ بانٍ ماسَ لما أنْ سَعَى

O full moon that shines with beauty, radiant and bright,

And slender bow that shoots arrows when drawn taut and tight,

مالي دعوتُك للوصالِ فلم تُجِبْ

ودعوتَني لهواك لَبَّيْتُ الدُّعا

I called you to union but you did not respond,

You called me to your love and readily I went.

أتُراك حُلْتَ عن المودةِ أم تُرَى

داعٍ علينا بالقَطيعِة قد دَعا

Do you now shy from affection? Or does it seem,

A caller to estrangement has summoned in between?

يا مُسقْنِي غُصَصَ الغرامِ بصَدِّه

لما تأهب للمسير وَودَّعا

O you who gave me love’s wine, pure and refined,

When you prepared to leave, bade me goodbye.

ورميتني بسهامِ لحظِك قاصِدا

لو كان قلبي عارفاً لتَدرَّعا

You shot me with glances like well-aimed arrows,

Had my heart been knowing, it would have armored before.

لكنه غِرٌّ فَغرَّ به الهوى

والقلبُ مُغْرًى بالصَّبابة مولعا

But it’s naive, passion made it foolish and blind,

A heart made foolish by youth is inclined.

ولقد أتيتُك سائلاً في حاجةٍ

حاشاك يا مولاي أنْ تَتَمنَّعا

I came to you asking for what I desired,

Far from you, my Master, to refuse or be miser.

وكتبتُ سائر حاجتي يا سيدي

وَقِّع فَديتُك واستمدَّ وَوقِّعا

I wrote all my need, my Lord, for you to read,

Sign, my ransom, extend your hand and sign the decree.

وسَخا بما قد كان يُبْخِلُني به

كرما وجاد بنفسه وتبرعا

Be generous with what you once withheld from me,

With bounty and nobility, give of yourself, freely.

ومليحةِ النَّغَماتِ تحسب عودَها

طِفْلا وتحسبُها عليه مُرْضِعا

The beautiful melodies think their lute is a child,

And count themselves as its wet nurse, loving and mild.

أبداً تَراهُ مُقمَّطا في حِجْرها

حاز المعالي قبل أنْ يَتَرَعْرعا

You always find it cradled in her embrace,

Reached heights of glory before it could walk or pace.

ولربما ضَربْته ضرباً موجِعا

فسمعتَه من ضربها مُتوجِّعا

Sometimes she would strike it with hurtful blow,

Then you would hear from her striking painful woe.

غَنَّتْ فأغنتْ والغناءُ غناؤها

ثم انثنتْ كيما تقولَ فتُسْمِعا

She sang and her singing was song personified,

Then she softly whispered so her voice could guide.

فإذا تَغنَّى قلتُ ما قد قاله

في وصفِ مثلِك شاعرٌ قد نَوَّعا

Whenever it sang, I said what the poet stated,

In praise of your likeness, his passions created.

نَشَرتْ ثلاثَ ذوائبٍ من شعرِها

في ليلةٍ فأَرتْ لياليَ أربعا

With the three tresses of her hair she let down,

In a night she revealed four moons abound.

واستقبلتْ قمرَ السماءِ بوجهها

فأرتنَي القَمرين في وقتٍ معا

With her face she greeted the moon up above,

And showed me two moons at one time in my love.