هذا الفراقُ وهذه الأَظعانُ

هل غيرَ وقِتك للدموعِ أَوانُ

This parting and these sighs,

Is it not yet time for tears to flow?

إيهٍ دموعَك إنما سُنَن الهوى

جسم يذوب ومَدْمَعٌ هَتّان

Alas, your tears are but the ways of passion,

A body melting, and tears pouring forth unrestrained,

إنْ لم تفِضْها كالعقيقِ فكلُّ ما

تدعوه من جهد الهوى بُهتْان

If you do not shed them generously like 'aqeeq,

Then all your efforts in love are futile and vain,

إن كنتَ تَدَّخر الدموعَ لبَينِهم

فالآنَ قد وقع الفراقُ وبانوا

If you are saving your tears for the day they leave,

Then now is the time, for parting has occurred and they are gone,

قد حلَّ ما قد كنتَ تحذر كونَه

فلقُرْبِ شأنك أنْ تُؤخّر شان

What you had feared has now come to pass,

So it is apt for you now to restrain yourself no more,

عذرُ المتيَّمِ أن يكون بقلبه

نارٌ وبين جفونه الطوفان

The excuse of the lovelorn that in his heart is fire,

While between his eyelids rages a flood,

أفصِحْ بما ضَمِنت دموعك من أسى

فعليكَ من أمر الهوى برهان

Speak out what your tears have held of sorrow,

For you stand now with proof of love’s command,

هذا السَّقامُ على ضميرِك شاهد

عَدْلٌ فماذا ينفع الكتمان

This sickness in your soul bears witness,

Justice itself, so what use is there in concealment?

تَتناهبُ الزَّفراتُ قلبَك كلما

غنى على فَنَنِ الغَضا حَنَّان

Sighs assail your heart whenever the singer,

Trills gently in the melodious tones of al-Ghada,

ويَهيج شوقَك للأحبةِ شكلُها

كُثبٌ تَميس على ذُراها البان

And his form arouses your passion for the loved ones,

As grazing deer stir the dormant mountain,

قد كان حَسْبُك أنْ تَكلَّمَ مُقْلةٌ

يومَ التَّرحُّلِ أو يُشير بَنان

It would have been enough for you when at the parting

A mere gesture hinted that you should remain patient,

لكنْ عَداكَ عن الأحبة مِثلُها

قَدٌّ ولحظٌ ذابلٌ وسِنان

But without your loved ones the like of them for you

Are but hands and fading glances and teeth white as hailstones,

للبيضِ دونَ البيضِ ضربٌ مثلما

للسُمْرِ دونَ السمر عنك طِعان

The white have, below the white, a likeness,

As the dusky have, below the dusky, a disparity,

من كلِّ مُعتِقلِ القَناةِ تَخالُه

أَسدا يلوذ بكفِّه ثعبان

From every one imprisoned by her wrists, you imagine her

A lion taking refuge in the grasp of a writhing serpent,

يسطو وقائمُ سيفهِ في كفِّه

فكأن راحتُه له أوطان

Brandishing, while the sword is held ready in his hand,

As though her palm were his home country,

للهِ دَرُّكِ يا أُثيلاتِ الحِمى

سَقْيا لعيشك والزمانُ زمان

God reward you, gazelles of the protected land,

Waterers of life itself while time endures,

كم قد نَثَرْنا فيكِ من أَفواهِنا

دُرّا صَفا أصدافُه الآذان

How much pure unfading pearl have we scattered from our mouths for you,

Whose shells are ears that listen,

سِرٌّ ولولا شُحُّ أَلْسُنِنا به

رَقَصت به طَرَبا لها كثبان

A secret – and were it not for the meagerness of our tongues regarding it,

The dunes would have danced joyously because of it,

وفؤادِ مُظلمةٍ قطعتُ نِياطَه

سَعْيا وطَرْفُ جِماحها وَسْنان

And the heart of a darkened ruin I traversed seeking you,

My endeavor and the edge of my wing bones wear me out,

لا تُقدم القَدَمان فيه بخطوة

جَرْيا ولا للعينِ فيه عيان

No feet advance into it one step running,

Nor can any eye penetrate its darkness,

ومُصاحِبي شختُ الغِرارُ مُذَرَّب

للموت في جَنباته هيجان

While my companion spurred on the delusions

To the excitement of death in its ravines,

حتى سموتُ إلى رفيعٍ يبصر ال

إنسانَ في صَفحاته الإنسان

Until I attained an exalted peak overlooking

No human in its expanse but the human,

سامٍ يَزَلُّ الذَّرُّ عن جَنباته

ويَكلُّ دونَ سمائه العِقْبان

Lofty, from whose edges the insects fall away,

And below whose skies the eagles cannot fly,

وبكتْ حذارَ الكاشِحين فخِلتُ ما

في الجيدِ ما جادت به الأجفان

I wept for the lack of fellow sojourners and so became

Whatever the hands had generously bestowed,

ورشفتُ معسولَ الرضاب كأنما

فُضَّت عليه لَطيمةٌ ودِنان

And I sipped the sweet reconciliation as though

Fresh butter had been poured on it and fermenting dates.