أُحِبُّ مُعانَقَةَ النَرجِسِ

لِعَينَيكِ يا اِبنَةَ كولَمبُسِ

I love caressing narcissus

I love embracing the narcissus,

For your eyes, oh daughter of Columbus

For the sake of your eyes, O daughter of Columbus,

وَأَهوى الشَقيقَ وَلَثمَ العَقيقِ

لِخَدِّكَ وَالثَغرِ الأَلعَسِ

And I crave carnations and kiss ruby

And I adore the anemone and kissing the carnelian,

For your cheek and pouty lips

For they resemble your cheek and your dark-hued lips.

أَعِندَكَ إِن غِبتَ عَن ناظِري

مَشَيتُ مِنَ الصُبحِ في حِندِسِ

Do you miss me when I'm away from your sight?

Do you know that when you vanish from my sight,

I walked from dawn in silk

I walk from the break of dawn in pitch darkness?

وَأَنَّ الظَلامَ عَلى هَولِهِ

إِذا جِئتِ حالَ إِلى مُشمِسِ

And darkness in all its horror

And that the night, despite its terror,

When you came to my sun

Transforms into sunlight when you appear?

وَفي الصَدرِ قَلباً وَلا كَالقُلوبِ

مَتى شِئتِ يَسعَدِ أَو يَتعَسِ

In my heart a heart unlike hearts

Inside my chest is a heart unlike other hearts;

Happy or sad whenever you wish

It finds joy or misery whenever you wish.

وَدِدتُ الإِفاضَةَ قَبلَ اللِقاءِ

فَلَمّا لَقيتُكِ لَم أَنبَسِ

I wanted to talk before meeting

I longed to pour out my soul before we met,

But when I met you I was speechless

Yet when I met you, I could not speak a word.

وَبِتُّ وَإِيّاكِ في مَعزِلٍ

كَأَنّي وَإِيّاكِ في مَجلِسِ

I spend the night with you in seclusion

I spent the night alone with you in seclusion,

As if you and I are in a gathering

Yet I behaved as though we sat in a crowded assembly.

وَلَو أَنَّ ما بِيَ بَِلطَودِ دُكَّ

وَبِالأَسَدِ الوَردِ لَم يَفرِسِ

If I possessed the ferocity of a bear

Had a mountain borne the weight of my feelings, it would have crumbled,

And gentleness of a rose I wouldn't lose hope

And had the tawny lion felt it, he would have ceased his hunt.

هَمَمتُ فَأَنكَرَني مَقوَلي

وَشاءَ الغَرامُ فَلَم أَهجِسِ

I decided to speak but my words failed me

I strove to speak, but my tongue betrayed me,

And love had its way so I stayed silent

And though passion willed it, I could not whisper a sound.

كَأَنِّيَ لَستُ أَميرَ الكَلامِ

وَلا صاحِبَ المَنطِقِ الأَنفَسِ

As if I'm not the prince of speech

As if I were not the Prince of Words,

Or master of exquisite rhetoric

Nor the master of the most precious eloquence.

جَلالُكِ وَاللَيلُ في صَمتِهِ

فَلا غَروَ أَن رُحتُ كَالأَخرَسِ

Your glory and the night in its silence

Your majesty, coupled with the night's deep silence—

No wonder I became mute

It is no wonder I became as one mute.

وَمَرَّت بِنا ساعَةٌ خِلتُنا

خلَعنا الجُسومَ عَنِ الأَنفُسِ

An hour passed while we were alone

An hour passed over us wherein I fancied

We took off our clothes and pretended

We had shed our bodies from our souls,

وَأَنّا مِنَ الرَوضِ في جَنَّةٍ

وَأَنّا مِنَ العُشبِ في سُندُسِ

That we were in a garden of bliss

As if we were in a paradise within the garden,

And on meadows of lily

And seated not on grass, but on fine silk brocade.

كَذاكَ الهَوى فِعلُهُ في النُفوسِ

كَفِعلِ المُدامَةِ في الأَرأُسِ

Such is the effect of passion on the soul

Such is the effect of passion upon souls,

Like alcohol's sway on heads

Like the effect of wine upon the mind.

تَنَبَّهَ فيها وَفِيَّ الهَوى

فَلَو نَعيسَ النَجمُ لَم نَنعَسِ

Passion awoke in me and you

Passion awoke within her and within me;

If stars slept we wouldn't doze

Had the stars themselves grown drowsy, we would not have slept.

وَكُلُّ فُؤادٍ شَديدُ العُرامِ

إِذا رِضتَهُ بَِلهَوى يَسلَسِ

And every heart fiercely in love

For every heart, however fierce and wild,

Is humbled when you are pleased

Becomes pliable when tamed by love.

فَمالَت فَطَوَّقَها ساعِدي

مُنَعَّمَةً بَضَّةَ الملمَسِ

She leaned toward me and I embraced her

She leaned toward me, and my arm embraced her—

Velvety smooth to the touch

A creature of luxury, soft and delicate to the touch.

وَإِنَّ العَفَّ لَفي بُردِها

وَإِنَّ الإِباءَ لَفي مِعطَسي

Chastity is in her coldness

Yet, surely chastity dwelt within her robe,

And refusal in my sneeze

And noble restraint governed my spirit.

وَقُلتُ وَكَفِّيَ في كَفِّها

أَلا صرِّحي لِيَ أَو فَاِهمِسي

I said to her, my palm in hers

I asked, with my hand resting in hers:

Speak openly or whisper

"Will you not declare it to me, or at least whisper it?"

بَلاءٌ هُوَ الحُبُّ أَم نِعمَةٌ

أَجابَت تَجَلَّد وَلا تَيأَسِ

Is love a trial or a gift?

"Is this love an affliction, or a blessing?"

She answered, be patient and don't lose hope

She replied: "Endure, and do not despair."