حَمَلَ الشَمسَ إِلَينا قَمَرٌ
في سَماءٍ نَحنُ فيها أَنجُمُ
The moon brought the sun to us
A moon has borne the sun towards us,
In a sky where we are stars
In a firmament where we are the scattered stars.
شادِنٌ حَكَّمَهُ الحُسنُ بِنا
وَسِوى الحُسنِ بِنا لا يَحكُمُ
United by beauty that rules us
A fawn whom Beauty has appointed our judge,
And nothing but beauty rules us
And naught but Beauty holds sway over us.
أَسبَلَ الشِعرَ فَيا عَيني اِسهَري
إِنَّهُ لَيلٌ طَويلٌ مُظلِمُ
My hair falls, oh my eyes stay awake
He let down his hair, so keep watch, O my eye,
It is a long dark night
For it is a night, long and profound in darkness.
وَاِحذَري يا مُهجَتي مِنهُ فَما
ذَلِكَ الأَسوَدُ إِلّا أَرقَمُ
And beware my inclination from it
And guard yourself, O my soul, against it,
That blackness is but dots
For that blackness is naught but a speckled serpent.
كادَ أَن يُشبِهَ جِسمي خَصرَهُ
إِنَّما رِقَّتُهُ بي سَقَمُ
His waist almost resembled my body
My body has well-nigh come to resemble his waist,
Yet his slimness made me ill
Yet his is slender grace, while mine is infirmity.
يَتَلَظّى الخالُ في وَجَنَتِهِ
أَرَأَيتُم كَيفَ يُصلى المُغرَمُ
The mole hides in his cheek
The beauty spot blazes upon his cheek,
Have you seen how the lovesick prays?
Have you seen how the lovestruck one is scorched?
صَنَمٌ في خَدِّهِ النارُ وَفي
كَفِّهِ ضَرَّتُها تَضطَرِمُ
An idol with fire in his cheek and
An idol: in his cheek is fire, and in
In his palm its harm kindles
His palm, its fiery rival is all aflame.
بِنتُ كَرمٍ لَم يَهِم فيها سِوى
كُلَّ صَبٍّ هامَ فيهِ الكَرَمُ
A daughter of generosity that nothing mattered in her except
A daughter of the vine, loved by none save
Every love-struck one who loved generosity
Every ardent heart wherein nobility dwells.
حُبِسَت في دَنِّها مِن قَدَمٍ
ما لَها ذَنبٌ وَلَكِن ظَلَموا
She was imprisoned in her lowliness
Imprisoned in her cask since time of old,
With no sin yet they wronged her
She bears no sin, yet they have done her wrong.
حَرَّموها حينَما خافوا عَلي
ها سِواهُم فَاِسقِني ما حَرَّموا
They forbade her when they feared for
They forbade her when they feared that others
Themselves so give me what they forbade
Might claim her; so pour me what they forbade.
إِنَّها سِرٌّ فَشا بَينَ الوَرى
وَإِذا السِرُّ فَشا لا يُكتَمُ
It is a secret that spread amongst people
She is a secret divulged amongst mankind,
And when the secret spreads it cannot be hidden
And when a secret spreads, it cannot be hidden.
