أَلا مَن لِشَوقٍ أَنتَ بِاللَيلِ ذاكِرُه
وَإِنسانِ عَينٍ ما يُغَمِّضُ عائِرُه
O you who in the night recalls his passionate love,
And whose wakeful eyes its inhabitant does not let sleep!
وَرَبعٍ كَجُثمانِ الحَمامَةِ أَدرَجَت
عَلَيهِ الصَبا حَتّى تَنَكَّرَ داثِرُه
A quarter that the morning breeze has wrapped
In its wings, till its sheltering walls lost shape,
بِهِ كُلُّ ذَيّالِ العَشِيِّ كَأَنَّهُ
هِجانٌ دَعَتهُ لِلجُفورِ فَوادِرُه
To it, at nightfall, every wild thing leads, as though
It were an obscene thing the wastelands called to indecorousness.
خَلا بَعدَ حَيٍّ صالِحينَ وَحَلَّهُ
نَعامُ الحِمى بَعدَ الجَميعِ وَباقِرُه
It remained, after good men and its righteous dwellers,
The ostrich of the sanctuary after all the rest, and its belated inhabitant,
بِما قَد نَرى لَيلى وَلَيلى مُقيمَةٌ
بِهِ في خَليطٍ لا تَناثى حَرائِرُه
As we see Layla, and Layla stays there
In promiscuous throng, whose free women you cannot tell apart,
فَغَيَّرَ لَيلى الكاشِحونَ فَأَصبَحَت
لَها نَظَرٌ دوني مُريبٌ تَشازُرُه
Layla whom the lurkers put to shame, so that she became
To have, below me, a doubtful, sidelong glance, askance,
أَراني إِذا ما زُرتُ لَيلى وَبَعلَها
تَلَوّى مِنَ البَغضاءِ دوني مَشافِرُه
I see myself, when I visit Layla and her husband,
Her fingers writhe in hatred of me, askance,
وَإِن زُرتُها يَوماً فَلَيسَ بِمُخلِفي
رَقيبٌ يَراني أَو عَدُوٌّ أُحاذِرُه
If I visit her one day, behind me follows no watcher,
No enemy I fear, no rival I beware,
كَأَنَّ عَلى ذي الطِنءِ عَيناً بَصيرَةً
بِمَقعَدِهِ أَو مَنظَرٌ هُوَ ناظِرُه
As if, on a wall daubed dark, an observant eye
Keeps watch on its seat, or one who oversees, looks on,
يُحاذِرُ حَتّى يَحسِبَ الناسَ كُلَّهُم
مِنَ الخَوفِ لا تَخفى عَلَيهِم سَرائِرُه
He is so cautious that he thinks all people
Have, from fear, no secret hidden from them,
غَدا الحَيُّ مِن بَينِ الأُعَيلامِ بَعدَما
جَرى حَدَبُ البُهمى وَهاجَت أَعاصِرُه
Tomorrow the living will quit, from among the tall spears, after
The herd of destruction ran, and its hurricanes raged,
دَعاهُم لِسَيفِ البَحرِ أَو بَطنِ حائِلٍ
هَوىً مِن نَوى حَيٍّ أُمِرَّت مَرايِرُه
To summon them to the sword of the sea, or the belly of separation,
An passionate resolve of Layla's people whose steeds were harnessed.
غَدَونَ بِرَهنٍ مِن فُؤادي وَقَد غَدَت
بِهِ قَبلَ أَترابِ الجَنوبِ تُماضِرُه
They departed with a mortgage on my heart, and before
The southern winds, with it they bartered and chaffered,
تَذَكَّرتُ أَترابَ الجَنوبِ وَدونَها
مَقاطِعُ أَنهارٍ دَنَت وَقَناطِرُه
I recalled the southern winds, and below them,
The reaches of rivers approached, and their bridges,
