لَقَد هَجَرتْني أمُّ سَعْدٍ وحُبُّها

يَدِبُّ بأعضائي دَبِيْبَ دِماهَا

The mother of Sa'd has forsaken me, and her love

Creeps through my limbs, flowing like her blood.

وقَدْ حَمّلتْني الحُبَّ حَمْلَ تَكَلُّفٍ

وزَادَتْ ثَقِيلَ الحُبِّ حَمْلَ جِفاها

Love has burdened me with unasked duties -

And her disdain has made love's burden heavier.

أيا عاذلي في العشق ذُقْ مِنهُ جَرْعةً

وعَنِّفني عن حُبِّها وَهُداها

O you who rebuke me for passion, taste but one draught of it,

And chide me away from loving her, if you can.

وتُظْهِر لي نُصْحاً ونُصْحُكَ قاتلي

ونَفْسي صُدُوْدُ الباكرينَ شَجَاها

You give me advice, though your advice kills me.

My soul is deaf to all who cry out to it.

ولا أرتَجِي السُّلوانَ إذْ أنا عاشِقٌ

حقيقةَ عِشْقٍ لو رَشَفْتُ لَمَاها

I hope not for joy, being a true lover,

Were I to taste the water of life itself.

فلي من عَظِيم الشوقِ أعظمُ أنَّةً

ولي حَنَّةٌ مَعْ بُعْدِها وَنَواهَا

So mighty is my passion, so great my sigh,

So long my yearning and my thought of her.

تَفَرَّدْت في الدُّنيا بِعِشْقي عن الورى

ولم أنْتَبِهْ في أرضِها وسَماهَا

Alone in the world I have loved, not knowing

Its ways, its earth, its firmament.

تَعَلَّمَ أهلُ الأرضِ مِنْ مُقْلَتي البُكى

وَلَوْ أنَّها مُضْطَرةٌ بِعَمَاها

Men have learned from my suffering to weep,

And she, compelled, from my blindness.

ضُلوعي من الإحْراقِ قامَ اعوجاجُها

وروحي من التَذْكار زادَ عَناهَا

My ribs are warped by burning,

My spirit is dazed with remembrance.

ونفسي من الفرقاءِ أضْحَتْ قَتِيلةً

على أمِّ سَعْدٍ حِينَ حان سُداها

My soul for loss of her is murdered.

When the hour of her departure struck.

تجوبُ بها شِملالةٌ كُلَّ مَهْمةٍ

بتقليبِ يُمْنَاها ومَحْوِ بُراها

She wanders still through my imagination,

Changing my joy to grief, my weal to woe.

ذوي غُصُني مُذْ بَان بالحَيِّ ظَعْنُهُم

وَتَرْخُصُ دارٌ من بُعَيْدِ غَلاها

Those who once nested on her boughs lament

Since she forsook her home and strayed afar.

فلا لَزَّ صدري صَدرها يوم رَوَّحتْ

ولا شَفَتي قَدْ قَبَّلَتْ شَفَتاها

Never again will her breast press mine,

Or her lips - once - kiss my lips.