سكَنَ الحُبُّ فؤادي وعَمَرْ

ونَهَى الشّوْقُ بقَلْبي وأمَرْ

Love settled in my heart and took up residence

And yearning commanded my heart and gave orders

وغزَتْ قلْبي ألْحاظُ الظِّبا

بظُباها أيْنَ يا قلْبُ المَفَرْ

The gazelles’ glances attacked my heart

With their beauty—where can my heart flee?

بأبي واللّهِ لحْظٌ فاتِرٌ

ما جَنى في مُهْجَةٍ إلا اعْتَذَرْ

By my father I swear, her languid glance

Reaped no harvest but made excuses

مَنْ مُجيري مَنْ نَصيري في الهَوى

ضاعَ بيْنَ الغُنْجِ ثأري والحَوَرْ

Who will protect me, who will help me in passion?

My vengeance and desire were lost amid the branches

كنْتَ يا قَلْبي على طولِ المَدى

تحْذَرُ الحبَّ وهلْ يُنْجي الحَذَرْ

O my heart, you were wary of love your whole life

Can wariness ever deliver?

وبنَفْسي مَنْ إذا جنّ الدُّجى

أمْسكَ النوْمَ وأهْداني السّهَرْ

And by my soul! When night falls dark

Who will grasp sleep and gift me wakefulness?

غُصْنُ بانٍ وهِلالٌ ورَشا

إنْ تفنّى أو تبدّى أو خطَرْ

A tender branch, a crescent moon, a sprinkle of rain

Whether they perish, appear or stir

لوْ بَدا للحُورِ يوْماً وجْهُهُ

قُلْنَ جَلّ اللهُ ما هَذا بشَرْ

If he showed his face to the maidens one day

They would say, “God is most great! This cannot be a man!”

زارَ في لَيْلَيْنِ ليْلٌ للدُّجى

حالِكُ الجُنْحِ وليْلٌ للسَّحَرْ

Two nights visited in my two nights—a night for the darkness

To fold its wings and a night for the dawn

فضَمَمْتُ الغُصْنَ من ثوبِ النّقا

ولثَمْتُ الرّاحَ منْ بيْنِ الدّرَرْ

So I took the branch inside my cloak

And kissed the wind from between the pearls

قلتُ مهْلاً لا تُروَّعُ إنّما

هيَ منْ دمْعٍ لَلالِئٌ أخَرْ

I said, “Gently! Do not startle,

These are but tears, more shimmers”

فاعْتَراهُ منْ كَلامي خَجَلٌ

خلَطَ الوَرْدَ بسوسانِ الخَفَرْ

My words embarrassed him

Mixing roses with blades of grass

حبّذا ليْلٌ نَعِمْناهُ وقدْ

حلّتِ الزّهْرَةُ في بيْتِ القَمَرْ

Blessed is the night we enjoyed when

The flowers bloomed in the house of the moon

وحَمِدْنا الصّبْرَ في الأمْرِ وكمْ

حمدَ العُقْبَى محِبٌّ قد صَبَرْ

And we praised patience in passion, and how often

Has a lover praised patience after he showed strength

خُضْتَ بحْرَ الحُبِّ والدّمْعِ وهلْ

تُدْرَكُ الآمالُ إلا بالغَرَرْ

You braved the sea of love and tears—can hopes

Be attained save by diving?

فسَطا الوصْلُ على الهجْرِ كمَنْ

ببَني نصْر على الدّهْرِ انْتَصَرْ

So union spread over separation like the triumph

Of the people of Beni Nasr over fate

أبْحُرُ الجودِ وأمْلاكُ الوَرى

وسُيوفُ اللهِ تُرْدي مَنْ كَفَرْ

I am the sea of generosity and sovereign of people

And God’s swords strike down the unbeliever

لهُمُ الفخْرُ بحقٍّ وكَفى

بأبي الحَجّاجِ اسْما مُفْتَخَرْ

The pride is theirs by right, and enough

That my father Al-Hajjaj is a name for pride

أيُّ مجْدٍ أُحْكِمَتْ آياتُهُ

فهْيَ تُتْلى مثْلَما تُتْلي السُّوَرْ

What glory has its signs so secured

That it is recited just like the suras?

دامَ في سعْدٍ جَديدٍ ومُنىً

تصِلُ الآصالَ فيها بالبُكَرْ

May it last in continual joy and wish

Fulfilment, prayers joining the innocent

ما ارْتَدى بالغيْثِ روْضٌ فرَوَتْ

نسْمَةُ الرّيحِ عنِ الزّهْرِ خبَرْ

No garden blossomed, made verdant

By rain, without the breeze telling the flowers about it