قالوا بدا الشَّعرُ أما تشعرُ

قلتُ مِنَ الواجبِ أنْ تعذروا

They said poetry has begun, shouldn't you recite poetry?

I said you must excuse me,

بخدِّه آياتُ حسنٍ وَمَنْ

إذا رأى الآياتِ لا يُبهرُ

His cheek holds signs of beauty, and he who

Sees the signs cannot be dazzled,

نسختُها صحَّتْ لقرَّائِها

ففي حواشيها لهمْ أسطرُ

I copied them down, and they were true to their reader,

So in the margins I have lines for them,

بل نحلُّهُ قدَ رامَ مِنْ ثغرِهِ

شهداً وخوفُ البرقِ لا يجسرُ

But his mouth's harvest came from his mouth's field,

Witnesses sweeter than grape juice, though lightning's fear cannot empower,

أو خدُّهُ مرآةُ حُسْنٍ يرى

أهدابَهُ فيها الذي يَنظرُ

Or his cheek is a mirror of beauty in which

He who looks sees its lashes,

أو هو بحرٌ مِنْ حياةٍ طما

يُزجى إلى ساحلِهِ العنبرُ

Or it is a sea of life whose ambergris

Is cast upon its beach,

أبيضُ الوجهِ أحمرُ الخَدِّ قدْ

سوَّدَ قلبي قَدُّهُ الأسمرُ

White of face, red of cheek, its dark

Stubble has blackened my heart,

منْ رامَ يجني الوردَ مشنْ خدِّهِ

فعقربُ الصدغِ لهُ تنظرُ

He who wants to pluck roses from his cheek,

The scorpion of his mole lies in wait for him,

لا تنكروا النفرةَ مِنْ مثلِهِ

فأيُّ ظبيٍ وَيْكَ لا ينفرُ

Do not deny my aversion for one like him,

For what gazelle is not made to bolt?

وذكِّرِ الغصنَ بحالي عسى

يجبرُ قلبي بعدما يكسرُ

And remind the branch of my state, perhaps

It will mend my heart after it has broken it,

فالغصنُ عنْ والدِهِ الماءِ قدْ

مالَ بقولِ الريحِ إذْ تعبرُ

For the branch has inclined at the wind's words

Away from its parent water,

يا مَنْ تولّى قاضياً

هذا قضاءٌ أم قدرْ

O you who have taken the office of judge,

Is this judgment or fate?

عذرُكَ في نسياننا

أنَّ القضا يُعمي البصرْ

Your excuse in forgetting us

Is that judgment blinds the eyes.