دَعا شَجوى دُموعَ العَينِ مِنِّي

فَبادَرتِ الدُّموعُ عَلى ثِيابي

My tearful lament summoned tears from my eyes,

The tears rushed upon my garb,

وَقالَ القَلبُ سَمعُكَ ساقَ حَتفي

عَلى عَمدٍ وَأَغرَقَ في عَذابي

And my heart said: your call led me to my doom,

With purpose, and drowned me in torment.

فَقالَت سَمعُكَ الجاني هَلاكي

بِأَغلَظَ ما يَكونُ مِنَ العِقابِ

My hearing said: your call caused my demise

With the harshest punishment that can be.

وَلا تَغفَل فَتفقِدني فَأَبقى

بِلا قَلبٍ إِلى يَومِ الحِسابِ

Be not neglectful and lose me, lest I remain

Without a heart until the Day of Reckoning.

فَإِنِّي بَينَ أَطيافِ المَنايا

مُقيمٌ بَينَ أَظفارٍ وَنابِ

For I reside among the specters of death,

Abiding between claws and fangs.

فَقالَ السَّمعُ حينَ عَتَبتُ لمهُ

على حُبِّ الخدَلَّجَةِ الكعابِ

Hearing said, when I admonished it

For loving an impudent and spiteful flirt:

وَعَيتُ كَلامَ مُكتَحِلٍ غَريرٍ

فَأَعياني لَهُ رَجعُ الجَوابِ

And I disliked the words of a cheating charmer,

So paying attention to him was hard for me.

فَأَدَّيتُ الكَلامَ وَلَم أجِبهُ

إِلى القَلبِ المولَّع بِالتَّصابي

I relayed the words but did not respond to him,

To the heart enamored with self-indulgence.

فَعاقِب قَلبَكَ المِلجاجَ فيهِ

وَدَعني لا تَنطَّع في عِقابي

So punish your obstinate heart,

And spare me, cease imposing penalty on me.

فَقُلتُ صَدَّقَتني وَعَذَلَت قَلبي

وَلَم أحمِل عَلى عَيني عِتابي

I said: you spoke true and chastened my heart,

And did not impose blame upon my eyes.

فَقالَ القَلبُ ثُمَّ أَقَرَّ ها قَد

عَشِقتَ أَميرَةً تَهوى اِجتِنابي

The heart replied: for you have fallen

In love with a princess who shuns my approach.

تَصَبَّر قَد سَقَينَكَ كَأسَ عِشقٍ

حُمَيَّاها تَجول على الحِجابِ

Be patient - she has made you drink a cup of love

Whose boiling causes her veil to flutter.

تُنَغِّصُكَ الطَّعامَ وَكُلَّ عَيشٍ

وَتَمزُج ما يَسوؤك بِالشَّرابِ

She spoils your food and all your living

And mixes your drink with what distresses you.

فَقُلتُ لَهُ قَطَعتَ الصُّلبَ مِنّي

وَقَد أَلصَقتَ خَدِّي بِالتُّرابِ

I said: you have sundered the firm bond between us

And stuck my cheek to the dust.

لَعَلَّكَ قَد كَلِفتَ بِحُبِّ قَصف

فَقالَ القَلبُ قَد قَرطَست ما بي

Maybe you have been tasked with loving chaff?

The heart said: I have filled what was between us.

فَقُلتُ قَتَلتَني وَأَذَبتَ جِسمي

وَقَد آذَنتَ روحي بِالذّهابِ

I said: you have killed me and wasted my body

And foretold my soul of departure.

كَأَنّي عَن قَليلٍ غَير شك

مُسَجَّى بَينَ أَصحابي لِما بي

Soon, without doubt,

I will be laid out among my companions because of what is between us.

وَما لي لا أَموتُ وَهَمُّ نَفسي

يُباعِدُني وَيَزهَدُ في اِقتِرابي

Why do I not die, when my soul's fancy

Estranges me and spurns drawing near?

إِذا عاهَدتُهُ عَهدَ التَّصابي

يُصَيِّرُ عَهدَهُ لَمعَ السَّرابِ

When I pledge to it the pact of passion,

It makes its pledge as a mirage.

يُريدُ بِذاكَ تَعذيبي وَغَيظي

وَتَصييرَ الوِصالِ إِلى تَبابِ

It wants by this to torment and provoke me,

And make union seem a delusion.

وَلَم يَرحَم مُطالَبَتي وَجَهدي

وَما لاقيتُ من طول اكتِئابِ

It did not pity my pleading and exertion

And what I suffered from prolonged melancholy.

أَصابَ جَفاؤُهُ قَلبي بِضُرٍّ

وَأَخلَقَ ما لَبِستُ مِنَ الثِّيابِ

Its estrangement afflicted my heart with harm

And spoiled the clothes that I wore.

وَناوَلَني وَراءَ الظَّهرِ مِنِّي

بِيُسرى الكَفِّ في غِلَظ كِتابي

And it handed me from behind, against me,

In its left palm, a stern scripture.

فَكَيفَ تَلَطُّفي لِأَغَرَّ أَحوَى

إِذا ما زُرتُ أَسرَفَ في سبابي

How can you show me tenderness, that I may desire,

When I visit, it goes too far in insulting me?

لَقَد كُنتُ الغَني فَلَم يُجِرني

شَقاءُ الجَدِّ مِن حُبِّ الخِلابِ

I had been wealthy, but poverty of spirit

Did not drive me to love trinkets.