لعمري لقد ظَنّوا الظنونَ وأيقَنوا

ببعضِ إشاراتٍ تنِمّ على الصبِّ

By my life, they made assumptions and became certain

Through some gestures that indicate passion.

وقالوا اكشفوا بالبحثِ عن أصل وَجْدِهِ

فلا فَلَكٌ إلا يدور على قُطْبِ

They said, "Investigate the origin of his love;

Every orbit revolves around a pole."

سَلُوهُ وراعوا لفظةً من خِطابهِ

لتُعْلَمَ من نجواه ناجيةُ الحبِّ

Ask him, and pay attention to a word of his speech,

So the confidante of love may be known from his intimate talk.

أناسٌ رأوْا مني مخادعةَ الهَوى

أشدّ عليهم مِن مخادَعَةِ الحرْبِ

Some people saw me pretending love

More intensely than pretending war.

جعلتُ وُشاتي مثلَ صحبي مخافةً

فلم يطّلِعْ سرّي وشاتي ولا صحبي

I made my friends like my companions out of fear,

So neither my friends nor companions discovered my secret.

يَقَرّ قَرارُ السرّ عندي كأنّهُ

غريبُ ديارٍ قال في وطنٍ حسبي

The secret rests assured with me as if

A stranger said in his homeland, "That's enough for me."

ألا بأبي من جُمْلَةِ الغيدِ واحدٌ

فهل علموا ذاك الغزال من السربِ

Oh, amongst the herd is there one,

Did they know that gazelle from the flock?

قُتِلْتُ ولا واللَّه أذكرُ قاتلي

لأخْذِ قصاصٍ منه بينَ يدَيْ ربّي

I was killed, by God, but do not remember my killer

To take vengeance on him before my Lord.

إذا قيل لي قلْ من هويت وما اسمه

وما سببُ الشكوى وما علّةُ الكربِ

If they say to me, "Say, whom did you love and what is his name?

What is the cause of your complaint and what is the reason for grief?"

ضربتُ لهم قوماً بقوْمٍ فصدّقوا

ولفظُ لساني غيرُ معناهُ من قلبي

I gave them a people instead of a people, and they believed.

But my tongue's utterance was not the meaning of my heart.

وهل يطمع الواشونَ في سرِّ كاتمٍ

يريدُ السّهى إمّا أشارَ إلى الترْبِ

How could spies hope to uncover the secret of a concealer

Who only hinted toward the dust?