بحقِّكَ حدِّثْ عَنْ هوايَ ولا حرجْ

هوىً دخل القلْبَ المعنَّى وما خَرَجْ

By your right, speak of my passion without reproach

A passion that entered my heart with meaning, and did not exit

هوىً حلَّ عقْدَ القلبِ أَو حلَّ بالحشا

ولَجَّ على بابِ السُّويْداءِ إِذ ولجْ

A passion that untied the knot of my heart, or untied with yearning

And knocked on the door of Al-Suwayda when it knocked

بنفْسِي مصقولُ السوالِف مرهَفُ ال

معَاطِف مِسْكِيُّ المراشِفِ والأرَجْ

With myself, polished are the tales, perceptive of

Raiment, musky of pillows and carpets

ثناياهُ لا تَفْليلَ فيها ولا شغىً

وقامتُه لا أَمْتَ فيها ولا عِوَجْ

Its folds, no weakness in them, nor boredom

And its stature, no defect in it, nor crookedness

رماني ومِن أَجْفانه السَّهمُ صائِباً

ومن حاجبَيْه القوسُ والقصْبة البلَج

He shot me, and from his eyelashes the arrow hits its mark

And from his eyebrows, the bow and polished arrow

وفي يدهِ المحْيَا وفي خدِّه الحَيَا

وفي فمه السُّقْيا وفي وجْهه الفَرَجْ

In his hand is life, and in his cheek, life

And in his mouth, drink, and in his face, joy

وفي الفَمِ منِّي قبلةٌ منه ذقتُها

وها مِسْكُها باق بِه ولها حُجَجْ

And in the mouth from me a kiss I tasted from him

And here is its musk still with it and it has proofs

له سُبَحٌ من عنبرٍ فوق خدِّه

وتصحيفُها في عارضَيْ وجهه سُبَجْ

He has ambergris above his cheek

And its displacement upon his cheekbones is ambergris

وقد حرَّر النَّظامُ جوهرَ ثَغْرِه

أَلستَ تَراه قد تَقَسَّم بالفَلَج

And al-Naẓām has authored the essence of his mouth

Do you not see it has cracked from the dimples?

وأَخربَ بيتَ البدرِ من حسْنِ وجهِه

وكُلفَتُه كالعنكبوتِ به انْتَسَج

And it destroyed the full moon's home from the beauty of his face

And its curls are like a spiderweb in it interlaced

ومن كَرِه الهَيْجاءَ واختار عِشْقه

كمنْ حَذِرَ الأَنهارَ واقتحم اللُّججْ

And whoever disliked passion and chose his love

Is like one who avoided rivers and waded into marshes

وكم لائم لي ما رآه جهالةٌ

فلما رآهُ ماتَ عِشْقاً وما اختلَجْ

And how many blamers of me that ignorance saw

But when it saw him, it died of love and did not twitch

فأَمَّا اصْطِبارِي عن هواهُ فقدْ ثَوى

وأَمَّا غَرامِي في سِوَاه فقد دَرَجْ

As for my patience from his love, it has perished

And as for my passion for his like, it has flowed

فإِن قلتَ لي إِنَّ المشُوقَ به سَلا

لقد قلتَ لي إِنَّ السُّلَيْكَ بِهِ عَرَجْ

If you say to me that longing for him is sound

You have said to me that madness for him is valid

وقد أُنْفِقَتْ فيه الذَّخائر جَمَّةً

فمِنْها العُقُولُ والمدامعُ والمُهَجْ

And for him treasures were spent entirely

Among them minds, tears, and passions

ولم يغتصِبْ تلك الذخائر ظالماً

ولكن لذاك الحُسْنِ في أَخذها حُجَجْ

And he did not seize those treasures wrongfully

But for that beauty in taking them he has proofs

إِذا جاءَه يوماً من الناس خاطبٌ

فما هو مِمَّنْ يستعدُّ له دَرَجْ

If one day a suitor comes to him

He is not one who prepares degrees for him