أَبى القَلْبُ إِلاَّ أَن يَبِيتَ بِه صباً

وهَيْهَاتَ صبٌّ أَنْ يُلاَقى له قَلْبَا

My heart refused but to spend the night in passion for him

Alas, no passion will find a heart to meet it

سَبىَ القلبَ مني لَحظُ ظَبْي أُحبُّه

فيا قلبُ ما أَصْبىَ ويا لَحْظُ ما أَسْبىَ

My heart was led captive from me by a glance from the gazelle I love

So O my heart what are you captured by and O glance what have you captured

أُحِسُّ له وقْعاً ولا وقْعَ في الحَشَا

وطعناً ولا طعناً وضرباً ولا ضَربا

I feel him make an impact but no real impact is made

A stab but no real stab, a blow but no real blow

وقالوا تغَيَّبْ تَسْلُ عمَّن تُحبُّه

فكنتُ كأَنِّي غِبْت أَستَحْضِرُ الحُبَّا

They said distract yourself and ask about your beloved

So I acted as though I was absent, imagining my love

وَثَبْتُ بِطَرْفَيْ رَحْلهِ فكأَنَّه

تعلَّم من دَمْع الجفونِ بيَ الوثبا

And I grew attached to the edge of his departure, so it seemed

He had learned from the tears of my eyelids to jump at me

دموْعٌ جَرَتْ من بَعْدِ كسْرة جَفْنِه

تُعَلِّمُ دَمْعِي فيه أَن يَكْسِرَ الهُدْبَا

Tears streamed from the corner of his eye

Teaching my tears in it to break the dams

عَتِبْتُ عليه بالصُّدودِ فلم يَعُد

بعَتْبي فصيّرتُ الفراقَ هُو العَتْبَا

I blamed him for his distance but he didn’t stop

So I made the separation itself the blame

وكَيْفَ سُكُوني بَعْد بُعْدِي لِحفْظِه

بعَهدي وقِدْماً كُنْتُ أَتَّهِمُ القُرْبَا

How can I find peace after my distance from him

When I was close I suspected the nearness

وقال أَمِن بَابِ التَّفَرُّقِ بيْنَنَا

دخلتَ إِلى السُّلوانِ قلتُ نَعْم مِنْ با

And he said, “Are you entering the house of separation between us?”

I said “Yes” out of politeness

وهَيْهَات أَسْلُو بعد أَن ضَرَبَ الْهَوى

بأَغْرَبه قطْعاً وأَقْطَعه غَرْبَا

But how can I ask after love has struck

Its strangest blow, and its most barren estrangement

صَديتُ إِلى أَن كاد يُغْنِينيَ الصَّدَى

إِلى ريقِ ثَغْرٍ كُنْتُ أَفْنَيْتُه شُرْبا

I turned away until the echo almost quenched my thirst

For the saliva of the mouth I once drank from

وهبَّ اشْتِياقي مَنْ كَراهُ ولم يَكُن

ينبِّهُهُ إِلاَّ النَّسيمُ الَّذِي هَبَّا

And my passion awoke one who disliked it, it only woke him

Through the breeze that blew

تولَّى سُلوِّي للبِعَاد الذِي أَتَى

وشَابَ اصطِبَارِي للغرَام الذي شَبَّا

My consolation turned to the distance that came

And my patience grew up with the love that grew up

ولا ذَنْبَ لي إِلاَّ هَوَاهُ وإِنْ يَكُنْ

فَلاَ تُبْتُ مِنْ ذَنْبي ولا غَفَر الذَّنْبا

I have no fault but his love, and if it be

A fault, do not blame me or pardon the sin