أعطى قليلاً واستردّا

وَدَن عَلَى حذرٍ وصدَا

He gave a little, then took back,

Approached cautiously and was blocked.

طيفٌ أَلمّ وليلتي

رفعتْ من الظلماءِ بَنْدا

A ghost pained me and my night,

Raised from the darkness a curtain.

فأَطلَّ مثلَ البدرِ مِنْ

خَلَلِ السحابِ إِذا تبدّى

So it appeared like the full moon, from

The gap of clouds when it shows.

يا روعةً لما تمثَّل

بالعراءِ وماسَ قدّا

O, the charm when it took form

In the bareness and straightened its posture.

عارٍ من الأَثوابِ كا

سٍ من معاني الحسن بردا

Free of clothes like a statue of marble

Stripped of the meanings of beauty, cold.

أَرأَيتَ دميةَ مرمرٍ

ترتجُّ رانفةً ونهدا؟

Have you seen a doll of marble

Shivering, undulating its breast?

وجهٌ تلأْلأَ مشرقاً

كالسيفِ ماءَ أَو فرندا

A face shining bright

Like a sword or European blade.

أَخفى بمنشورِ الذوا

ئب من محاسنه وأَبدى

It hid its beauty with the veil of

Locks and revealed it.

غالطتُ نفسي واتّهمْ

تُ العينَ حيناً إِذْ تصدى

I wronged myself and accused

The eye when it blocked.

ما شأْنُه ماذا يريدُ

وما عساه يرومُ قصدا؟

What is its matter, what does it want

And what does it intend?

أَأَتى لينظرَ كيف أَقْ

ضي ليلتي همّاً وسهدا؟

Did it come to see how

I spend my night worried and wakeful?

كبدي تسيلُ من الجِرا

حِ ومقلتي بالدمعِ تندى

My liver oozes with wound

And my eyelids stream with tears.

وجوانحي تنقضُّ من

عصْفِ الهوى عقداً فعقدا

My chest shreds with

The gale of passion, knot by knot.

أم جاء يعبث؟ والهوى

أضحى بحمدِ الله جدّا

Or did it come to jest? And passion

Thankfully became serious.

إن كان يعتقدُ الهوى

"طفلاً؛ فقد بَلَغَ الأَشدّا"

If it believes passion

Is a "child"; it has reached manhood.

والله ما ضيعتُ عهْ

دَ الحبِّ منذُ قطعتُ عهدا

By God, I never wasted

The pledge of love since I made a pact.

إِني إِذاً خنتُ الصبا

بةَ والغرامَ وجئتُ إِدّا

So I betrayed youth

And passion and came wanton.

حيّا وطأْطأ رأْسَهُ

وخطا إِليَّ ومدَّ زندا

It greeted me lowering its head

And walked towards me stretching its arm.

يرنو وأَرنو فالعيو

ن تجاوبتْ أَخذاً وردا

It winked and I winked so the

Eyes conversed, giving and taking.

أَنا ما بعدتُ دنا إِليّ

فإِن دنوتُ عدا وشدَّا

I did not come close to it

So if I approached, it distanced and blocked.

يعطو إِليّ بجيده

ويديرُ لي خَدَّاً فَخَدَا

It turns its cheek to me

And rotates its cheek to cheek.

فإِذا هممتُ به ترا

جَعَ ضاحكاً منّي وندّا

When I intended it

It drew back laughing at me and blocking.

كتمنعِ الحسناءِ إِذْ

عمدتْ إِلى الإِدلالِ عمدا

Like the coyness of a beauty

When she pretended to flirt on purpose.

ولوٍ اعتلقتُ الخدَّ من

ه جنيتُ تفاحاً ووردا

Had I picked its cheek

I would have plucked an apple and a rose.

ما زالَ بي حتى لقدْ

أَغرى الصبابةَ بل تحدّى

It continued with me until

It tempted youth and even challenged.

داورتُه بالرفِق لا

آلو لو انَّ الرفقَ أَجدى

I reasoned with it gently

But gentleness was fruitless if applied.

ومددتُ أَشراكَ التآل

فِ والرياضُ إِليه مدّا

I extended its means of contact

And the meadows stretched out to it.

وختلتُهُ بحبائلي

وأَرغتُهُ عكساً وطردا

I allured it with my ruses

And repelled it backwards and blocked.

وسعيتُ لاستغوائه

فإِذا به بالغيِّ أَهدى

I tried to beguile it

But it guided with reason.

ما كنتُ أَعلم أنه

أَقوا يداً وأَعزُّ جندا

I did not know it was

Stronger handed and a stronger ally.

سحَرَ العيونَ فأَخطأَتْ

قيداً لموقفِهِ وحدّا

It dazzled the eyes so they erred

In gauging its stance and boundary.

كالشمسِ تحسَبُها دنتْ

للغربِ وهي أَشدُّ بعدا

Like the sun you think has come

Close to setting but is farthest.

إِني عييتُ بأَمره

ولقيتُ مؤتلفاً وضدَّا

I despaired of its matter

And found intimacy and alienation.

قرباً وبعداً وهو لم

يبرحْ ووجداناً وفقدا

Nearness and distance, while it

Did not budge, and union and loss.

فكَأَنَّ من دونِ البلو

غِ إِليهِ هاويةً وسدّا

It was as if beyond attaining

It there lies an abyss and barrier.

وأَرى الطوارقَ بعده

ماءً ولكنْ لا كصدّا

After it I see the mirages

As water but they are not its equal.

هل كان في إِلمامه

غير الأَسى والسهدِ أَسدى

Was there in its knowledge

Anything but sorrow and vigil a helper?

أَغرى وحَرَّضَ لوعةً

وثّابةً واهتاجَ وجدا

It aroused and provoked anguish

And restlessness, turmoil and fervor.

أَورى وأَرّثَ جمرةً

بين الجوانِح ليس تهدا

It showed and sowed embers

In my chest that do not settle.

ترك النوازي في فؤا

دي تنبري جزراً ومدا

It left the consolers in my consciousness

Screaming, writhing in pain.

ملكَ الفؤادَ فقاده

وبمسكةِ العقلِ استبدا

It possessed the heart so it led it

And with the bridle of reason took control.

فلكمْ دعوتُ فما استجا

بَ ولو دعوتُ صفا لردا

So how much I called but it did not

Respond, and had I called Saffa he would have answered.

وكم ابتغيتُ له الوسي

لةَ علّه يعطي فأَكدى

And how much I sought the means

For it, hoping it would relent.

وكم استلنتُ فؤادَه

يا للعواطفِ ما أَشدّا

And how much I softened its heart

O how stubborn hearts can be!

ولو استلنتُ بما أُعا

لجه به لأَلنتُ صلدا

Had I softened it with what

I treat it with, I'd have softened solid rock.

فلقد جعلتُ حشاشتي

مرعى له والدمعَ وِردا

I made my madness a pasture

For it and tears its watering place.

ما زلتُ استدنيه وه

و يلجُّ إِعراضاً وحردا

I kept trying to draw it near

While it recoiled aloofly and barred.

حتى ارتميتُ وليس بي

رمقٌ وقد جاوزتُ جهدا

Until I collapsed with no vigor left

Having exceeded my limit.

وسقطتُ مخذولَ القوى

كالطيرِ عن فننٍ تردّى

I fell, my strength depleted

Like a bird that missed its branches and plummeted.

أَهوى عليّ وضمّني

وأَباحَ من شفتيه شهدا

It pounced on me and embraced me

And allowed me to taste its lips' nectar.

ما الرفدُ للمحرومِ حيْ

نَ يجودُ بالأَنفاسِ رِفدا

What relief for the deprived when

He breathes his last breath as relief?