صِلَةُ الْخَيَالِ عَلَى الْبِعَادِ لِقَاءُ

لَوْ كانَ يَمْلِكُ عَيْنِيَ الإِغْفَاءُ

The imagination's link to the horizons is a meeting

If only slumber could rule my eyes

يا هاجِري مِنْ غَيْرِ ذَنْبٍ في الْهَوَى

مَهْلاً فَهَجْرُكَ والْمَنُونُ سَواءُ

Oh you who migrated from love though innocent

Wait, for your abandonment and death are equal

أَغْرَيْتَ لَحْظَكَ بالْفُؤادِ فَشَفَّهُ

ومِنَ الْعُيُونِ عَلَى النُّفُوسِ بَلاءُ

Your glance seduced my heart so it cracked

And sorrows befell souls from eyes

هِيَ نَظْرَةٌ فامْنُنْ عَلَي بِأُخْتِها

فالْخَمْرُ مِنْ أَلَمِ الْخُمارِ شِفَاءُ

It is a look, so favor me with its sister

For wine from the pain of veil is cure

أَنا مِنْكَ مَطْوِيُّ الْفُؤادِ عَلَى جَوىً

لَوْلا الْدُّمُوعُ ذَكَتْ بِهِ الْحَوْبَاءُ

I am folded of heart from you though scorched

If not for tears awakening the dormant ashes

لا أَنْتَ تَرْحَمُنِي ولا نَارُ الْهَوَى

تَخْبُو وَلاَ للنَّفْسِ عَنْكَ عَزاءُ

Neither do you have mercy nor does love's fire

Subside, and the soul has no solace from you

فانْظُرْ إِلَيَّ تَجِدْ خَيَالَةَ صُورَةٍ

لم يَبْقَ فيها للحياةِ ذَمَاءُ

So look at me and you will find the image of a specter

In whom no life remains except a breath

رَقَّتْ لِيَ الْوَرْقَاءُ في عَذَباتِها

وبَكَتْ عَلَيَّ بِدَمْعِهَا الأَنْدَاءُ

The tender branches wept for me in their sweetness

And wept over me with their dew the boughs

وَتَحَدَّثَتْ رُسُلُ النَّسِيمِ بلَوْعَتِي

فَلِكُلِّ غُصْنٍ نَحْوَها إِصْغَاءُ

The zephyr's messengers told of my agony

So each branch inclined toward it listening

كَلَفٌ تَنَاقَلَهُ الْحَمامُ عَنِ الصَّبَا

فصَبَتْ إِلَيْهِ الْغِيدُ والشُّعَراءُ

A gazelle my love transmitted by the doves from morning breeze

So poets and songstresses poured to it

فَبِقَلْبِ كُلِّ فَتىً غَرامٌ كامِنٌ

وبِعِطْفِ كُلِّ مَلِيحَةٍ خُيَلاءُ

In each youth's heart latent passion abides

And in each beauty's charm haughtiness

فَدَعِ التَّكَهُّنَ يا طَبِيبُ فإِنَّمَا

دائِي الْهَوَى ولِكُلِّ نَفْسٍ داءُ

So cease your probing, oh doctor, for my malady

Is love, and each soul has its own disease

أَلَمُ الصَّبَابَةِ لَذَّةٌ تَحْيَا بِها

نَفْسِي وَدَائِي لَوْ عَلِمْتَ دَواءُ

The agony of passion is a delight my soul lives by

If you but knew the remedy for my condition

وبِمُهْجَتِي رَشَئِيَّةٌ مِنْ دُونِها

أُسُدٌ لَهَا قَصَبُ الرِّمَاحِ أَبَاءُ

Yet in my frenzy is a pride such that

Lions recoil from its spear points in dread

هَيْفَاءُ مالَ بِهَا النَّعيمُ فَخَطْوُها

دُونَ الْقَطاةِ ونُطْقُها إِيمَاءُ

A gazelle, prosperity inclines to her pace

Beneath the lofty sands, and her speech a gesture

تَرْنُو بِأَحْوَرَ لَوْ تَمَكَّنَ لَحْظُهُ

مِنْ صَخْرَةٍ لَارْفَضَّ مِنها الماءُ

She glanced with languishing eyes, and if her glance

Had power, it would have caused even rock to shed water

حَكَمَ الجَمالُ لها بِمَا تَخْتَارُهُ

فَتَحَكَّمَتْ في النَّاسِ كَيفَ تَشاءُ

Beauty ruled for her whatever she chose

So she controlled people however she wished

غَضِبَتْ عَلَيَّ وَما جَنَيتُ وَرُبَّما

حَمَلَ الْمَشُوقُ الذَّنْبَ وَهوَ بَراءُ

She grew angry with me, though I had done no wrong

And perhaps the lover bears the blame though innocent

طافَ الوُشاةُ بِها فَكانَ لِقَوْلِهِمْ

في مِسْمَعَيْها رَنَّةٌ وحُداءُ

Slanderers circled her, so their words

Rang pleasantly and quietly in her hearing

لَوْلا النَّمِيمَةُ لم يَقَعْ بَيْنَ امْرِئٍ

وأَخِيهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ الْوِدادِ عِداءُ

If not for gossip, no hostility would have occurred

Between a man and his brother after affection

أَشَقِيقَةَ الْقَمَرَيْنِ أَيُّ وَسِيلَةٍ

تُدْنِي إِلَيكِ فَلَيْس لِي شُفَعَاءُ

O fairest of the radiant moons, what means

Can bring me close, for I have no intercessors

جُودِي عَلَيَّ ولَوْ بِوَعْدٍ كاذِبٍ

فالْوَعْدُ فيهِ تَعِلَّةٌ ورَجَاءُ

Be generous with me, even with a false promise

For a promise bears hope and wish

وَثِقِي بِكِتْمَانِ الْحَدِيثِ فإِنَّمَا

شَفَتاي خَتْمٌ والْفُؤادُ وِعاءُ

And trust in keeping the secret, for my lips

Are a seal, and my heart the vessel

لا تَرْهَبِي قَوْلَ الْوُشاةِ فإِنَّهُمْ

قَدْ أَحْسَنُوا في الْقَوْلِ حِينَ أَساءُوا

Fear not the words of the backbiters, for they

Spoke well when they did evil

زَعَمُوكِ شَمْسَاً لا تَلُوحُ بظُلْمَةٍ

ولِقَولِهِمْ عِنْدِي يَدٌ بَيْضاءُ

They claimed you a sun that gleams with no darkness

And in my view their words are pure white

فَعَلامَ تَخْشَيْنَ الزِّيارَةَ بعدَما

أَمِنَ ازْدِيارَكِ في الدُّجَى الرُّقَباءُ

Why then dread the visit, now that the chiefs

Are safe from your appearance in the dark night?

هِيَ زَلَّةٌ في الرأْيِ مِنْهُمْ أَعْقَبَتْ

نَفْعَاً كَذَلِكَ تَفْعَلُ الْجُهَلاءُ

It was an error of judgement on their part

That brought benefit - fools act this way

كَيْدُ الْغَبِيِّ مَساءَةٌ لِضَمِيرِهِ

وَلِمَنْ يُحَاوِلُ كَيْدَهُ إِرْضَاءُ

The schemes of a fool are to harm his conscience

And to foil his schemes is to please him

والناسُ أَشْبَاهٌ ولَكِنْ فَرَّقَتْ

ما بَيْنَهُمْ في الرُّتْبَةِ الآراءُ

People are similar, though opinions

Separated them in rank and station

وَالنَّفْسُ إِنْ صَلَحَتْ زَكَتْ وَإِذَا خَلَتْ

مِنْ فِطْنَةٍ لَعِبَتْ بها الأَهْوَاءُ

A soul, if virtuous, is purified, but if

Devoid of wisdom, whims toy with it

لَوْ لَمْ يَكُنْ بَيْنَ الرِّجالِ تَفَاوُتٌ

ما كانَ فيهِمْ سادَةٌ ورِعاءُ

If not for differences among men

There would be no chiefs or commons

وَلَقَدْ بَلَوْتُ النّاسَ في أَطْوارِهِمْ

ومَلِلْتُ حتَّى مَلَّني الإِبْلاءُ

I have tested people in their aspects

And wearied, until weariness wearied me

فَإِذا المَوَدَّةُ خَلَّةٌ مَكْذُوبَةٌ

بَيْنَ الْبَرِيَّةِ والوَفاءُ رِياءُ

If friendship is a hollow pretense

Then faithfulness is ostentation and show

كَيْفَ الْوثُوقُ بِذِمَّةٍ مِنْ صاحِبٍ

وَبِكُلِّ قَلْبٍ نُقْطَةٌ سَوْداءُ

How to trust the protection of a companion

When a black dot lies in each heart?

لَوْ كَانَ فِي الدُّنْيَا وِدَادٌ صَادِقٌ

مَا حَالَ بَيْنَ الخُلَّتَيْنِ جَفاءُ

Had the world sincere affection

No estrangement would come between intimates

فانْفُضْ يَدَيْكَ مِنَ الزَّمانِ وأَهْلِهِ

فالسَّعْيُ في طَلَبِ الصَّديِقِ هَبَاءُ

So shake off your hands from this age and its people

For the effort to seek a friend is vain