قَالَتْ أَرَاكَ عَلِيلَ الْجِسْمِ قُلْتُ لَهَا

مَنْ شَفَّهُ الْحُبُّ أَبْلَى جِسْمَهُ السَّقَمُ

She said, “I see that you are sick in body.” I said to her:

“He whom love has wasted—sickness has worn his body away.”

قَالَتْ فَهَلْ مِنْ دَوَاءٍ يُسْتَطَبُّ بِهِ

قُلْتُ الْوصَالُ فَرَاحَتْ وَهْيَ تَبْتَسِمُ

She said, “Is there some remedy by which you might be cured?”

I said, “Union.” And off she went, smiling.

فَبِتُّ فِي حَيْرَةٍ لا الْقَلْبُ مُصْطَبِرٌ

وَلا الْوُصُولُ إِلَى مَا يَشْتَهِي أَمَمُ

So I spent the night bewildered: the heart could not endure,

Nor was attaining what it longed for within reach.

وَمَنْ أَطَاعَ هَوَاهُ غَيْرَ مُكْتَرِثٍ

بِمَا يَكُونُ فَعُقْبَى أَمْرِهِ نَدَمُ

Whoever obeys his passion, utterly heedless

Of what may come—the end of his affair is regret.