أبت الوداع فبكرت برحيل

أجناية أم أتعمت بجميل

She refused farewell and set out early on her journey.

Was that a crime—or a kindness brought to completion?

عهدي بسالبة الفؤاد شريكتي

في الحب لا تولي الغرام بديلي

I knew the thief of my heart as my partner

in love, never giving passion any substitute.

خشيت تصدع بالوداع جوانحي

فغدت تحث السير قبل عويلي

She feared that farewell would split my ribs apart,

so she left, urging the journey on before my wailing.

رحلوا بها ولو استشيرت ما مضت

معهم ولا رضيت لهم بقفول

They departed with her; had she been consulted, she would not have gone

with them, nor would she have consented to their return.

رضخت لأحكام الزمان فأظهرت

جلدا يحط بقالهم والقيل

I bowed to time’s decrees, displaying

a fortitude proof against all their talk and gossip.

حب شريف لا يدنس عرضنا

فيه ولا نخشى ملام عذول

A noble love that never sullies our honor;

within it we fear no reproachful censor’s blame.

وإذا الصبابة أنشبت أظفارها

ألق السلاح لسيفها المصقول

But when passion sinks its claws into you,

lay down your arms before its burnished sword.

عبثا تحاول أن تحول وجهة

بسوى المحب لقلبك المشغول

In vain you try to turn the course

of your preoccupied heart toward anyone but the beloved.

أواه من مضض الفراق وحره

ومن الوقوف بدمنة وطلول

Ah, the bitter anguish of parting and its fire,

and standing before a campsite’s remains and ruins!

ويلاه كم طلل على جنباته

ذهبت حياة معذب معلول

Alas, how many a ruin, along whose sides,

has the life of a tormented, ailing lover passed away!

تتمزق الأحشا حيال رسومه

يتلهف وتشوق وذهول

His innards tear apart before its lingering traces;

he laments, yearns, and reels in terror.

فنبثه الشوق المبرح عله

يجد المشوق به شفاء غليل

So we pour out to it our tormenting longing, in hopes

that the yearning lover may find in it relief for his burning thirst.

هذا الغرام وهذه حالاته

والناس بين منغص وقتيل

Such is passion, and such are its states:

among people, some are tormented and some are slain.

بينا الفتى في حظوة وملذة

فإذا به في شقوة وحؤول

One moment a young man enjoys favor and delight;

the next, there he is in misery and reversal.

كانت وكان الموقت صفوا بيننا

ومشت فأبقت لي شعار نحول

She was there, and time between us was serene;

then she went, leaving wasting as my close-worn garment.

تركت عيونا لا يكفكف دمعها

فوق الخدود يفيض فيض سيول

She left behind eyes whose tears cannot be stanched,

streaming over the cheeks in torrents.

من مخبري هل ساقطت عبراتها

يوم الرحيل على فراق خليل

Who will tell me whether she shed her tears

on departure day, at parting from a beloved?

عهدي بها ذات انعطاف في الهوى

سلكت ولا تثريب فيه سبيلي

I knew her as tenderly inclined in love,

following my path—a path beyond reproach.

لولا الدلال وحبها العذري ما

كنت الغرور بوعدها الممطول

Were it not for her coyness and her chaste, ʿUdhrī love, I would not

have been the guileless dupe of her ever-deferred promise.

ما ضرها لو ودعتني إنما

أبت الوداع فبكرت برحيل

What would it have cost her to bid me farewell? Yet—

She refused farewell and set out early on her journey.