إِنْ تَسْألي .. فَجَوَايَ فِيكِ جَوَابِي

أَوْ تَعْتِبِي.. فَخَطَايَ فِيكِ خِطَابِي

If you ask, my answer about you is my reply

Or if you reproach, my sins towards you are my words

لاَ وَرْدَ.. إِلاَّ مَا زَرَعْتِ بِجَنَّتِي

لاَ صُبْحَ.. إِلاَّ إِنْ وَقَفْتِ بِبَابِي

No roses, except what you planted in my garden

No morning, unless you stood at my door

لاَ طِيبَ.. إِلاَّ مَا نَفَثْتِ بِخَاطِرِي

لاَ شِعْرَ.. إِلاَّ إِنْ رَقَمْتِ كِتَابِي

No perfume, except what you breathed into my soul

No poetry, unless you composed my book

فِيكِ انْتِظَارِي وَاحْتِضَارِي وَالمُنَى

وَهَوَاكِ مُذْ كُنَّا جَنَى أَعْنَابِي

In you is my waiting, my death, and my purpose

And your love since we were the harvest of grapes

مُذْ كُنْتِ لِي غَنَّى الرَّبِيعُ بخَافِقِي

وَهَمَى المَسَاءُ بِمُزْنَةِ الأَطْيَابِ

Since you were the melody of spring in my throbbing

And the evening swooned with the aroma of perfumes

وَغَدَا الزَّمَانُ وَذِي الدُّنَا مِنْ خُلَّتِي

وَالشَّمْسُ وَالأَقْمَارُ مِنْ أَتْرَابِي

And time went by, and the worldly life from my seclusion

And the sun and the moons from my peers

وَاعْشَوْشَبَتْ أُغْرُودَةٌ سَكْرَى تَرَقْ

رَقُ في دَمِي وَتَؤُجُّ جَمْرَ شَبَابِي

And an intoxicated nightingale sang drunkenly

Singing in my blood and kindling the embers of my youth

مُذْ كُنْتِ لِي أَمَّ الضِّيَاءُ مَشَارِقِي

وَهَفَا الظَّلاَمُ لِجَلْوَتِي.. وَشَرَابِي

Since you were the mother of radiance to my dawns

And darkness melted before my splendor and drink

وَتَعَانَقَتْ فِيَّ الرُّؤَى وَالسِّرُّ أَزَ

هَرَ وَدْقُهُ لَمَّا وَشَى بِسَحَابِي

And visions and secrets embraced within me, a blossom

Whose knocking throbbed when it interlaced with my clouds

فَشَذَى الخَمَائِلِ بَعْضُ بَوْحِ مَوَاجِدِي

وَالطُّهْرُ وَالإِلْهَامُ طَيُّ ثِيَابِي

So the inspirations of sanctuaries leaked some of the revelations of my shrines

And purity and revelation clad my clothes

فَلأَنْتِ كَرْمِي فِي المَحَبَّةِ بَاسِقًا

وَلأَنْتِ عِشْقِي لِلسَّنَى أَسْرَى بِي

So you are my lofty generosity in love

And you are my passion for intimacy, my captor

وَلأَنْتِ فَجْرِي لِلْحَقِيقَةِ صَادِقًا

وَلأَنْتِ فَيْضِي فِي جَحِيمِ سَرَابِي

And you are my honest dawn to the truth

And you are my abundance in the mirage of my desert

شَفَتَاكِ رِيِّي وَاصْطِبَاحَةُ مُهْجَتِي

وَبِكَأْسِكِ المَخْتُومِ يَعْذُبُ صَابِي

Your lips are my drink and the liveliness of my reverie

And with your sealed cup my morning drink is sweet

شُرُفَاتُ فِرْدَوْسِي عُيُونُكِ.. وَالضَّنَى

وَالْوَجْدُ كُلُّ الْوَجْدِ فِي الأَهْدَابِ

The balconies of my paradise are your eyes, and longing

And ecstasy is all the rapture in the eyelids

وَالنَّاهِدَانِ الأَطْيَبَانِ تَقَاسَمَا

شَغَفِي.. وَخَطَّا فِي الصَّبَابَةِ بَابِي

And the two soft fragrances shared

My fervor, and marked the door of my youth

فَهُمَا غَدِيرَا نَشْوَةٍ وَأَغَارِدٍ

وَهُمَا قُمَيْرَا دَهْشَةٍ وَعُجَابِ

So they are two ponds of bliss and melodies

And two moons of marvel and wonders

فِي حِضْنِ حِضْنِهِمَا ثَوَتْ بِي غُرْبَتِي

وَتَغَرُّبِي فِي كَرْمَتَيْكِ ثَوَابِي

In their embrace my estrangement rested

And my expatriation in your generosity is my reward

إِنْ تُهْتُ رَدَّانِي إِلَيْكِ تَوَلُّهًا

أَوْ هِمْتُ.. شَوْقِي فِي دُنَاكِ دَنَا بِي

If you come to me yearning

Or I imagined, my longing in your presence drew me near

فَأَنَا المُحَيَّرُ فِي هَوَاكِ.. هِدَايَتِي

تِيهِي.. وَخِطْئِي فِيكِ عَيْنُ صَوَابِي

Then I am the perplexed one in your love, my guide

Astray, and my sin towards you is my vision of right

وَأَنَا المُسَجَّى فِي حُرُوفِكِ آهَةً

جَذْلَى.. وَصَحْوًا فِي ضَمِيرِ ضَبَابِ

And I am the one writhing in your letters, sighing

Sluggish, and wakeful in the conscience of mist

وَأَنَا المُرَدَّى مِنْ إِهَابِكِ بُرْدَةً

فَسَبَائِكُ النَّوْرِ النَّظِيمِ إِهَابِي

And I am the one cast off by your awe, chilled

So your lighted composure is my awe

وَأَنَا القَتِيلُ.. وَذِي الأَصَائِلُ مِنْ دَمِي

مَخْضُوبَةٌ.. فَنَجِيعُهَا أَعْصَابِي

And I am the slain one, and the one with bloodties from my blood

Bloodstained, so all my veins are saturated

وَأَنَا المُعَلَّقُ فِي ضَمِيرِكَ نَفْثَةً

وَلْهَى.. تَرَدَّدُ فِي حُضُورِ غِيَابِي

And I am the one suspended in your conscience like a whiff

Distracted, echoing in the presence of my absence

أَتَبُوحُ عِنْدَكِ بالمُكَتَّمِِ مِنْ هَوًى

فَيَكُونُ عُرْسُ رَبَائِبِي.. وَرَبَابِي ؟

I confess the concealed passion to you

So will it be the wedding of my goddess, and my worship?

أَمْ تَسْتَبِيحُ تَوَلُّعِي بِصُمَاتِهَا

فَتَبُوحُ عَنِّي أَدْمُعِي.. وَعَذَابِي ؟!

Or will you desecrate my craving with its silence

So you confess about me, my tears and torment?!

إِنْ كُنْتِ كُنْتُ.. وكانَ رَوْضُ خَوَاطِرِي

خَضِلاً بِدِيمَةِ لَحْنِكِ المِسْكَابِ

If I was, I was, and the garden of my thoughts

Was verdant with the melody of your perfumed drink

أَوْ بُحْتِ بُحْتُ.. وَكَانَ صَدْحُ قَيَاثِرِي

وغَدَتْ حَدَائِقُ ذِي الرُّؤَى مِنْ غَابِي

Or I confessed, I confessed, and my soul’s anthems

Became the orchards of visions from my forest

وَإِذَا صَمَتِّ فَبَرْزَخِي.. وَلَرَشْفَةٌ

مِنْ شَهْدِ ثَغْرِكِ بَعْثَتِي.. وَمَآبِي

And if you are silent, then a limbo, and a sip

From the honey of your lips, my resurrection and refuge

أَنْتِ العَشِيقَةُ.. مَا كَتَمْتُ صَبَابَتِي

وَفَصِيحُ جُرْحِي فِي الغَرَامِ وَشَى بِي

You are the lover - I never hid my youth

And the articulation of my wound in love betrayed me

مَا هُنْتُ يَوْمًا أَنْ بَكَيْتُ لِصَبْوَةٍ

أَوْ شَانَ عِشْقِي فِي الدُّنَا مِنْ عَابِ

I never refused a day that I cried for passion’s sake

Or that the talk of my love in life was a disgrace

فَإِذَا سَأَلْتِ.. فَذَا كِتَابِي فِي الهَوَى

نَزْفِي.. حُرُوفِي.. حُرْقَتِي.. أَوْصَابِي

So if you ask, here is my book of love

My bleeding, my letters, my burning, my cups

هَذِي بَرَاهِينِي بِحُبِّكِ كُلُّهَا

مَصْدُوقَةٌ.. وَجَوَايَ فِيكِ جَوَابِي !

Trustworthy, and my answer about you is my reply!