هل لذا الجفا سببُ

أم صدودهِ لعبُ

Is this estrangement without cause

Or his being aloof just a game?

أم ذكاءُ ما برحتْ

تجتلي وتحتجبُ

Or is it his cleverness, that still

Appears and disappears like a flame?

أم غدا كمشبههِ

البدرُ ليس يقتربُ

The full moon is now like him -

It approaches not, though it came.

شادنٌ لأعينهِ

أنفُسُ الورى سلبُ

Eyes delighted to gaze on his charm,

He captivated all mortal fame.

إن يعد فليسَ يفي

والهوى لهُ أدبُ

If he promises, he does not fulfill,

For passion has its own law and aim.

يحكمُ الملاحُ على

الصدقِ أنهُ كذبُ

The critic may call it untrue,

Yet to the lover it's all the same.

وانتمى الجمالُ لهُ

فهو للجمالِ أبُ

Beauty clings to him as a garment,

So he's the father of beauty and claim.

وهوَ من تدللهِ

هاجرٌ ومصطحبُ

He's the one, whom if indulged,

Becomes wayward, travels, and will not remain.

وهو من ملاحتهِ

سافرٌ ومنتقبُ

He's the one whose flirtatiousness

Makes him wander veiled, not plain.

كلُّ أمرهِ عجبُ

وكذا الهوى عجبُ

Everything about him is strange,

Just like passion itself, it's insane.

يا ليالياً سلفتْ

هل تعيدكِ الحقبُ

Oh nights that are past,

Will you come back again?

والرياضُ حاليةً

للسماءِ تنتسبُ

The gardens now empty for the sky,

To which they are related in vain.

وهو بينَ أكوسها

البدرُ حولهُ الشهبُ

The full moon wanders among them

With shooting stars in its train.

نجتليها عابسةً

باسماً لنا الحببُ

It reveals them frowning,

With a name to us dear and humane.

كالعروسِ قد حجبتْ

وهو دونها حُجبُ

Like a bride who is veiled,

While he, beyond her, is restrained.

أبطأوا بزفتها

والزفافُ مرتقبُ

They delayed his wedding,

Though the feast was ready and ordained.

أو كخدٍ أغيدَ لو

لم يسلْ بها العنبُ

Or like a cheek bitten, if not

Moistened by the lips, it's profaned.

أو كأنها شفة

عضها فتىً وصبُ

Or like lips, a youth did bite,

Then felt sorry, so tears he rained.

أو كدمعِ ذي كلف

بالدماءِ ينسكبُ

Or as tears with kohl mixed,

That blood, though false, they feigned.

أو كقلبِ ذي حسدٍ

مازالَ يلتهبُ

Or a heart that envies,

And with jealousy ever inflamed.

إن لثمتها جذبتْ

معطفي فينجذبُ

Were I to kiss this cheek, I'd pull

Its cloak, so toward me it's strained.

ينبري لها رشأ

هزَّ عطفه الطربُ

It excites my soul to passion,

Hiding within hearts, not disdained.

في القلوبِ مختبئ

للقلوبِ مختلبُ

With its blush like the wild plum

Colored red but not stained.

خدهُ بحمرتها

كالبنانِ مختضبُ

Wine plays with it whenever

It reddens, the cups it's drained.

تلعبُ المدامُ بهِ

كلما احتسى يثبُ

Laughing with it, crying for it,

Each one by the other arraigned.

وهو منها في ضحكٍ

وهي منهُ تنتحبُ

Who's like me, if asked,

The most literate have proclaimed -

من كمثلي إن ذكروا

من سما بهِ الأدبُ

A legacy of honor that surpassed

All Arabs, and gold has disdained?

شيمةٌ مخلفةٌ

نافستْ بها العربُ

Oh my ribs! My heart still convulses

Among you, restless and pained!

إنها المعادن لم

يصد مثلها الذهبُ

Eyes have tempted it,

So between them it's robbed and gained.

يا ضلوعي ما برحَ

القلبُ فيكِ يضطربُ

Their glances shone for it,

As magic on it drizzled and rained.

دارتْ العيونُ بهِ

فهو بينها نهبُ

Many lions succumbed to eyes

Whenever those eyes disdained.

وانجلتْ لواحظها

فانجلى لهُ العطبُ

In their lids are arrows -

No scripts have proclaimed or ordained.

أعينٌ يموجُ بها

سحرها فينسربُ

Woe to him whose love is not done,

And for him life not waned!

كم صرعنَ من أسدٍ

حينَ غالبوا غلبوا

If rest gives him fatigue,

Then fatigue rest has profaned.

في جفونها رسلٌ

لم تجئ بها كتبُ

ويحَ من أحبَّ أما

ينقضي لهُ أربُ

إن أراحهُ تعبٌ

شفَّ قلبهُ تعبُ