هل تذكرين وأنت من غزلانه

وادي الشتا والعمر في ريعانه

Do you remember when you were one of the gazelles

Of Wadi Ash-Shita, and life was in its prime,

والقلب مخضل الجوانب نشوة

رعناء قد أودت بثبت جنانه

With a heart adorned on all sides with the intoxication of youth

A doe who had killed with her steadfastness her companion,

فهنا هوى وهوى هناك وثالث

وقف عليك وأنت من أعيانه

So love grew here and love grew there while a third

Stood over you while you were one of its notables,

يا مي ما للقلب حال وجيبه

صمتاً كصمت الميت في أكفانه

O Mayya! What is with my heart whose state and pocket

Are silent like the silence of the dead in their shrouds,

وعلام أحلامي أسف خيالها

وتبرمي يشتط في إمعانه

And why are my dreams saddened by their imagination’s departure

And my sullenness grows more severe in its intention,

وعلام آمالي يروعها الأسى

واليأس يجذبها إلى أحضانه

And why are my hopes frightened by sorrow

While despair pulls them into its embrace,

وعلام شيطاني إذا استلهمته

شعراً يزيد الوقر في آذانه

And why is my devil, when I seek inspiration from him

Poetry that increases dignity in its ears,

هاتي الجبين أعل من نعمائه

عذباً نهلت الصبا من حرمانه

Bring your forehead closer to the blessings of its dignity

Sweetly, youth sipped from its deprivation,

فلعل إلهامي القديم يعودني

ويحفني في وحشتي بحنانه

Perhaps my ancient inspiration will return to me

And it will cover me in my loneliness with its affection,

يا مي ما ذنبي إذا فر الصبا

ومضى ولم أجن الشباب لشأنه

O Mayya! It is not my fault if youth escaped

And left, and I did not reap the prime of its time,

وسواد شعرك حد من غلوائه

ومشى المشيب إلي قبل أوانه

The blackness of your hair set a limit on its excesses

And grayness walked to me before its time,

يا مي ما ذنبي إذا دهري عتا

وسواد حظي لج في طغيانه

O Mayya! It is not my fault if my fate rebelled

And the blackness of my fortune raged in its rebellion,

فالمرء يدرك ما يشاء من المنى

بالسعي والتأييد من إخوانه

For man attains what he wants of wishes

Through striving and support from his brethren,

وأنا الذي جحد الأحبة فضله

وأعان أصدقهم على خذلانه

And I am the one who denied the merit of loved ones

And helped my friends with their betrayal,

هاتي الجبين فما تزال سعادتي

إن يدن من شفتي طوع بنانه

Bring your forehead closer, for my happiness continues

If it comes near my lips controlled by its teeth,

وتوسدي صدري وحسبي نعمة

هذا الذي توحين من خفقانه

And rest your breast on my chest, and it will suffice me as a blessing,

This feeling you inspire from its throbbing,

مالي ودنياهم فحبك عالم

أسمى ولن يصل الأذى لكيانه

I have nothing to do with their world, for your love is a universe,

The highest secret, and harm will not reach its essence,

يا مي جلعاد الأشم كعهده

ما زال يريض جاثماً بمكانه

O Mayya! Mount Gilad is still as it was

Remaining appeased, crouching in its place,

والغور ما انفكت غدائر نبته

وزهوره تحنو على غدرانه

The caves of Wadi Sir have not ceased its vegetation

And its flowers bend over its branches,

وسماء إربد ما يزال سحابها

يسقي سهول الحصن من هتانه

The sky of Irbid, its clouds still

Water the plains of the fortress in its fury,

يا مي ما برحت حمائم سدرنا

تشدو مصفقة على أغصانه

O Mayya! My homeland’s doves have not stopped

Cheeping and clapping on its branches,

فتعهدي قلبي بحبك واسمعي

ما شئت من شدوي ومن ألحانه

So tend to my heart with your love and listen

To whatever you wish of my singing and its melodies,

كوخ الندامى قد تقلص ظله

وعراصه أقوين من ندمانه

The hut of regrets, its shadow has shrunk

And its porch is firmer than its columns,

ومضت برب الكوخ نحو حجالها

خرقاء في يدها زمام عنانه

The time of its master has passed to its final days

Tattered, holding the reins of its rein,

فتنته لعنة خدرها عن رهطه

واستبدلته مخاوفاً بأمانه

Its seduction is an accursed slumber that distracted it from its folk

And replaced their safety with fears,

وأساء محسن للقرين وعرسه

ولنا عشية صاغ عقد قرانه

And he who improved the condition of the spouse spoiled her wedding

And we have an evening where he tied the knot of marriage,

فوددت لو أني استطعت حمية

للكوخ قبل العقد سل لسانه

So I wish I had been able to protect

The hut before the contract, tying its tongue,

وارحمتا للكوخ كيف تبرمت

ضجراً صوى اللذات في عنوانه

And pity the hut, how it frowned

Vexed, the sounds of joy in its title,

تدعو السقاة كؤوسها فيجيبها

رجع الصدى يرتد عن جدرانه

It calls the cups in its hands, so echo responds

Reverberating off its walls,

والزق يسأل عن سباة حريمه

والدف يسأل عن مصير قيانه

The tambourine asks about the revelers of its harem

And the duff asks about the fate of its performers,

وارحمتا للكوخ إن حضيضه

قد ضم إشفاقاً ذرى بنيانه

And pity the hut, its nadir

Has collected the remnants of its structure compassionately,

والعود ألوى كاليتيم برأسه

وبكى لها فبكت غضاضة شأنه

The lute bent like an orphan with its head

And cried for it, so it cried over the loss of its prestige,

هذا الكمان فأين عازفه الذي

يبكي حطام الكوخ شجو كمانه

This is the violin, so where is its performer

Who cries over the hut’s ruins with the sorrow of his violin,

وارحمتا للكوخ كيف تجهمت

من بعد إشراق وجوه زمانه

And pity the hut, how gloom overcame it

After the radiance of the faces of its time,

حتى أنا وأنا الوفي لعهده

أَصبحت لا أرتاد نجعة حانه

To the point that even I, faithful to its covenant,

Have ceased to frequent the tavern I once loved,

فكأنني عبود في إِسلامه

أو حمزة العربي في إِيمانه

So it is as if I were a slave to its devotion

Or Hamza al-Arabee in his faith,

وأخاف إن طالت جذور تقشفي

أن يدعيني القصر من شيخانه

And I fear if the roots of my austerity grow

The palace will call me for my senility,

عجباً حبائي من طلال عمامة

قوراء مثل البدر في إبانه

Wondrous are my loves from the remnants of a turban

Dark like the full moon in its time,

ونوال نايف سبحة حباتها

غاصت إلى الآذان في سبحانه

And Noel, the beads of its rosary

Submerged to the ears in its glorification,

وعطاء سيدنا مقال ممتع

في الزهد يسكرني بسحر بيانه

And the words of our master Atta

In asceticism that intoxicate me with the magic of his rhetoric,

وقصيدة عصماء من أبياتها

عاينت سر الحق في غفرانه

And the poem of Asma’, whose verses

I saw the secret of truth in its forgiveness,

ورأيت أن اللّه أوسع رحمة

مما يظن البعض من عبدانه

And I saw that God is more merciful

Than what some of His servants suspect,

وشهدت كيف العفو يسبل ستره

حتى على فرعون في عصيانه

And I witnessed how forgiveness spreads its veil

Even over Pharaoh in his disobedience,

لا تعجلو يا قوم إن تصوفي

ما زال مفتقراً إلى برهانه

Do not rush, O people, if my Sufism

Still needs evidence for its argument,

يا مي قد عاد الربيع وعاودت

نفسي وساوس قصفه ودنانه

O Mayya! Spring has returned and my soul has returned

To the devils of autumn and its shields,

ورؤى خمار كنت معه أظنني

كسرى أنو شروان في إيوانه

And visions of wine that I thought made me

Chosroes Anushirwan in his hall,

حولي دهاقيني تحف بسدتي

شأن المتوج في ذوي سلطانه

Around me are my boon companions who adorn my feast

Like the crowned king among those of authority,

حتى إذا روحي ترنح عطفها

من لحظك المخمور في أجفانه

Until when my soul staggers from the intoxication

Of your drunken glance in its eyelids,

واكتظ رأسي من جمالك نشوة

ضن الشراب بها على سكرانه

And my head fills with your beauty’s intoxication

That the wine begrudged it to its drunkard,

حطمت كأسي واعتصمت بتوبة

قد ألهبت صفعاً قفا شيطانه

I broke my cup and sought refuge in repentance

That set my nape aflame striking the devil,

وأنبت عن شرب العقار وبذله

وتنزهت شفتاي عن أدرانه

And I turned away from drinking wine and giving it

And my lips became pure of its vessels,

يا مي قد صرت جنادب حقلنا

وفراشه يختال في طيرانه

O Mayya! I have become a locust in our field

And its butterfly strutting in its flight,

للّه أجنحة الضعيف فإنها

تسمو به ويقيم دون عنانه

To God belong the wings of the weak, for they

Elevate him, and he stays below its range,

فادني شفاهك من فمي وتوسدي

صدري يكف الدهر عن عدوانه

So bring your lips closer to my mouth, and cradle

My chest, and time will cease its harm,

يا ويح حملان الخيال فإنهم

قربان واديهم إلى سرحانه

Woe to the lambs of imagination, for they

Are sacrifices offered to their valley,

هاتي جبينك فالتلاع تبسمت

للمكفهر الفظ في لمعانه

Bring your forehead closer, for the dawn has smiled

At the grim faced one in its glitter,

وشعاب وادي السير سال لجينها

للبرق لما افتر عن أسنانه

And the ravines of Wadi Sir, their smooth surface flowed

For lightning when it exposed its teeth,

هاتي جبينك فالحياة جوادها

شرس وليس فتاك من فرسانه

Bring your forehead closer, for life’s steed

Is fierce, and none of its horsemen are more deadly,

من لم يكن ذئباً فإن زمانه

يغري به العشرات من ذؤبانه

He who was not a wolf, his time

Tempts him with tens of wolves,

يا ويح أجنحة الخيال فإنها

تغتال طائرها بريش سنانه

Woe to the wings of imagination, for they

Kill their bird with the feathers of its hatred,

وادي الشتا هذا وتلك ملاعبي

أيام كنت وكنت من جيرانه

This Wadi Ash-Shita, and those were my playgrounds

When I was, and I was one of its neighbors,

فادني شفاهك من فمي إن لم يكن

يا مي قلبك قد من صوانه

So bring your lips closer to my mouth, if your heart, O Mayya, has not

Become protected from its storm,

وتوسدي صدري وحسبك نعمة

هذا الذي توحين من خفقانه

And rest your breast on my chest, and it will suffice you as a blessing,

This feeling you inspire from its throbbing,

مالي ودنياهم فحبك عالم

سر الهوى وقف على سكانه

I have nothing to do with their world, for your love is a universe,

The secret of passion has settled on its inhabitants.