حَتَّامَ أرغبُ في مودَّةِ زاهدٍ
وأرُومُ قُربَ الدّارِ من مُتَباعِدِ
Even though I yearn for an ascetic's affection
And seek closeness to his abode though far removed,
وإلاَمَ ألتزمُ الوفاءَ لِغادرٍ
وأُقِرُّ بالعُتبي لِجَانٍ جَاحِدِ
Why must I keep faith with one who's left?
Why must I accept rebuke from an ungrateful soul?
وعلاَمَ أُعمِلُ فِكرتي في سادِرٍ
سَاهٍ وأُسهِرُ مُقلتيَّ لراقدِ
Why occupy my thoughts with one asleep,
While I remain awake with eyes that weep?
وأروضُ نفسي في رِضَا مُتَجرِّمٍ
فَاتَتْ مودّتُه طِلاَبَ الناشدِ
Why school myself to please a criminal?
Whose love the seeker of affection spurned,
وأقولُ هجِرتُه مخافَة كاشحٍ
يُغري بِنَا وحِذَارَ واشٍ حاسِدِ
And say his shunning comes from fear of slander,
That lures but warns us of an envier's spite,
وأظُنُّه يُبدي الصدودَ ضرورةً
وإذا قطيعَتُه قطيعةُ عَامِدِ
I think his coldness comes of necessity,
As if estrangement were his conscious plight.
مَن لي بِنَيْلِ مودّةٍ مَمْذُوقَةٍ
منهُ يُبَهْرجُها اختبارُ النّاقِدِ
Who can obtain sincere affection
That the critic's test cannot expose?
أَرضى بباطِلها وأقْنَعُ بالمُنَى
منها وأدْفَعُ غَيبَها بالشّاهِدِ
I'll settle for its falsehood and be content
With hopes it feeds though they're not true.
يا ظالماً أفْنَى اصْطِبَارِي هجرُه
وابتَزَّ ثَوبَ تَماسُكِي وتَجالُدِي
O you whose absence wore away my patience
And stripped my cloak of strength and fortitude!
كيف السبيلُ إلى وِصَالِكَ بعدما
عفّيتَ بالهِجرانِ سُبلَ مَقاصدي
What path is there to union after you
Have barred the roads that led to my pursuit?
ويلومُني في حملِ ظُلمكَ جاهلٌ
يلقَى جَوَى قلبي بقلبٍ باردِ
Yet fools blame me for bearing your injustice,
Whose hearts are chilled towards my agony.
يُزرِي عل جَزَعي بصبرٍ مُسعدٍ
ويصُدُّ عن دَمعي بطرفٍ جَامدِ
They ridicule my sorrow with blessed calm,
And block my tears with stony eyes that freeze.
لِمَ لا تَرِقُّ لناظرٍ أرَّقْتَه
وحَشا حشاهُ الوجدُ جَذْوةَ واقِدِ
Why can you not be softened by a glance
Whose fires your desertion lit ablaze?
ومروَّعٍ يلقَى العواذلَ في الهَوى
بفؤادِ مَوتُورٍ وسمعِ مُعانِدِ
And by a soul whom passion's ghosts dismay
With wounded heart and ears that disobey?
قَلقِ الوِساد كأنّ تحتَ مِهادِه
أُسداً ومَضجَعَهُ نيُوبُ أَساوِدِ
Who tosses sleepless as if lions clawed
Beneath his pillow with their dreadful jaws.
أَتُراكَ يَعطِفُك العِتابُ وقلّما
يَثني العِتَابُ عِنانَ قلبٍ شَاردِ
Does reproach affect you? Rarely does rebuke
Turn back the will of one whose heart's astray.
هيهاتَ وصلُكَ عند عَنْقَا مُغْرِبٍ
ورِضَاكَ أبعدُ من سُهاً وفَراقِدِ
Hope of your union at day's fading edge
Is farther than the stars that light night's shade.
ومِنِ العنَاءِ طِلابُ وُدٍّ صادقٍ
من مَاذِقٍ وصلاحُ قلبٍ فاسدِ
To seek true love from one whose heart is rot
Is weary toil that naught can ever sway.
