ليس إلاَّ بالقُرْبِ مابِك يُوسَي

مِن جَوىً دُونَه يُذِيبُ النُّفوسَا

Nothing but nearness, O Yusuf, can comfort you

With delight unlike any other that melts souls

قد سقَتْكَ الأيَّامُ خَمرةَ وَجْدٍ

وأدارت مِن البِعادِ كُؤُوسَا

The days have given you a draft of passion

And passed around cups from afar

بَعَّدتْ عنْكَ مَن تُحِبُّ وهذا الدَّ

هُرْ يُولِي الفتَى نَعِيماً وبُوسَا

They have distanced you from your beloved, and this separation

Gives the young man pleasure and kisses

أيْنَ أوقاتُكَ التي كنتَ فيها

لم تَبِتْ مِن رَضَا حَبِيبٍ يَؤُوسَا

Where are your days when you would not

Sleep dissatisfied with the consent of a sulking lover

حيثُ يسْقيكَ خَنْدَرِيساً حَبِيبٌ

ريقُه العَذْبُ يَزْدَرِي الخَنْدَرِيسَا

When a lover would give you sweet wine

Whose sweetness disdains even honey

ذو قَوامٍ ما مَاسَ في الرَّوْضِ إلاَّ

علَّمَ الغُصْنَ قَدُّه أن يَمِيسَا

One with a slender figure who, when he walked in the garden

Taught the branch to bend with his stature

طالَما زارَ في الدُّجَى وثُر يَّـ

ـاه تُحاكِي في المْغرِبِ الإنْكِيسَا

He often visited in the darkness, his perfume

Mimicking musk at sunset

غَلَساً خوفَ لاَئمٍ والذي يكْـ

ـتمُ وَصْلاً يُحاوِلُ التَّغْلِيسَا

Secretly, fearing blame, and he who hides

A union attempts veiling

فَسَقى عهْدَهُ بِجِلِّقَ عهْدُ الدَّ

مْعِ من مُقْلتِي وربعاً أنِيسَا

He upheld his promise while the promise of companionship

Broke from my goblet and intimate quarter

بَلْدَةٌ ماذكرْتُها قطُّ إلاَّ

حَرَّك الشَّوْقُ من غَرامِي رَسِيسَا

A land I never recalled but

Longing stirred the most dormant passion in me

واسْتَهلَّتْ مَدامعِي كالغَوادِي

وغَدَا القلبُ مِن جَواهُ وَطِيسَا

And my tears flowed like valleys

While my heart roared with love

منْذُ فارقْتُ أهلَها لم يَطِبْ لِي

صَفْوُ عيشٍ يحْبُو نَدِيماً سَؤُوسَا

Since I left its people, life’s delight

Never tasted good with a sullen companion

مِن أُناسٍ ذَكَوْا أُصُولاً وكانوا

مِن أُناسٍ نَمَوْا وطَابُوا غُرُوسَا

Of folk who learned discipline and who

Grew and matured as seedlings

نَصَرُوا دِينَ رَبِّهمْ بِمَواضٍ

كم أذَلَّتْ جَحافِلاً وخَمِيسَا

They supported their Lord’s faith with principles

That humiliated many armies and foes

تَقِفُ النَّاسُ هَيْبَةً ووَقاراً

بِحمِاهُمْ إذا رأَوْهُمْ جُلوسَا

People stand in awe and dignity

When they see them sitting

أَذْهب اللّهُ عنهمُ الرِّجْسَ والْفَحْـ

ـشَاءَ دُون الأَنامِ والتَّدْلِيسَا

May God protect them from evil and immorality

Unlike other people and hypocrisy