Sol 6.1

  1. أَقولُ لِأَصحابي وَقَد طَلَبوا الصِلا

    تَعالوا اِصطَلوا إِن خِفتُمُ القُرَّ مِن صَدري

    I say to my companions, who have sought a fire's warmth:

    Come—if you fear the cold, take your warmth from my breast.

  2. فَإِنَّ لَهيبَ النارِ بَينَ جَوانِحي

    إِذا ذُكِرَت لَيلى أَحَرُّ مِنَ الجَمرِ

    For the blaze of fire between my ribs,

    Whenever Layla is mentioned, is hotter than embers.

  3. فَقالوا نُريدُ الماءَ نَسقي وَنَستَقي

    فَقُلتُ تَعالوا فَاِستَقوا الماءَ مِن نَهري

    They said, 'We want water, to give drink and draw for ourselves.'

    I said, 'Come, then draw water from my river.'

  4. فَقالوا وَأَينَ النَهرُ قُلتُ مَدامِعي

    سَيُغنيكُمُ دَمعُ الجُفونِ عَنِ الحَفرِ

    They said, 'And where is the river?' I said, 'My tears.'

    The tears of my eyelids will spare you digging.

  5. فَقالوا وَلِم هَذا فَقُلتُ مِنَ الهَوى

    فَقالوا لَحاكَ اللَهُ قُلتُ اِسمَعوا عُذري

    They said, 'And why is this?' I said, 'From love.'

    They said, 'May God curse you!' I said, 'Hear my excuse.'

  6. أَلَم تَعرِفوا وَجهاً لِلَيلى شُعاعُهُ

    إِذا بَرَرَت يُغني عَنِ الشَمسِ وَالبَدرِ

    Have you not known Layla's face, whose radiance,

    When she appears, makes the sun and full moon needless?

  7. يَمُرُّ بِوَهمي خاطِرٌ فَيَؤُدُّها

    وَيَجرَحُها دونَ العِيانِ لَها فِكري

    A thought passes through my imagination and burdens her,

    And my thought of her wounds her, even without seeing her.

  8. مُنَعَّمَةٌ لَو قابَلَ البَدرَ وَجهُها

    لَكانَ لَهُ فَضلٌ مُبينٌ عَلى البَدرِ

    Delicately nurtured—if her face faced the full moon,

    It would have a clear advantage over the full moon.

  9. هِلالِيَّةُ الأَعلى مُطَلَّخَةُ الذُرا

    مُرَجرَجَةُ السُفلى مُهَفهَفَةُ الخَصرِ

    Crescent-shaped above, her upper parts anointed,

    Softly swaying below, slender at the waist,

  10. مُبتَلَّةٌ هَيفاءُ مَهضومَةُ الحَشا

    مُوَرَّدَةُ الخَدَّينِ واضِحَةُ الثَغرِ

    Dewy and slender, slim through the middle,

    Rosy in both cheeks, bright of mouth,

  11. خَدَلَّجَةُ الساقَينِ بَضٌّ بَضيضَةٌ

    مُفَلَّجَةُ الأَنيابِ مَصقولَةُ العُمرِ

    Full in both calves, fair and tender-skinned,

    Her canine teeth spaced apart, her gums polished bright.

  12. فَقالوا أَمَجنونٌ فَقُلتُ مُوَسوِسٌ

    أَطوفُ بِظَهرِ البيدِ قَفراً إِلى قَفرِ

    They said, 'Are you mad?' I said, 'Beset by whisperings.'

    I roam the back of the deserts, from waste to waste.

  13. فَلا مَلَكُ المَوتِ المُريحِ يُريحُني

    وَلا أَنا ذو عَيشٍ وَلا أَنا ذو صَبرِ

    Neither does the angel of death that brings relief relieve me,

    Nor have I a life, nor have I patience.

  14. وَصاحَت بِوَشكِ البَينِ مِنها حَمامَةٌ

    تَغَنَّت بِلَيلٍ في ذُرا ناعِمٍ نَضرِ

    And a dove cried of imminent parting from her,

    She sang by night high in a lush, fresh tree,

  15. عَلى دَوحَةٍ يَستَنُّ تَحتَ أُصولِها

    نَواقِعُ ماءٍ مَدَّهُ رَصَفُ الصَخرِ

    Upon a spreading tree, beneath whose roots coursed

    Pools of water fed by closely set rocks.

  16. مُطَوَّقَةٌ طَوقاً تَرى في خِطامِها

    أُصولَ سَوادٍ مُطمَئِنٍّ عَلى النَحرِ

    Ringed with a collar, in her halter you could see

    The roots of blackness resting upon her breast.

  17. أَرَنَّت بِأَعلى الصَوتِ مِنها فَهَيَّجَت

    فُؤاداً مُعَنّى بِالمَليحَةِ لَو تَدري

    She trilled at the top of her voice and stirred

    A heart tormented by the fair one—if only she knew.

  18. فَقُلتُ لَها عودي فَلَمّا تَرَنَّمَت

    تَبادَرَتِ العَينانِ سَحّاً عَلى الصَدرِ

    So I said to her, 'Sing again'; and when she trilled,

    Both my eyes rushed to pour torrents upon my breast.

  19. كَأَنَّ فُؤادي حينَ جَدَّ مَسيرُها

    جَناحُ غُرابٍ رامَ نَهضاً إِلى الوَكرِ

    It was as though my heart, when her journey began in earnest,

    Were a raven's wing seeking to rise toward its nest.

  20. فَوَدَّعتُها وَالنارُ تَقدَحُ في الحَشا

    وَتَوديعُها عِندي أَمَرُّ مِنَ الصَبرِ

    So I bade her farewell while fire struck sparks within my vitals,

    And bidding her farewell is bitterer to me than aloes.

  21. وَرُحتُ كَأَنّي يَومَ راحَت جِمالُهُم

    سُقيتُ دَمَ الحَيّاتِ حينَ اِنقَضى عُمري

    And I departed as though, the day their camels left,

    I had been given snakes' blood to drink when my life ended.

  22. أَبيتُ صَريعَ الحُبِّ دامٍ مِنَ الهَوى

    وَأُصبِحُ مَنزوعَ الفُؤادِ مِنَ الصَدرِ

    I spend the night struck down by love, bleeding from passion,

    And greet the morning with my heart torn from my breast.

  23. رَمَتني يَدُ الأَيّامِ عَن قَوسِ غِرَّةٍ

    بِسَهمَينِ في أَعشارِ قَلبي وَفي سَحري

    The hand of days shot at me from a bow of heedlessness,

    With two arrows into the fragments of my heart and into my lungs,

  24. بِسَهمَينِ مَسمومَينِ مِن رَأسِ شاهِقٍ

    فَغودِرتُ مُحمَرَّ التَرائِبِ وَالنَحرِ

    With two poisoned arrows from a lofty summit,

    So I was left with reddened collarbones and throat.

  25. مُنايَ دَعيني في الهَوى مُتَعَلِّقاً

    فَقَد مِتُّ إِلّا أَنَّني لَم يُزَر قَبري

    My heart's desire, leave me bound in love,

    For I have died—save that my grave has not been visited.

  26. فَلَو كُنتِ ماءً كُنتِ مِن ماءِ مُزنَةٍ

    وَلَو كُنتِ نَوماً كُنتِ مِن غَفوَةِ الفَجرِ

    If you were water, you would be water from a raincloud,

    And if you were sleep, you would be the light slumber of dawn,

  27. وَلَو كُنتِ لَيلاً كُنتِ لَيلَ تَواصُلِ

    وَلَو كُنتِ نَجماً كُنتِ بَدرَ الدُجى يَسري

    And if you were a night, you would be a night of union,

    And if you were a star, you would be the full moon traveling through the dark.

  28. عَلَيكِ سَلامُ اللَهِ يا غايَةَ المُنى

    وَقاتِلَتي حَتّى القِيامَةِ وَالحَشرِ

    God's peace be upon you, O goal of every wish,

    And my slayer, until the Resurrection and the Gathering.