1. يا رسولَيّ اذهبا فأبلغاها

    أنني اليوم قد سلوت هواها

    O my two messengers, go and tell her

    That today I have forgotten my love for her.

  2. جهلت قدرَ صبّها ثم جارت

    واستطالت بحكمها وقضاها

    She failed to recognize her lover's worth, then wronged him,

    And grew overbearing in her judgments and decrees.

  3. طال منها البعاد فاعتلّ جسمي

    ثم علّلت ناظري بلقاها

    Her long absence made my body ill,

    Then I soothed my eye by meeting her.

  4. زاد منهها النفار لما التقينا

    فتمنيّت لو أطالت نواها

    Her aversion grew when we met,

    So I wished she had prolonged her absence.

  5. كلّ مرّ من المليحة يحلو

    ما خلا صدّها وطول جفاها

    Every bitterness from a beautiful woman turns sweet,

    Except her rejection and her prolonged coldness.

  6. يا أخا الودّ كم تصبّر نفسا

    لم تقابل سلوّها برضاها

    O brother in affection, how long will you urge patience on a soul

    That has not willingly accepted forgetfulness?

  7. لم أطع للسُلُوّ حكما ولكن

    ساقني ظلمُها ونقصُ وفاها

    I did not obey the decree of forgetting, but

    Her injustice and failing faithfulness drove me to it.

  8. كنت عبدا لها أرى الذل عزّا

    في خضوعي وطاعتي لعلاها

    I was her slave, seeing humiliation as honor

    In my submission and obedience to her eminence.

  9. فجفتني وإنني خير حرّ

    من كرام بالمجد تحمي حماها

    Yet she forsook me, though I am the finest of free men,

    From noble folk who guard their domain with glory.

  10. كم ليال قضيتها وأليم ال

    سهد قد ناب عن لذيذ كراها

    How many nights I spent, while painful

    Sleeplessness replaced their sweet slumber!

  11. يلعب الشوق بي وحشو ضلوعي

    نارُه جاوزت حدود لظاها

    Longing plays with me, and within my ribs

    Its fire has exceeded the bounds of its blaze.

  12. لا خيالٌ يزور منها محبّا

    حاربته على المدى مقلتاها

    No vision of her visits a lover

    Whom her two eyes have ceaselessly assailed,

  13. او فؤادٌ يَرِقّ منها لشاك

    يشتكي هجرها وفقد ولاها

    Nor does her heart soften toward a sufferer

    Who laments her desertion and the loss of her affection.

  14. ما اجتمعنا للعتب إلا وكان ال

    دلّ منها يزيد نفسي بلاها

    Whenever we met for reproach, her

    Coquetry only deepened my soul's affliction.

  15. ما عليها لو علّلتني بوصل

    وشفت مهجتي برشف لماها

    What would it cost her to console me with union,

    And heal my heart with a sip from her dusky lips?

  16. واضياعَ الزمان في حبّ خودٍ

    أحرقت قلب صبّها بقلاها

    Alas for time lost in loving a tender maiden

    Who burned her lover's heart with her hatred!

  17. كلما رمت عرض حالي لديها

    زاد منها الإعراض عن مضناها

    Whenever I sought to lay my plight before her,

    She turned still further from her love-worn lover.

  18. ما احتيالي في عشق ربّة حسن

    يخجل البدر إن تبّدى سناها

    What recourse have I in loving a mistress of beauty,

    Whose radiance, when it appears, makes the full moon blush?

  19. عاهدتني على الوفا بعض عام

    بعدما عمت في بحار هواها

    She pledged fidelity to me for part of a year,

    After I had swum in the seas of my love for her.

  20. فترقّبت نجم سعدي ولكن

    قد نهاها عن الوصال نهاها

    So I awaited the star of my good fortune, but

    Her reason had forbidden her to unite with me.

  21. إن عهد الحسناء يا صاح برقٌ

    خلّبٌ مثل سخطها ورضاها

    A beauty's promise, my friend, is lightning—

    Rainless and deceptive, like her anger and her favor.

  22. لن ترى عمرها محبّا نظيري

    وأنا ليس لي حبيبٌ سواها

    In all her life she will never see a lover like me,

    And I have no beloved other than her.

  23. ولئن قلت قد سلوت هواها

    فأنا والهوى عشيق هواها

    And though I said I had forgotten my love for her,

    Yet, by Love, I am enamored of loving her.

  24. قد سلوت النفار منها ولكن

    لست أسلو جمالها وبهاها

    I have forgotten her aversion, but

    I have not forgotten her beauty and splendor.

  25. فتنة العالمين جلّ الذي من

    جوهر الظرف والجمال براها

    The enchantment of all worlds! Exalted is He who, from

    The essence of grace and beauty, created her.

  26. حرت في عشقها كما حرت في وص

    ف ابن ناصيف من به أتباهى

    I was bewildered by loving her, as by describing

    Ibn Nasif, in whom I take pride:

  27. الإمام الخطير ذو الفضل إبرا

    هيم من قد سما مقاما وجاها

    The eminent master, endowed with excellence, Ibrahim,

    Who has risen high in rank and standing.

  28. واحد العصر ناصر العلم قامو

    س القوافي ومن يشُدّ لواها

    Peerless in his age, champion of learning, a lexicon

    Of rhymes, and one who upholds their banner.

  29. شاعرٌ ناثرٌ فصيحٌ بليغٌ

    بصُنوف العلوم ليس يضاهى

    A poet and prose writer, articulate and eloquent,

    Unmatched in the varied branches of knowledge.

  30. حاز بالعقل فضل شيخ جليل

    وارتدى اللطف حلّة واقتناها

    Through intellect he gained the distinction of a venerable elder,

    And donned kindness as a robe, making it his own.

  31. فغدا مدحه على العلم فرضا

    وبه اليوم قائل الشعر تاها

    Thus praising him became a duty for learning itself,

    And in him the poet takes pride today.

  32. شهد الحقّ أنه خير خلّ

    قد رأى الودّ سنّةً فرعاها

    Truth has borne witness that he is the finest friend,

    Who regarded affection as a custom and upheld it.

  33. لم أرد مدح ما به من صفات

    فوق قدر الزمان شرح علاها

    I did not intend to praise the qualities he possesses:

    Describing their eminence is beyond time's power.

  34. إنما عتبهُ لقد كان قصدي

    وعن العتب ضلّ عقلي وتاها

    My intention was only to reproach him,

    But my mind strayed from reproach and wandered.

  35. يا خليلي ماذا ترى في محبّ

    نحوكم جنّ شوقه وتناها

    O my dear friend, what do you think of a lover

    Whose longing for you has run mad and reached its utmost?

  36. كيف تجفو وليس لي بعض صبر

    وعهود الولاء ماذا عراها

    How can you shun me when I have not a shred of patience?

    And what has befallen the pledges of loyalty?

  37. يا رعى اللّه طيب أيام أنس

    في مغانيكم تقضّى صفاها

    Ah, may God preserve the sweetness of days of fellowship,

    Whose serenity passed in your dwellings.

  38. إنّ بيروت روضة العلم لكن

    أنت بدرٌ حللت منها سماها

    Beirut is indeed the garden of learning, but

    You are a full moon that has settled in its sky.

  39. خير ما مرّ لي من العمر قد كا

    ن بها هل ترى أعود أراها

    The best part of my life was spent

    There—do you think I shall see it again?

  40. فلئن ضمّ شملنا الدهر يوما

    سيطول العتاب معكم شفاها

    If time should bring us together one day,

    Our reproaches face to face will last long.

  41. هاكها كاعبا بمدحك تاهت

    ومن العتب فاح عرف شذاها

    Take her, a budding maiden proud of praising you,

    And from reproach wafted the fragrance of her perfume.

  42. والرضى مهرها فإن جدت يا بش

    را وإلا فيا لطول بلاها

    And approval is her bridal gift; if you grant it—

    What joy! Otherwise, alas for her long affliction!