سَل طالباَ بدَمي عَينيهِ عن خَبري

سَل طالباَ بدَمي عَينيهِ عن خَبري

إِنَّ السَّقيمَ محالٌ أن يكونَ بري

إِنَّ السَّقيمَ محالٌ أن يكونَ بري

Ask his eyes about my fate, seeking redress for my blood.

Ask my slayer about my fate with tearful eyes,

Indeed, the sick one cannot possibly be innocent.

Surely the sick cannot claim healthiness!

فإِن هُما اعتَرفا منه بما اقتَرفا

فإِن هُما اعتَرفا منه بما اقتَرفا

فالذَّنبُ يغفِرهُ إِقرارُ مُعتَذرِ

فالذَّنبُ يغفِرهُ إِقرارُ مُعتَذرِ

So if those two eyes of his confess what they have committed,

If they both admit the crime they perpetrated,

the sin is forgiven by the confession of one seeking pardon.

Then the sin is absolved by the remorseful offender's admission.

وكيفَ يُنكرُ قتلي لَحظُ مُقلتهِ

وكيفَ يُنكرُ قتلي لَحظُ مُقلتهِ

وشاهدي ما على خدَّيهِ من أَثرِ

وشاهدي ما على خدَّيهِ من أَثرِ

And how can the glance of his eye deny killing me,

How can the glances that murdered me deny the killing

when my witness is the trace upon his cheeks?

When my cheeks still bear the traces?

ظبيٌ منَ السُّمرِ لمَ يترُك لعاشقهِ

ظبيٌ منَ السُّمرِ لمَ يترُك لعاشقهِ

ميلاً إلى ظبيَاتِ البانِ والسَّمُرِ

ميلاً إلى ظبيَاتِ البانِ والسَّمُرِ

A dusky gazelle who leaves his lover without

A gazelle, so proud among the acacias,

any yearning for the gazelles of moringa and acacia.

Who spurns gazelles amid low shrubs and lote-trees.

نشوانُ عِطفٍ تُديرُ الرَّاحَ مقلتُه

نشوانُ عِطفٍ تُديرُ الرَّاحَ مقلتُه

صِرفاً على ثَملِ مَن قَدِّهِ النَّضرِ

صِرفاً على ثَملِ مَن قَدِّهِ النَّضرِ

Drunken in his sway, his eye passes wine around,

The softness of her glances makes her eyelids quiver

unmixed, to one intoxicated by his blooming form.

Over the smooth cheeks of an elegant, slender one.

فالخمرُ مِن بابليِّ اللَّحظِ خُذهُ ودَع

فالخمرُ مِن بابليِّ اللَّحظِ خُذهُ ودَع

مقالَ مَن قالَ إنَّ الخمرَ في الثَّغرِ

مقالَ مَن قالَ إنَّ الخمرَ في الثَّغرِ

So take wine from his Babylonian gaze, and leave aside

So take the wine from the lustrous Babylonian eyes and leave

the claim of whoever says that wine is in the mouth.

The words of him who claimed that wine is (only found) on lips.

مُمنطقُ الخَصرِ لا يَرثي لذي ظمأٍ

مُمنطقُ الخَصرِ لا يَرثي لذي ظمأٍ

إِلى مُقبَّلِ فيهِ الباردِ الخَصرِ

إِلى مُقبَّلِ فيهِ الباردِ الخَصرِ

Girdled at the waist, he has no pity for one thirsting

The wearer of the cinched waist will not mourn one thirsty

for a kiss upon his cool, cold mouth.

For the kisses found on the slender waisted ones.

إن قلتُ أينَ ذمِامي قال أخفرَهُ

إن قلتُ أينَ ذمِامي قال أخفرَهُ

ما فيَّ مِن فَرطِ هذا الدَّلِّ والخَفَرِ

ما فيَّ مِن فَرطِ هذا الدَّلِّ والخَفَرِ

If I ask, 'Where is my covenant of protection?' he says, 'It was broken

If I say "where are my reins?" She says "I have released them!"

by the excess of this coquetry and bashfulness in me.'

Such are the abandon and submission in me.

عجبتُ مِن جسمه المائيِّ كيفَ غدا

عجبتُ مِن جسمه المائيِّ كيفَ غدا

مُقاسياً قاسياً مِن قلبهِ الحَجَرِ

مُقاسياً قاسياً مِن قلبهِ الحَجَرِ

I marveled at his watery body: how did it come

I wondered how her aqueous body

to endure the hardness of his heart of stone?

Could be so harsh and stony at heart!

عَطفاً فيا ذا السَّنا جفني بلا سِنَةٍ

عَطفاً فيا ذا السَّنا جفني بلا سِنَةٍ

وساحرَ الطَّرفِ ها ليلي بلا سحَرِ

وساحرَ الطَّرفِ ها ليلي بلا سحَرِ

Have pity! O radiant one, my eyelid is without slumber;

Turn gently, O she of beauty, grace my eyes though lacking grace,

and O enchanter of the gaze, behold my night without dawn.

And captivate with your glance, my night, devoid of magic!

لا وانعطافِ قَوامٍ منكَ نحسَبُه

لا وانعطافِ قَوامٍ منكَ نحسَبُه

غُصناً يَميسُ بأوراقِ مِن الشَّعَرِ

غُصناً يَميسُ بأوراقِ مِن الشَّعَرِ

No—by the sway of your figure, which we take

We think your swaying figure to be a bough

for a branch swaying with leaves of hair,

That brushes against the leaves of hair.

ومُقلةٍ لكَ تُمسي الحُورُ خاضعةً

ومُقلةٍ لكَ تُمسي الحُورُ خاضعةً

لها لِما أبصرت فيها مِنَ الحَوَرِ

لها لِما أبصرت فيها مِنَ الحَوَرِ

and by your eye, before which the houris grow submissive,

And you have a glance that makes the houri bow down in obedience

for the beauty of the white and black they behold within it—

For what they saw in it of defiance.

ما قلبيَ الُمدنَفُ الُمضنَى بلوعتهِ

ما قلبيَ الُمدنَفُ الُمضنَى بلوعتهِ

بمستعير غرامٍ منكَ مُستَعِرِ

بمستعير غرامٍ منكَ مُستَعِرِ

my heart, lovesick and exhausted by its anguish,

My ardent heart, wretched in its misery,

does not borrow its blazing passion from you.

Is not a borrower of passion from you on loan!

كلاَّ ولا لِجفُوني في هواكَ سِوى

كلاَّ ولا لِجفُوني في هواكَ سِوى

نحيبِها والبُكا والدَّمعِ والسَّهَر

نحيبِها والبُكا والدَّمعِ والسَّهَر

No indeed; nor do my eyelids have, in loving you, anything but

No! My eyelids have naught in their love for you

their sobbing, weeping, tears, and sleeplessness.

Save weeping, crying, tears and wakefulness.

أنتَ السَّخيُّ بمُرِّ الهَجرِ لي وأنا

أنتَ السَّخيُّ بمُرِّ الهَجرِ لي وأنا

بأدمعُي و غياثُ الدِّينِ بالبِدرَ

بأدمعُي و غياثُ الدِّينِ بالبِدرَ

You are generous to me with bitter estrangement, and I

You give generously the bitter aloofness while I give

with my tears, and Ghiyath al-Din with purses of money.

My tears and the ransom of my faith with silver coins.