يشكو إلى إِضَمَ الهوى وَهَواؤُهُ

يشكو إلى إِضَمَ الهوى وَهَواؤُهُ

مِن كلِّ داءٍ يعتريهِ دَواؤُهُ

مِن كلِّ داءٍ يعتريهِ دَواؤُهُ

He complains of passion to Iḍam, whose air

He complains of the intensity of passion and its excess

is his cure for every illness that afflicts him.

Of every malady that afflicts him, its remedy afflicts him

إنّ شفَّهُ طُولُ الأسى وتقاصرت

إنّ شفَّهُ طُولُ الأسى وتقاصرت

عنهُ الأُساةُ ففي النَّسيمش شفاؤهٌ

عنهُ الأُساةُ ففي النَّسيمش شفاؤهٌ

If long sorrow wastes him, and

Truly, what healed his lips is prolonged sorrow, and

the healers fail him, his cure is in the breeze.

Sorrows fell short of him, so in the breeze is his remedy

لا تعذُلِ المشتاقَ حالَ وقوفهِ

لا تعذُلِ المشتاقَ حالَ وقوفهِ

في رسمِ دارِ طالَ فيه بُكاؤُهُ

في رسمِ دارِ طالَ فيه بُكاؤُهُ

Do not reproach the yearning lover as he stands

Reproach not the ardent lover for pausing

at the traces of a home where his weeping has long endured.

In the abode whose weeping in it prolonged

ما طلَّ في طِلَلِ السَّحابِ دموعَه

ما طلَّ في طِلَلِ السَّحابِ دموعَه

إِلاَّ وقد حُشيت جوىً أحشاؤُهُ

إِلاَّ وقد حُشيت جوىً أحشاؤُهُ

He never shed his tears amid the clouds’ drizzle

Not a tear dropped in the shadows of clouds

unless his inward parts were filled with burning grief.

Except that the valleys of his soul were flooded

ويحِقُّ للجفنِ القريحِ إذا نأت

ويحِقُّ للجفنِ القريحِ إذا نأت

عنه دُماهُ أن تفيضَ دماؤهُ

عنه دُماهُ أن تفيضَ دماؤهُ

And the wounded eyelid has the right, when

And the sore eyelid deserves, when its blood ceases

its lovely idols leave it, to overflow with blood.

That its blood overflow

يا جيِرةَ الأثَلات دعوةَ مغرمٍ

يا جيِرةَ الأثَلات دعوةَ مغرمٍ

ما بارحتهُ بعدكَم بُرحاؤُه

ما بارحتهُ بعدكَم بُرحاؤُه

O neighbors of the tamarisks, hear a lover’s plea:

O neighbor of encampments, the prayer of a passion-stricken one

his anguish has not left him since you departed.

Did not abandon you after you all, his soberness abandoned him

ليسَ العجيبُ منَ الفراقِ مماتَه

ليسَ العجيبُ منَ الفراقِ مماتَه

لكنَّما العَجبُ العجيبُ بَقاؤُه

لكنَّما العَجبُ العجيبُ بَقاؤُه

His death from separation is not the wonder;

It’s not strange that parting caused his death

the wonder of wonders is that he survives.

But the strange, the amazingly strange, is his survival

وأرى عِنياتَكم بقطعِ حبالهِ

وأرى عِنياتَكم بقطعِ حبالهِ

ووصالهِ أن يستمرَّ عَناؤُهُ

ووصالهِ أن يستمرَّ عَناؤُهُ

And I see that your intent in severing his bonds

And I see your glances severing his ties

and his union is to make his suffering endure.

And his connection, so that his effort continues

وعلى حمى النَّخَلاتِ حيٌّ لم تزل

وعلى حمى النَّخَلاتِ حيٌّ لم تزل

محمَّيةً بِظُبا السُّيوفِ ظِباؤُه

محمَّيةً بِظُبا السُّيوفِ ظِباؤُه

And upon the palms’ preserve dwells a tribe whose

And alive over the sanctuary of palm trees, never

gazelles have ever been guarded by sword-edges.

Ceased to be protected by the wolf-like swords, their howling

لولا أَهِلَّةُ ما هاجَ لي

لولا أَهِلَّةُ ما هاجَ لي

واديهِ داء لا ولا جَرعاؤُه

واديهِ داء لا ولا جَرعاؤُه

But for crescent moons, there would arise in me

If it were not for the new moon, no

no sickness from its valley—no, nor from its sandy ground.

Valley of his would be excited, nor its draft drunk

يا برقُ سلهُ إذا شدت في دوحهِ

يا برقُ سلهُ إذا شدت في دوحهِ

أطيارُه وتبغَّمت أطلاؤُه

أطيارُه وتبغَّمت أطلاؤُه

O lightning, ask it, when in its great trees

O lightning, send him when the birds crowded his basin

its birds sing and its fawns softly call,

And its surfaces frowned and its outskirts reddened

وتسلسلت أنهارهُ وتهدَّلت

وتسلسلت أنهارهُ وتهدَّلت

أفنانُه وتأرَّجت أرجاؤُه

أفنانُه وتأرَّجت أرجاؤُه

and its rivers flow on, and there droop

And its rivers dripped down and its branches swayed

its branches, and its reaches grow fragrant:

And its spaces became fragrant, did the winds forget him after being kind

أهَمَى الرَّيابُ عليهِ بعدَ رَبابهِ

أهَمَى الرَّيابُ عليهِ بعدَ رَبابهِ

أم زالَ عنه رِيُّهُ وَرُواؤُه

أم زالَ عنه رِيُّهُ وَرُواؤُه

have rainclouds [uncertain reading] poured on it since its Rabāb left,

Or did its scents and moistness leave him

or have its lushness and beauty left it?

The hand of afflictions did not abandon him, wearing him out

لا غادرتهُ يدُ الخطُوبِ كدارسٍ

لا غادرتهُ يدُ الخطُوبِ كدارسٍ

أَودَى بهِ وبأُنسه إِقواؤُه

أَودَى بهِ وبأُنسه إِقواؤُه

May the hand of calamities never leave it like an effaced ruin

And wasting his companionship and sobering him

whose desolation has destroyed it and its cheer.

His happiness with his joy departed and his names

ذهبت سعادُ بسعدهِ وتنكَّرت

ذهبت سعادُ بسعدهِ وتنكَّرت

لمَّا نأت أسماؤُه اسماؤُه

لمَّا نأت أسماؤُه اسماؤُه

Suʿād carried off its good fortune; unfamiliar became,

Betrayed him when their names called him

when its Asmāʾ departed, its names.

By God a full moon whose prominence in my mind’s eye

للهِ بدرٌ بُرجُه في خاطري

للهِ بدرٌ بُرجُه في خاطري

يَسبي العقولَ جمالُه وسناؤُه

يَسبي العقولَ جمالُه وسناؤُه

How wondrous a full moon, whose celestial house is in my thoughts!

Captivates hearts, his beauty and brightness

His beauty and splendor take minds captive.

A moon, when it appears clearly in a gaze

قمرٌ إذا استجليتهُ في نَثرَةٍ

قمرٌ إذا استجليتهُ في نَثرَةٍ

فالطَّرفُ دونَ القلب فيه جلاؤُهُ

فالطَّرفُ دونَ القلب فيه جلاؤُهُ

A moon—when you behold him in Nathra [uncertain reading],

The eye falls short of the heart in perceiving it

the eye, not the heart, finds its clarity in him.

He refuses to be likened to the most beautiful of faces

يفترُّ عن مثلِ الجُمانِ منضَّداً

يفترُّ عن مثلِ الجُمانِ منضَّداً

أَشِرُ تميلُ بعطِفهِ صهباؤُه

أَشِرُ تميلُ بعطِفهِ صهباؤُه

He smiles, revealing the likeness of pearls strung in rows;

The incline of his soft cheek refuses such comparison

he is exuberant; his tawny wine makes his body sway.

The night is but his hair and its darkness

ما اللَّيلُ إِلا شَعرُهُ وظلامُهُ

ما اللَّيلُ إِلا شَعرُهُ وظلامُهُ

والصبُّحُ إلاَّ وجهُه وضياؤُه

والصبُّحُ إلاَّ وجهُه وضياؤُه

Night is nothing but his hair and its darkness,

And dawn but his face and its glow

and dawn nothing but his face and its radiance.

Where is the mole and cheek and garden of his cheek

أينَ الخليُّ وخالُ وجنةِ خَدِّهِ

أينَ الخليُّ وخالُ وجنةِ خَدِّهِ

لولاهُ ما فتكَت بنا خُيلاؤُهُ

لولاهُ ما فتكَت بنا خُيلاؤُهُ

How can a man be heart-free, with that mole on his rounded cheek?

If it were not for him, his charms would not have killed us

Without it, his haughtiness would not have slain us.

A cheek possessing a piece of every heart, its fire

خَدٌّ لهُ مِن كلِّ قلبٍ نارهُ

خَدٌّ لهُ مِن كلِّ قلبٍ نارهُ

أَسَفاً عليهِ وكلِّ جَفنِ ماؤُهُ

أَسَفاً عليهِ وكلِّ جَفنِ ماؤُهُ

A cheek whose fire comes from every heart

Alas for it, and every sore eyelid its water

grieving for it, and whose water comes from every eyelid.

Nay, my surrender is but surrender to the bending of his eyelids

لا وانكِساري لانكسارِ جفونِه ال

لا وانكِساري لانكسارِ جفونِه ال

مرضَى وما فعلت به نَجلاؤُهُ

مرضَى وما فعلت به نَجلاؤُهُ

No—by my brokenness before the drooping of his eyelids,

Lovesick, and its coquetry did not empower it

ailing, and by what his wide eye has done to him—

None triumphed but his lover and one hanging

ما فازِ غيرَ مُحبِّهِ ومعلَّقٍ

ما فازِ غيرَ مُحبِّهِ ومعلَّقٍ

بمواهبِ الملكِ العزيزِ رَجاؤُهُ

بمواهبِ الملكِ العزيزِ رَجاؤُهُ

none has triumphed but his lover, and one whose

Onto the gifts of the Almighty King, his hope

hope hangs upon the gifts of al-Malik al-ʿAzīz.