1. حَتّامٌ تَجذِبُني القُدودُ وَأَجنَحُ

    وَيَصُدُّني عَنها الصُدودُ وَأَجمَحُ

    How long will shapely figures draw me, and I yield,

    and rebuffs drive me from them, and I bolt?

  2. وَيَهيجُني سوقُ الحِسانِ وَأَدمُعي

    أَبَداً عَلى سَفحِ المَعاهِدِ تَسفَحُ

    And the fair ones’ calves stir me, while my tears

    forever spill upon the slopes of familiar haunts.

  3. غاضَت دُموعي بَعدَ فَيضِ شُؤونِها

    وَعَهِدتُ عَينَ الدَمعِ لَيسَت تَنزَحُ

    My tears ran dry after their channels overflowed,

    though I had known the spring of tears could never be drained.

  4. وَبَقيتُ فيما بَينٍ لَذعَ صَبابَةٍ

    يَكووي وَبَرَحٌ دائِمٌ لا يَبرَحُ

    And I remained between the sting of longing

    that sears, and ceaseless anguish that never leaves.

  5. أَحيى اللَيالي آمَلاً أَن تَنجَلي

    صُبحاً وَلَيسَ بِأَمثَلٍ ما تُصبِحُ

    I keep vigil through the nights, hoping they will break

    into dawn, though what dawn brings is no better.

  6. إِن كانَ يوحِشُني الظَلامُ لِذي النَوى

    فَالهَجرُ في يَومي لِعَيني أَوضَحُ

    If darkness makes me lonely for the one far away,

    then by day estrangement is clearer to my eye.

  7. وَلَقَد أَتوقُ إِلى الكَرى فَلَرُبَّما

    طَيفُ الحَبيبِ بِزَورَةٍ قَد يَسمَحُ

    And indeed I yearn for sleep, for perhaps

    the beloved’s phantom may grant a visit.

  8. فَلَئِن يَكُن ذاكَ الغَزالُ مُحرِما

    وَصَلّى فَحَسبي في الكَرى ما يَسنَحُ

    So even if that gazelle forbids

    union with me, whatever appears in sleep is enough.

  9. يا لَيلَةً بِالجَزعِ تَجزَعُني بِها

    نوحاً وَراقي الأَيكِ مِمّا تَصدَحُ

    O night at al-Jaz‘, when I was moved to grief

    by the grove’s gray doves, singing their lament!

  10. باتَت تُذَكِّرُني لَيالي بَينِها

    كُنّا وَكانَ المُنحَنى وَالأَبطَحُ

    All night it recalled to me nights in which

    we were there, with the valley-bend and the pebbled plain,

  11. ما بَينَ هاتيكَ الظِباءُ سَوانِحاً

    تَمشي بشحَبّاتِ القُلوبِ وَتَمرَحُ

    among those gazelles as they passed before us,

    walking through the cores of hearts and frolicking.

  12. باتَت تَتيهُ بِها العُقولُ إِذا بَدَت

    تيهاً كَباناتِ النَقا تَتَرَنَّحُ

    Minds wandered bewildered by them when they appeared,

    swaying proudly like ban trees on the dunes.

  13. مِن كُلِّ مَيّاسٍ أَغنَ إِذا اِنبَرى

    فَالعَقلُ يَعقِلُ وَالنَواظِرُ تَطمَحُ

    Each a swaying, soft-voiced beauty; when he appears,

    reason is fettered, while the eyes reach out.

  14. يَلهو وَيَجرِحُ في النَهارِ وَإِنَّما

    قَد ظَلَّ يَجرَحُ مُهجَتي إِذ يَجرَحُ

    He dallies and wounds by day; all the while

    he keeps wounding my heart with every wound he deals.

  15. يا مَن يُعَذِّبُني وَيَحسَبُ أَنَّني

    لِعَذابِهِ طولُ الزَمانِ مُرَشَّحُ

    O one who torments me and supposes that I

    am destined for his torment for all time!

  16. يَسطو عَلَيَّ وَلا يَرِقُّ فَعِندَهُ

    قَلبٌ وَلَكِن بِالحَديدِ مَصفَحُ

    He assails me and shows no tenderness, for he has

    a heart, but one plated with iron.

  17. دَلَهَتني في ذا الغَرامِ فها أَنا

    قَيسٌ وَلَكُن بِالفِراقِ مُلَوِّحُ

    You maddened me with this passion; so here I am,

    Qays, but scorched by separation.

  18. فَإِلى مَ تَهجُرُني وَقَد كادَ الصِبا

    يَذوي وَرَطبُ غُصونِهِ يَتَصَوَّحُ

    So how long will you forsake me, when youth has almost

    withered, and its tender branches are drying up?

  19. ما كُنتَ أَيّوبَ الصَبورَ وَإِن يَكُن

    بِالصَبرِ مَعنى اِسمي بِفارِسٍ يَشرَحُ

    I was no patient Job, although

    in Persia my name is explained as patience.

  20. ذاكَ السَمِيُّ الباهِرُ الشِيَمُ الَّتي

    أَخلاقُهُ بِالأَروَعِيَّةِ تَطفَحُ

    That namesake, resplendent in his virtues,

    whose character overflows with nobility;

  21. المُشَبَّعُ العَقلَ الَّذي أَخلاقُهُ

    غَرُّ الوُجوهِ حَسيبَةٌ لا تُرجَحُ

    richly endowed with reason, whose virtues

    are radiant in aspect, noble, never outweighed;

  22. الواسِعُ الفَضلِ الَّذي لِثَنائِهِ

    في كُلِّ خَلقٍ مِن عُلاهُ مَفتَحُ

    abundant in merit, for whose praise

    each lofty trait provides an opening;

  23. الناصِحُ الجَيبِ الَّذي آثارُهُ

    عَن حُسنِ ما يَطوي عَلَيهِ تَصرَحُ

    sincere at heart, whose deeds

    plainly reveal the goodness he conceals within.

  24. يَثني عَلَيهِ بَالوَفاءِ وَإِنَّما

    تَمديحُهُ بِوَفائِهِ لا يَمدَحُ

    One praises him for loyalty, yet

    praising him for loyalty is no true praise.

  25. حَرٌّ تَفَتَّحَ لِلوِدادِ فُؤادُهُ

    وَكَلامُهُ عِندَ الثَنا يَتَفَتَّحُ

    A noble soul, whose heart has opened to affection,

    and whose speech blossoms when it comes to praise.

  26. فَهوَ الَّذي إِن ضاقَ في الخَلقِ الوَلا

    فَفُؤادُهُ بِالوُدِّ مَغنى أَفيَحُ

    He is the one who, if loyalty grows scarce among people,

    has a heart that is a spacious home of love.

  27. وَإِذا تَزَحزَحَ رَكبُهُ عَن أَرضِنا

    فَهوَ الَّذي في العَهدِ لا يَتَزَحزَحُ

    And when his caravan moves away from our land,

    he is one who never wavers in his pledge.

  28. لا غَروَ إِن شَطَّ المَزارُ فَإِنَّهُ

    قَلَمُ اللَبيبِ بِكُلِّ مِسكٍ يَنفَحُ

    No wonder, though the place of meeting is far, for

    the discerning man’s pen wafts every fragrance of musk.

  29. سَمَحَ القَريحَةَ في رِهانِ قَريضِهِ

    يَجري كَما يَجري الجَوادُ الأَقرَحُ

    With free-flowing inspiration, in the race of his verse

    he runs as a white-starred steed runs.

  30. تَلَقّاهُ يَرعَفُ في الطُروسِ يَراعِهِ

    كَالسَيلِ في بَطنِ الجَوادِ يَتَبَطَّحُ

    You find him—his reed pen bleeds across the pages,

    like a torrent sprawling across the roadbed.

  31. وَيَخوضُ في لَجَجِ الفُنونِ وَيَجتَني

    دُرَراً بِها صَدرَ الزَمانِ موشِحُ

    And he plunges into the depths of the arts and gathers

    pearls with which he adorns the breast of time.

  32. تَزهو جِنانَ العِلمِ بَينَ سُطورِهِ

    إِذ كُلَّ ما فيها لِعَينِ مَسرَحُ

    The gardens of knowledge flourish between his lines,

    for all they hold gives the eye a field to roam.

  33. غَرَرٌ تَتَرجَمَ عَن عُلوِ مَقامِهِ

    وَلَعَلَّها مِن كُلِّ مَدحٍ أَفصَحُ

    Brilliant passages speak of his lofty standing,

    and perhaps they are more eloquent than any praise.

  34. يا صاحِباً سَمَحَ الزَمانَ بِبُعدِهِ

    وَبِبُعدِهِ وَجهُ الزَمانِ مَكلَحُ

    O friend whose departure time has allowed,

    and at whose departure time’s face is grim,

  35. لا بِدَعَ أَن تُبعَدَ وَأَنتَ عَزيزُهُ

    فَالدَهرُ يُبعِدُ في الوَرى ما يَمنَحُ

    no wonder you are sent afar, though you are dear to it;

    for time takes from mortals what it grants.

  36. أَثوَيتُ في الشَهباءِ أَفسَحَ مَنزِلُ

    لَكِن مَحلُكَ في فُؤادي أَفسَحُ

    You have settled in Aleppo’s most spacious dwelling,

    but your place within my heart is more spacious still.