صَبرتُ ولولا أن يقولوا سَفاهةً

صَبرتُ ولولا أن يقولوا سَفاهةً

لآيستُ عذّالاً على الصّبر من صبري

لآيستُ عذّالاً على الصّبر من صبري

I kept my patience—but, were it not that they would call it folly,

I endured; but for their calling it folly,

I would have made my reproachers despair of my patience—no patience at all.

I would have made those chiding me to be patient despair of my patience.

وقالوا لَهَا عنها فقلتُ لأنّكم

وقالوا لَهَا عنها فقلتُ لأنّكم

جهلتمْ حَزازاتٍ لها سكنتْ صدري

جهلتمْ حَزازاتٍ لها سكنتْ صدري

They spoke to her about it; I said, “That is because you

And they said, 'He has forgotten her'; I replied, 'That is because you

did not know the wounds of hers that settled in my breast.

do not know the pangs for her that have lodged in my breast:

يقلّبنَ قلبي كلَّ يومٍ وليلةٍ

يقلّبنَ قلبي كلَّ يومٍ وليلةٍ

على جمراتٍ ليتهنّ من الجمرِ

على جمراتٍ ليتهنّ من الجمرِ

They turn my heart, every day and every night,

they turn my heart over every day and night

upon embers—if only those wounds were mere coals.

on embers—if only they were real burning coals!'

بنفسِيَ مَن لا وصلَ مِن بعد هجرهِ

بنفسِيَ مَن لا وصلَ مِن بعد هجرهِ

وَلا أَوْبَةٌ منه ترجَّى مع السَّفرِ

وَلا أَوْبَةٌ منه ترجَّى مع السَّفرِ

My soul be the ransom of one with whom, after her abandonment, no union comes,

My soul be ransom for one whose estrangement is followed by no reunion,

nor any return from her may be hoped for while she journeys;

and whose return cannot be hoped for once they journey away;

ومن لا سبيلٌ لِي إلى أنْ أزورَه

ومن لا سبيلٌ لِي إلى أنْ أزورَه

بِطرفي وإِنْ لَم يُخلِهِ اللَّهُ من ذكري

بِطرفي وإِنْ لَم يُخلِهِ اللَّهُ من ذكري

one whom I have no way to visit,

and for one whom I have no way to visit

even with my gaze—though God has not left her without remembrance of me.

with my gaze, though God has not left them without my remembrance.

فَإِنْ لَم تَكُن أَفنت جميعي فلم تَرِمْ

فَإِنْ لَم تَكُن أَفنت جميعي فلم تَرِمْ

مُودّعةً إلّا وَقد سكبتْ شطري

مُودّعةً إلّا وَقد سكبتْ شطري

If she has not annihilated all of me, never did she,

Even if she did not destroy all of me, she did not depart

in bidding me farewell, fail to pour away half of me.

bidding farewell without having poured out half of me.

وولّتْ بعمري إذ تولّتْ بطيبه

وولّتْ بعمري إذ تولّتْ بطيبه

فها أنا ذا حيٌّ أعيش بلا عمرِ

فها أنا ذا حيٌّ أعيش بلا عمرِ

She departed with my lifetime when she departed with its sweetness;

And she carried off my life when she carried off its sweetness;

and here I am, alive, living without a lifetime.

so here I am, alive, living without a life.