هَجرتُكِ خوفَ أقوال الوشاةِ

هَجرتُكِ خوفَ أقوال الوشاةِ

وهجرُكِ مثلُ هجرانِ الحياةِ

وهجرُكِ مثلُ هجرانِ الحياةِ

I forsook you for fear of the slanderers’ words,

I abandoned you out of fear of the slanderers' words

And forsaking you is like forsaking life.

And abandoning you is like abandoning life

وأنتِ كرامةً عندي كعيني

وأنتِ كرامةً عندي كعيني

وما تنجو العيونُ من القَذاةِ

وما تنجو العيونُ من القَذاةِ

And you are as precious to me as my own eye,

And you are precious to me like my eyes

Yet eyes are not spared a mote.

And eyes do not escape specks of dust

ولولا الحبُّ ما سهلتْ حُزوني

ولولا الحبُّ ما سهلتْ حُزوني

ولا لانتْ بأيديكمْ صفاتي

ولا لانتْ بأيديكمْ صفاتي

And without love, my rugged ground would not have grown smooth,

If not for love, my sorrow would not have eased

Nor would my hard rock have softened in your hands.

Nor would my qualities have been refined by your hands

وَقالوا قَد عشقتَ فقلت عِشقٌ

وَقالوا قَد عشقتَ فقلت عِشقٌ

كَما اِقتَرح الهوى فمن المؤاتي

كَما اِقتَرح الهوى فمن المؤاتي

And they said, ‘You have fallen in love’; I replied, ‘A love

And they said you have fallen in love, so I said love

Just as passion has demanded—who, then, will oblige?’

Is like what the passion has proposed, so who would object

بِنَفسي مَن إِذا ما رمتُ وصفاً

بِنَفسي مَن إِذا ما رمتُ وصفاً

لِحُسنٍ فيهِ أَعيَتنِي صِفاتي

لِحُسنٍ فيهِ أَعيَتنِي صِفاتي

My life be ransom for the one: whenever I seek a description

With my soul, whoever when I intended praise

Of the beauty in him, my descriptions fail me.

Of a beauty in it, my qualities fell short

وَلَو أَغنى عنِ العشّاقِ شَيءٌ

وَلَو أَغنى عنِ العشّاقِ شَيءٌ

وَدافَع عنهُمُ أغنتْ حُماتي

وَدافَع عنهُمُ أغنتْ حُماتي

And if anything could help lovers

And if anything would make lovers needless

And defend them, my protectors would have sufficed.

Or defend them, my protective instincts would have