أرح طرف عين جفاها الهجوع

فإن عناء الجفون الدموع

Rest the gaze of an eye forsaken by slumber.

For tears are the eyelids' torment,

إذا علم الصبر أن يخدع الع

زائم دهر لحظي خدوع

when patience has been taught to deceive resolves

by an age treacherous to my fortune.

حسيت كؤوس الهوى سحرة

وساقى المنى لمرادي مطيع

I sipped the cups of love before dawn,

and the cupbearer of wishes obeyed my desire,

إلى حين غايت نجوم الهدى

فكان لها في عذارى طلوع

until the stars of guidance set,

then rose in the down upon my cheeks.

وباتت تحث مطايا الغرام

فجالت بقيد الكلال المنوع

And they spent the night urging on passion's mounts,

which roamed, fettered by thwarting weariness.

ربيئة قلبي عين لها

لسان من الدمع سرى يشيع

My heart's lookout is an eye that has

a tongue of tears that divulges my secret.

تحاربنا في مجال الصبا

يد للطلا من قناها الشموع

In youth's arena, we are assailed

by wine's hand, with candles among its spears.

وظبي ترى في حجور القلوب

له توأم الحسن خدن رضيع

And a gazelle you see in the laps of hearts—

he has Beauty's twin for an intimate milk-brother.

فلولا فؤادي له مسكن

لما كان تحنو عليه الصلوع

Were my heart not his dwelling,

the ribs would not bend tenderly over him.

تقنعت بالوصل من طيفه

وكل محب لعمري قنوع

I was content with the union his phantom brought;

and every lover, by my life, is content with little.

ولي حاجة عنده للجوى

وليس له غير ذلي شفيع

I have a plea to him born of love's anguish,

and no intercessor with him but my abasement.

رهنت فؤادي على حبه

فما باله لرهوني يضيع

I pledged my heart for his love;

why, then, does he squander my pledges?

تجرد من لحظه صارم

لعمر اصطباري عليه قطوع

From his glance a sharp sword was drawn,

cutting short the life of my patience with him.

ولو لم يكن قاتلا للكرى

لما سال من مقلتي النجيع

And were it not a slayer of sleep,

dark blood would not flow from my eye.

بمرآة خديه أصداغه

تخال عذارا لصبري يروع

In the mirror of his cheeks, his temple-locks

seem like cheek-down that startles my patience.

تقيل المحاسن في ظله

وماء الجمال لديه مريع

All charms take their midday rest in his shade,

and beauty's waters are abundant beside him.

له بسط الروض ديباجه

ومدت عليه الخيام الفروع

For him the meadow spread its brocade,

and the branches stretched tents above him.

وقد ردد الطير آياته

وللقضيب في جانبيه ركوع

And the birds have repeated his verses,

and the slender bough bows on either side of him.

كان الشقيق وستر الضباب

وزهر تبقى عليها هزيع

The anemones and the veil of mist,

and blossoms on which a portion of night lingered,

مجامر تبرعلاها الدخان

وقد أصبح الند فيها يضوع

were golden censers over which smoke rose,

while fragrant incense within them began to waft its scent.