لاَ تُخْدَعَنَّ بِرِقَّةٍ فِي خَدِّهِ
فَالسَّيْفُ قَتَّالٌ بِرِقْةِ حَدِّهِ
Never be deceived by the softness of his cheek:
Never be deceived by the delicacy in his cheek;
a sword kills with the fineness of its edge.
for the sword is deadly through the thinness of its edge.
وَدَعِ الجُفُونَ فَإِنَّمَا وَسْنَانُهَا
أَضْحَى سِنَاناً فِي مُثَقَّفِ قَدِّهِ
Pay no heed to the eyelids, for their drowsiness
And leave the eyelids be, for their drowsy gaze
has become a spearhead on the straight lance of his form.
is now but a spearpoint on the straightened shaft of his stature.
ظَبْيٌّ حَكَى نَوْمِي دَوَامُ نَفَارِهِ
عَنِّى فَواصَلَ ضِدَّهُ مَعَ صَدِّهِ
A gazelle: his ceaseless flight from me mimicked my sleep,
A gazelle: his ceaseless flight mirrored that of my sleep
so sleep’s opposite stayed with me, together with his rebuff.
from me; so he embraced its opposite even as he shunned me.
وَسَرَى إِلى جِسْمِي الضَّنَا مِن خَصرِهِ
فَهَوِيتُ ذَاكَ لإِنَّهُ مِنْ عِنْدِهِ
Wasting stole into my body from his slender waist,
And wasting crept into my body from his waist;
and I loved it, because it came from him.
so I loved that, because it came from him.
عَجِبَ الحَسُودُ وَقَدْ رَأَى سُكْرِي بِلاَ
حَدٍّ وقَلْبِي فِي عُقُوبَةِ حَدِّهِ
The envier marveled, seeing my intoxication without
The envious man marvelled, having seen my drunkenness without
a prescribed penalty, while my heart endured the punishment of his blade.
limit, and my heart suffering the punishment of his edge.
خَفِّضْ عَلَيْكَ أَلَيْسَ خَفْقُ وِشَاحِهِ
يَحْكِي فُؤَادِي أَوْ تَلَهُّبُ خَدِّهِ
Easy now! Does not the flutter of his sash
Be easy on yourself: does not the flutter of his sash,
mimic my heart—or the blaze of his cheek?
or the blaze of his cheek, mirror my heart?
هِيَ نِسْبَةٌ لَوْ أَنَّ قَلْبِيَ نَالَهَا
مُتَوَقِّداً لَعَذَرْتُهُ فِي وَقْدِهِ
That is a kinship: if my heart attained it,
It is an affinity; had my heart attained it
all aflame, I would excuse it for its burning.
while blazing, I would have excused it for its burning.
شُكْرِي لِصَبْرِي عَنْهُ إِذْ هُوَ خَانَنِي
وَرَأَى الخِيَانَةَ كَالْوَفَاءِ بِعَهْدِهِ
My thanks be to my patience in bearing his absence: it betrayed me
My thanks to my patience without him, since it betrayed me
and deemed betrayal as faithfulness to its covenant.
and deemed betrayal the same as keeping its pledge.
ولَمْدَمَعِي بُعْداً وَسَحْقاً إِنَّهُ
دُرٌّ لَدَيَّ ولَمْ يَكُنْ فِي عِقْدِهِ
And as for my tears—away with them, and perdition! They are
And banishment and ruin to my tears! They are
pearls to me, but were never part of his necklace.
pearls in my possession, but not in his necklace.
مَنْ مُنْصِفِي مِنْ قُرْبِهِ فَلَقَدْ أَبَى
قُرْبِي وَمَنْ ذَا مُنْقِذِي مِنْ بُعْدِهِ
Who will win me justice against the pain of his nearness? For he refused
Who will do me justice against his nearness? For he has refused
my nearness—and who can rescue me from his distance?
my nearness; and who will rescue me from his distance?
يا بَانَةَ الوَادِي وَيَا وَرْقَاءَهُ
نُوحِي لِغُصنِكِ إِذْ أَنُوحُ لِفَقْدِهِ
O bān tree of the valley, O its ringdove,
O bān-tree of the valley, and O its gray dove,
lament for your bough, as I lament his loss.
lament your branch, as I lament losing him.
أَنْتِ الحَزِينَةُ والحَزِينُ أَنَا كِلاَنَا
اليَوْمَ مَعْذُورٌ يَنُوحُ بِوَجْدِهِ
You are sorrowful, and sorrowful am I; both of us
You are sorrowful, and sorrowful am I; both of us
today have cause to lament in our longing.
are justified today in lamenting our longing.
حَالِي كَحَالِكِ وَالمُجَاوِرُ كَفُّهُ
لِلمَاءِ يَعْرِفُ حَرَّهُ مِنْ بَرْدِهِ
My state is like yours: one whose palm lies close
My state is like yours; and one whose palm is close
to the water knows its heat from its cold.
to the water knows its heat from its cold.
Sol 6.1