وكُنْتُ أَرى في النَّوْمِ هَجْرُكَ ساعة

وكُنْتُ أَرى في النَّوْمِ هَجْرُكَ ساعة

فَأَجْفو لَذيذَ النَّوْمِ حَوْلاً تَطَيُّرا

فَأَجْفو لَذيذَ النَّوْمِ حَوْلاً تَطَيُّرا

I used to dream, for an hour, that you had forsaken me;

And I would see you forsake me for an hour in my dreams,

then, taking it for an evil omen, I would shun sweet sleep for a year.

Then shun sweet sleep for a year, fearing an ill omen.

وتَأْمُرُني بِالصَّبْرِ والقَلْبُ كُلَّما

وتَأْمُرُني بِالصَّبْرِ والقَلْبُ كُلَّما

تَقاضَيْتُهُ صَبْراً تَقَاضَيْتُ مُعْسِرا

تَقاضَيْتُهُ صَبْراً تَقَاضَيْتُ مُعْسِرا

You bid me be patient; yet whenever I ask my heart

And you bid me be patient; but as for my heart, whenever

to yield me patience, I am seeking payment from an insolvent debtor.

I demand patience of it, I am pressing an insolvent debtor.

فَلَمّا رَأَيْتُ الغَدَّرَ مِنْ شَأْنِكَ اغْتَدى

فَلَمّا رَأَيْتُ الغَدَّرَ مِنْ شَأْنِكَ اغْتَدى

غَديرَ التَّصافي بَيْنَنا مُتَكَدِّرا

غَديرَ التَّصافي بَيْنَنا مُتَكَدِّرا

But when I saw that treachery was in your nature, behold—

But when I saw that treachery was your way, there grew

the pool of affection between us had turned turbid.

Murk in the pool of mutual affection between us.

فَوَاللهِ ما أَهْواكَ إِلاَّ تَكَلُّفاً

فَوَاللهِ ما أَهْواكَ إِلاَّ تَكَلُّفاً

ولا أَشْتَكي الهُجْرانَ إِلاَّ تَخَمُّرا

ولا أَشْتَكي الهُجْرانَ إِلاَّ تَخَمُّرا

By God, I love you now only by forcing myself,

So, by God, I love you only by forcing myself,

and lament your abandonment only in a drunken fit.

Nor do I complain of estrangement except in a drunken haze.