وَساجِعٍ في فُروعِ الأَيكِ هَيَّجَني
لَم أَدرِ لِم ناحَ مِمّا بي وَلِم سَجَعا
A cooing bird among the branches of the grove stirred me;
And a cooing bird in the grove's branches stirred me;
I knew not why he wailed at my affliction, nor why he sang—
In my distress, I knew not why he wailed or why he cooed:
أَباكِياً إِلفَهُ مِن بَعدِ فَرقَتِهِ
أَم جازِعاً لِلنَوى مِن قَبلِ أَن تَقعا
Was he weeping for his beloved after their parting,
Was he weeping for his mate after their parting,
Or grieving at separation before it had come to pass?
Or dreading separation before it came to pass?
يَدعو حَمامَتَهُ وَالطَيرُ هاجِعَةٌ
فَما هَجَعتُ لَهُ لَيلاً وَلا هَجعا
He called to his mate while all the birds were sleeping,
He calls to his dove while the birds lie sleeping;
And for his sake I slept not at night—not a wink.
So I did not sleep at night because of him, nor did he.
مُوَشَّحٌ سُندُساً خُضرٌ مناكِبُهُ
تَرى مِنَ المِسكِ في أَذيالِهِ لُمَعا
Clad in fine silk, his shoulders green,
He is draped in fine silk, his shoulders green;
You see glints of musk upon the skirts of his plumage.
You see patches of musk in his trailing feathers.
لَهُ مِنَ الآس طَوقٌ فَوقَ لَبَّتِهِ
مِنَ البَنَفسَجِ وَالخيريِّ قَد جُمِعا
Around his throat he wears a collar of myrtle,
He has a collar of myrtle above his breast,
Woven together of violets and wallflowers.
Of violet and wallflower joined together.
كَأَنَّما عَبَّ في مُسوَدِّ غاليَةٍ
وَحَلَّ مِن تَحتِهِ الكافورُ فانتَقَعا
It is as though he had drunk deep of a dark perfume,
As though he had drunk deep from black ghāliyah perfume,
While camphor spread beneath it and turned ashen-white.
And camphor settled beneath him, turning him pale.
كَأَنَّ عَينَيهِ مِن حُسنِ اِصفِرارِهِما
فَصّانِ مِن حَجَرِ الياقوتِ قَد قُطِعا
His eyes, so lovely in their yellowness, seem
As though his eyes, so beautifully yellow,
Two gems cut from sapphire stone.
Were two gems cut from sapphire.
كَأَنَّ رِجلَيهِ مِن حُسنِ اِحمِرارِهِما
ما رَقَّ مِن شُعَبِ المَرجانِ فاِتَّسَعا
His feet, so lovely in their redness, seem
As though his legs, so beautifully red,
The finest spreading branches of coral.
Were slender coral branches that had spread wide.
شَكا النَوى فَبَكى خَوفَ الأَسى فَرَمى
بَينَ الجَوانِحِ مِن أَوجاعِهِ وَجَعا
He lamented separation and wept for fear of sorrow, casting
He lamented separation, wept for fear of grief, and cast
Between my ribs an ache born of his own pains.
A pang of his own pain between my ribs.
وَالريحُ تَخفِضُهُ طوراً وَتَرفَعُهُ
طوراً فمُنخَفِضاً يَدعو وَمُرتَفِعا
The wind lowers him awhile, then lifts him,
And the wind lowers him at times and lifts him
And now low, now high, he calls.
At others; so he calls, now low, now aloft.
كَأَنَّهُ راهِبٌ في رأَسِ صَومَعَةٍ
يَتلو الزَبورَ وَنَجمُ الصُبحِ قَد طَلَعا
He is like a monk atop a hermitage,
As though he were a monk atop a hermitage,
Reciting the Psalms as the morning star rises.
Reciting the Psalms, with the morning star already risen.
Sol 6.1