حَسُنَتْ بك الأيّامُ حتى خِلتُها

حَسُنَتْ بك الأيّامُ حتى خِلتُها

دُرّاً أضاء على ترائب كاعب

دُرّاً أضاء على ترائب كاعب

Through you the days grew lovely, until I imagined them

The days have been good to you, so much so that they are no more

Pearls that shone upon the upper breast of a nubile maiden.

Like pearls that shone on the gowns of a playful girl

فغدَتْ بك الأحداثُ غير صَوائبٍ

فغدَتْ بك الأحداثُ غير صَوائبٍ

وارتدّت الآمالُ غيرَ خوائب

وارتدّت الآمالُ غيرَ خوائب

So through you, misfortunes came to miss their mark,

Through you events turned out unlike misfortunes

And hopes returned without disappointment.

And hopes returned unlike disappointments

تَسْرِي حلومُك للذّنوب فتَنْمحي

تَسْرِي حلومُك للذّنوب فتَنْمحي

ويَبيتُ جودُك طالباً للطالب

ويَبيتُ جودُك طالباً للطالب

Your forbearance journeys by night to sins, and they are erased,

Your forgiveness flows to sins and obliterates them

And your generosity spends the night seeking the seeker.

While your generosity spends the night seeking the needy

جعلَ الغرامَ عليه ضَرْبةَ لازِبٍ

جعلَ الغرامَ عليه ضَرْبةَ لازِبٍ

والشوقَ يوم البين أغلبَ غالب

والشوقَ يوم البين أغلبَ غالب

He made passion his inescapable lot,

Passion has inflicted incurable wounds

And longing, on the day of parting, the mightiest conqueror.

And longing on the day of separation has overcome the most resilient

فجفونُه في عارِضٍ من دمعه

فجفونُه في عارِضٍ من دمعه

وفؤادُه في جَاحِمٍ مُتَلاهِب

وفؤادُه في جَاحِمٍ مُتَلاهِب

So his eyelids are amid a raincloud of his tears,

So his eyelids flow with tears

And his heart is amid a fiercely blazing fire.

And his heart burns with towering flames

ما كان أهون عِيسهم يومَ النَّوى

ما كان أهون عِيسهم يومَ النَّوى

لو لم تَسرْ بهوادجٍ وكواعب

لو لم تَسرْ بهوادجٍ وكواعب

How little their pale camels would have mattered on the day of departure,

Their trysting day would not have been so hard on them

Had they not journeyed with howdahs and nubile maidens.

Had it not been for the cajoling and flirting of maidens

هنّ الغصونُ الغِيدُ غير نوابتٍ

هنّ الغصونُ الغِيدُ غير نوابتٍ

وشموسُ يوم الدَّجْن غير غَواربِ

وشموسُ يوم الدَّجْن غير غَواربِ

They are supple boughs, though they do not sprout,

Alluring are the bending branches devoid of fruit

And suns on an overcast day, never setting.

And the suns of the thickets devoid of clouds

لو لم يُكَدِّرْ حسنُهنّ بعاذلٍ

لو لم يُكَدِّرْ حسنُهنّ بعاذلٍ

لاحٍ وواشٍ كاشح ومُرَاقب

لاحٍ وواشٍ كاشح ومُرَاقب

Had their beauty not been marred by a reprover,

Had their beauty not been marred by a critic

Who scolds, and a spiteful tale-bearer and a watcher,

Spying, delving, watching and observing

لم تَحْمِل الكُثبانُ قضباناً ولا

لم تَحْمِل الكُثبانُ قضباناً ولا

لاحتْ بدورُ التِّمّ تحت جلابِب

لاحتْ بدورُ التِّمّ تحت جلابِب

The sand dunes would not have borne slender boughs, nor

The sand dunes would not have been covered by twigs

Would full moons have gleamed beneath robes.

Nor would the full moons have shone under the veils

ذهبوا فمَا الشوق الملمّ بذاهب

ذهبوا فمَا الشوق الملمّ بذاهب

لا لا ولا الصّبرُ البعيدُ بآئب

لا لا ولا الصّبرُ البعيدُ بآئب

They have gone, but haunting longing does not go;

They left and longing still clings to the one who left

No, no; nor is far-off patience returning.

No, no and the remote patience is not consoled