شكوتُ إليها لا شكوتُ صبَابتي

شكوتُ إليها لا شكوتُ صبَابتي

فقالت سقِيمُ الحُبِّ من بات شاكِيا

فقالت سقِيمُ الحُبِّ من بات شاكِيا

I complained to her—may I never complain!—of my ardent longing.

I complained to her, though I did not complain of my youthfulness,

She said, "Love-sick is whoever spends the night complaining."

So she said, “He who spends the night complaining is sick with love.”

فلمّا منعت الشَّكْوَ مِنّي تَجلُّداً

فلمّا منعت الشَّكْوَ مِنّي تَجلُّداً

وأدْمَنْتُه حتّى غدا القلبُ سالِيا

وأدْمَنْتُه حتّى غدا القلبُ سالِيا

So when I restrained my complaints, steeling myself,

When she refused to hear my complaints out of patience,

and persisted in it until my heart no longer pined,

And I persisted till my heart began to flow,

أَماطتْ عنِ الخدَّيْنِ فضلَ قِناعِها

أَماطتْ عنِ الخدَّيْنِ فضلَ قِناعِها

وقالت أَنِسياناً لنا أم تَناسيَا

وقالت أَنِسياناً لنا أم تَناسيَا

she drew the loose part of her veil away from her cheeks,

She removed the veil from her cheeks,

and said, "Have you forgotten us, or are you pretending to forget?"

And said, “Is it intimacy for us or forgetting?”

فقلتُ لها واستعجَلَتْني بوادِرٌ

فقلتُ لها واستعجَلَتْني بوادِرٌ

من الشّوقِ ما أَبْقَتْ عليَّ ولا لِيَا

من الشّوقِ ما أَبْقَتْ عليَّ ولا لِيَا

So I said to her, spurred on by sudden surges

So I said to her as early signs

of longing that neither spared me nor left me anything:

Of passion, leaving me no respite, hastened me,

شهادةَ حَقٍّ أُشْهدُ اللهَ أننّي

شهادةَ حَقٍّ أُشْهدُ اللهَ أننّي

سَلَوْتُ ولكن قد أَراني بَدَا لِيَا

سَلَوْتُ ولكن قد أَراني بَدَا لِيَا

"In truthful testimony, I call God to witness that I

“I bear witness before God that I have found solace,

had ceased to pine—but now I find I have had a change of heart."

But it now appears to me I have found renewal.”