بَاحَتْ بسرِّكَ أدمعٌ تَكِفُ

بَاحَتْ بسرِّكَ أدمعٌ تَكِفُ

فإِلاَمَ تُنكر وهْي تَعتَرفُ

فإِلاَمَ تُنكر وهْي تَعتَرفُ

Dripping tears have disclosed your secret.

My tears betrayed my secret

How long, then, will you deny it while they confess?

So why deny when they confess?

هل يُغِنَينْ عنكَ الجحُودُ إذَا

هل يُغِنَينْ عنكَ الجحُودُ إذَا

شَهِدَ النحولُ عليكَ والكَلَفُ

شَهِدَ النحولُ عليكَ والكَلَفُ

Will denial avail you at all, when

Will denying help you

emaciation and passion testify against you?

When my emaciation and frailty testify against you?

أُخفي غَرامي وَهوَ مُشتَهِرٌ

أُخفي غَرامي وَهوَ مُشتَهِرٌ

بادٍ وأسترُهُ وينكشِفُ

بادٍ وأسترُهُ وينكشِفُ

I hide my passion, though it is known to all,

I hid my passion though it was infamous

plain to see; I conceal it, yet it is laid bare.

Obvious to all yet I concealed it

أسفي لِعُمْرٍ ضاعَ مُذهَبُهُ

أسفي لِعُمْرٍ ضاعَ مُذهَبُهُ

في حبّكُم لو رَدّهُ الأسَفُ

في حبّكُم لو رَدّهُ الأسَفُ

Alas for a lifetime spent in vain

I grieve for a life whose course

in loving you—if only sorrow could restore it!

Was spent in loving you - if only regrets could restore it

وهَوىً عُنِيتُ بِرعْيِ ذمَّتِهِ

وهَوىً عُنِيتُ بِرعْيِ ذمَّتِهِ

فأضَاعَهُ المتلَوِّنُ الطَّرِفُ

فأضَاعَهُ المتلَوِّنُ الطَّرِفُ

And for a love whose covenant I took care to honor,

And a passion I intended to guard

only for the fickle, novelty-seeking one to squander it.

But the fickle one ruined it

أنفقتُ في كَسبي مودَّتِهِم

أنفقتُ في كَسبي مودَّتِهِم

شرخَ الشبابِ فأعوزَ الخلَفُ

شرخَ الشبابِ فأعوزَ الخلَفُ

I spent, in winning their affection,

I spent my youth seeking their love

the prime of youth, and nothing could replace it.

So my successor was left destitute

وصدفتُ عن قولِ الوُشاةِ وما

وصدفتُ عن قولِ الوُشاةِ وما

قالُوهُ فيَّ بِسَمعِهِم شَنَفُ

قالُوهُ فيَّ بِسَمعِهِم شَنَفُ

And I turned away from the slanderers’ words, while what

And turned away from the words of slanderers

they said about me was an earring in their ears.

Which they said of me within earshot

وتنكَّرُوا حتَّى كأَنّهُمُ

وتنكَّرُوا حتَّى كأَنّهُمُ

ما أنكرُوا وُدّي ولا عَرَفُوا

ما أنكرُوا وُدّي ولا عَرَفُوا

And they grew estranged, until it seemed that they

And they denied me until it was as if

had neither disowned my love nor ever known it.

They never recognized my love or acknowledged it

ولُهم لَديَّ علَى ملالِهِمُ

ولُهم لَديَّ علَى ملالِهِمُ

وُدٌّ بِخِلبِ القلبِ مُلْتَحِفُ

وُدٌّ بِخِلبِ القلبِ مُلْتَحِفُ

And for them, despite their weariness, I still hold

Yet in their spite they still have

a love wrapped in the heart’s membrane.

Affection nestled in my heart

بَيني وبينهُم وإن قَرُبُوا

بَيني وبينهُم وإن قَرُبُوا

من هَجرِهمْ أبداً نَوىً قُذُفُ

من هَجرِهمْ أبداً نَوىً قُذُفُ

Between me and them, even when they draw near,

Between them and me, though they shunned me

their shunning leaves forever a vast distance.

My resolve was forever cast away

يا جَائرِينَ وهُم أَعزُّ على

يا جَائرِينَ وهُم أَعزُّ على

قَلبي من الطَّرفِ الذي طَرَفُوا

قَلبي من الطَّرفِ الذي طَرَفُوا

O unjust ones—yet they are dearer to

O you who did me wrong when they are

my heart than the eye they wounded!

Dearer to my heart than the eyes with which they looked

أَغْرَاكُم بالهجر عِلمُكُمُ

أَغْرَاكُم بالهجر عِلمُكُمُ

أنَّي بكمُ مُستَهتَرٌ كَلِفُ

أنَّي بكمُ مُستَهتَرٌ كَلِفُ

You were emboldened to forsake me by knowing

Did my estrangement make you think

that I am besotted with you, consumed by love.

That I was indifferent and nonchalant?