عن الحبّ ما لي كلما رمت سلوانا

عن الحبّ ما لي كلما رمت سلوانا

أرى حشو أحشائي من الشوق نيرانا

أرى حشو أحشائي من الشوق نيرانا

What ails me that, whenever I seek to forget love,

Whenever I speak of love, I see fires of longing blazing in my heart

What ails me regarding love? Whenever I sought solace,

I see flames of longing filling my entrails?

Had all the seas poured out, the heat would have multiplied

I found the core of my being filled with the fires of longing.

لواعج لو أن البحار جميعها

لواعج لو أن البحار جميعها

صببن لكان الحر أضعاف ما كانا

صببن لكان الحر أضعاف ما كانا

Burning pangs—were all the seas

When the breeze blows, it renews souls of varying hues

Burning pangs so intense, that if all the seas were

Poured upon them, the heat would be many times what it was.

Had I drunk all the water on earth, I would still remain thirsty

Poured upon them, the heat would only multiply in force.

تئج إذا ما نجد هبّ نسيمها

تئج إذا ما نجد هبّ نسيمها

وتذكو بأرواح تناوح ألوانا

وتذكو بأرواح تناوح ألوانا

They blaze whenever Najd's breeze stirs,

If I say our homes once stood close, their nearness brings me more sorrow

It rages whenever the breeze of Najd blows,

And flare with winds blowing against one another in varied ways.

Neither closeness alleviates me, nor does distance benefit me

And flares up with winds that wail in shifting hues.

فلو أنّ ماء الأرض طرّاً شربته

فلو أنّ ماء الأرض طرّاً شربته

لما نالني ريٌّ ولا زلت ظمآنا

لما نالني ريٌّ ولا زلت ظمآنا

So even if I drank all the water on earth,

In our closeness, passion drove me to distraction

So even if I were to drink all the waters of the earth,

My thirst would not be quenched, and I would remain thirsty.

In our distance, yearning lacerates my entrails like parsing verse

No quenching would reach me, and I would remain athirst.

وإن قلت يوما قد تدانت ديارنا

وإن قلت يوما قد تدانت ديارنا

لأسلو عنهم زادني القرب أشجانا

لأسلو عنهم زادني القرب أشجانا

And if one day I said, 'Our dwellings have drawn near,'

My longing grows with every visit, my torment with every reunion

If I said one day, "Our dwellings have drawn near,"

Hoping to forget them, nearness would only increase my sorrows.

O my wounded heart, enduring separation and union, your remedy is dear and gentle

Hoping to find peace, the nearness only increased my sorrows.

فما القرب لي شاف ولا البعد نافع

فما القرب لي شاف ولا البعد نافع

وفي قربنا عشق دعاني هيمانا

وفي قربنا عشق دعاني هيمانا

So nearness does not heal me, nor does distance help;

O my liver, melt in sorrow and burn in agony

For proximity is no cure for me, nor is distance of any use;

And in our closeness is a passion that summons me, wild with love.

O my eyes, you remain flooded with tears

In our nearness lies a passion that leaves me wandering madly,

وفي بعدنا شوق يقطع مهجتي

وفي بعدنا شوق يقطع مهجتي

كتقطيع بيت الشعر للنظم ميزانا

كتقطيع بيت الشعر للنظم ميزانا

And in our distance is a longing that tears my soul apart,

I ask about myself, for I have lost my way

And in our distance is a longing that severs my soul,

As a line of poetry is divided to measure its meter.

My madness was like what they say of love-sickness

Like the scansion of a poetic verse to measure its meter.

فيزداد شوقي كلما زدت قربة

فيزداد شوقي كلما زدت قربة

ويزداد وجدي كلما زدت عرفانا

ويزداد وجدي كلما زدت عرفانا

So my longing grows whenever I grow nearer,

I ask everyone I meet about me, mesmerized

Thus my longing increases the closer I draw,

And my ardor grows whenever I gain more knowledge.

Not avoiding men or riders along the way

And my ecstasy grows the more I increase in knowledge.

فيا قلبي المجروح بالبعد واللقا

فيا قلبي المجروح بالبعد واللقا

دواك عزيز لست تنفكّ ولهانا

دواك عزيز لست تنفكّ ولهانا

So, O my heart, wounded by distance and meeting,

I say to them, who is it that possesses me

O my heart, wounded by both distance and encounter,

Your cure is elusive; you never cease to be love-distraught.

Taking me enslaved for eternity, smooth-cheeked

Your cure is rare; you shall never cease to be lovelorn.

ويا كبدي ذوبي أسىً وتحرّقاً

ويا كبدي ذوبي أسىً وتحرّقاً

ويا ناظري لا زلت بالدمع غرقانا

ويا ناظري لا زلت بالدمع غرقانا

And O my liver, melt in sorrow and burning anguish,

I ask about Nejd, where my campsite lies

And O my liver, melt away in sorrow and burning,

And O my eye, may you ever be drowned in tears.

Seeking the garden at Ruqumatayn and Nu’man

And O my eyes, may you remain forever drowned in tears.

أسائل عن نفسي فإني ضللتها

أسائل عن نفسي فإني ضللتها

وكان جنوني مثل ما قيل أفنانا

وكان جنوني مثل ما قيل أفنانا

I ask after my soul, for I have lost it,

Abodes that were my summer and winter lodgings

I ask about my own self, for I have lost it,

And my madness was, as they say, of many kinds.

Tomorrow in them I will be called boy and old man

And my madness has become, as they say, of many branches.

أسائل من لاقيت عنّي والهاً

أسائل من لاقيت عنّي والهاً

ولا أتحاشاهم رجالاً وركبانا

ولا أتحاشاهم رجالاً وركبانا

Distraught, I ask whomever I meet about myself,

Wondrously, I cared for none but my beloved

In my distraction, I ask those I meet about myself,

And I shun none of them, whether on foot or mounted.

Loving no other, for my beloved was peerless

Shying away from neither men on foot nor riders.

أقول لهم من ذا الذي هو جامعي

أقول لهم من ذا الذي هو جامعي

ويأخذني عبدا مدى الدهر حلوانا

ويأخذني عبدا مدى الدهر حلوانا

I say to them, 'Who is it who will gather me together,

I am the lover, the beloved, and the love entire

I say to them: Who is the one to gather my fragments,

And take me as a slave for all time, as recompense?'

In secret and openly, I am the lover and the loved

And take me as a slave for all time, as a freely given gift?

وأسألُ عن نجد وفيه مخيّمي

وأسألُ عن نجد وفيه مخيّمي

وأطلب روض الرقمتين ونعمانا

وأطلب روض الرقمتين ونعمانا

And I ask about Najd, where my camp is,

I ask about Najd, though my camp is pitched within it,

And seek al-Raqmatayn's meadow and Nu'man,

And I seek the meadows of al-Raqmatayn and Na'man;

منازل كانت لي مصيفا ومربعا

منازل كانت لي مصيفا ومربعا

غداة بها أدعى صبيا وشيبانا

غداة بها أدعى صبيا وشيبانا

Abodes that were my summer and spring retreats,

Dwellings that were once my summer and spring abodes,

When there I was called a boy and a gray-haired man.

Where I was called by name in both my youth and old age.

ومن عجب ما همت إلا بمهجتي

ومن عجب ما همت إلا بمهجتي

ولا عشقت نفسي سواها وما كانا

ولا عشقت نفسي سواها وما كانا

And it is a wonder: I have loved only my own soul,

And it is a wonder that I fell in love with nothing but my own soul,

Nor has my soul loved any but itself; it has never been otherwise.

And my self loved nothing other than itself, nor has it ever.

أنا الحبّ والمحبوب والحب جملة

أنا الحبّ والمحبوب والحب جملة

أنا العاشق المعشوق سرا وإعلانا

أنا العاشق المعشوق سرا وإعلانا

I am the lover, the beloved, and love, all together;

I am the Love, the Beloved, and the Loving all in one;

I am the lover and the beloved, in secret and openly.

I am the Lover and the Adored, in secret and in open proclamation.