بِروحِكِ يا سُلَيمى ما لِقلبي

بِروحِكِ يا سُلَيمى ما لِقلبي

لهُ في كلِّ آوِنَةٍ خُفوقُ

لهُ في كلِّ آوِنَةٍ خُفوقُ

By your soul, O Sulayma, what ails my heart,

By your soul, O Sulayma, what ails my heart?

With your spirit, O Suleima, what is there for my heart

that it throbs at every moment?

It throbs at every moment,

It flutters in every moment

ولا سيما إذا هبَّت شمالٌ

ولا سيما إذا هبَّت شمالٌ

به أو أوْمَضت منه البروق

به أو أوْمَضت منه البروق

Most of all when a north wind blows

Especially when a north wind blows

Especially when a north wind blows

upon it, or lightning flashes from that quarter.

Over it, or lightning flashes from it.

Or lightning flashes from it

أمِنْكِ الوَجْدُ قيَّدني بقَيْدٍ

أمِنْكِ الوَجْدُ قيَّدني بقَيْدٍ

فَرُحْتُ ودمع أجفاني طليق

فَرُحْتُ ودمع أجفاني طليق

Is it longing for you that has bound me in fetters?

Is it because of you that longing bound me in fetters,

Your love has tied me with a bond

Then I rejoiced, while the tears of my eyelids ran free.

So I went on, while my eyelids' tears ran free?

I rejoiced while my eyelids' tears flowed

نَهَضْتُ بعبء حُبِّك يا سُلَيمى

نَهَضْتُ بعبء حُبِّك يا سُلَيمى

وإن حَمَّلْتِني ما لا أطيق

وإن حَمَّلْتِني ما لا أطيق

I have shouldered the burden of your love, O Sulayma,

I shouldered the burden of loving you, O Sulayma,

I rose with the burden of your love, O Suleima

even if you make me bear what I cannot endure.

Even though you made me carry what I cannot bear.

Even if you load me with more than I can bear

ويملكني هواكِ وكلُّ حرٍّ

ويملكني هواكِ وكلُّ حرٍّ

لمن يهواه يا سَلمى رقيق

لمن يهواه يا سَلمى رقيق

Your passion possesses me—for every free man

And love for you owns me, and every free man

And your passion posseses me, and every free person

is a slave to the one he loves, O Salma.

Is a slave to the one he loves, O Salma.

Is gentle to whom he loves, O Salma

وأعْجَبُ ما أرى أنّي غريقٌ

وأعْجَبُ ما أرى أنّي غريقٌ

بدمع منه في قلبي حريق

بدمع منه في قلبي حريق

What amazes me most is that I am drowning

And the strangest thing I see is that I am drowning

And I see, to my wonder, that I am drowning

in tears, yet from them a fire burns within my heart.

In tears from which a fire burns within my heart.

In tears from it, with a blaze in my heart

وما فَرَّقْتُ شمل الدَّمع إلاَّ

وما فَرَّقْتُ شمل الدَّمع إلاَّ

غداةَ البين إذ ظعن الفريق

غداةَ البين إذ ظعن الفريق

I never loosed the gathered host of tears except

And I scattered the gathered tears only

And I did not split the gathering of tears

on the morning of parting, when the company departed.

On the morning of parting, when the company departed.

Except the morning after the separation when the caravan stabbed

أُريقُ دَمَ العيون غداةَ سارت

أُريقُ دَمَ العيون غداةَ سارت

ركائبهم وأيُّ دمٍ أُريق

ركائبهم وأيُّ دمٍ أُريق

I poured out the eyes’ blood when their mounts

I shed the blood of my eyes on the morning of the departure

I shed the blood of the eyes the morning they travelled

set forth—and what an abundance of blood I poured!

Of their riding camels—and what blood I shed!

With their mounts, and what blood can I shed

فهل طيفٌ يلمُّ بنا طروقاً

فهل طيفٌ يلمُّ بنا طروقاً

فَيَمْرَحُ عندنا الطيْف الطروق

فَيَمْرَحُ عندنا الطيْف الطروق

Might a phantom visit us by night,

Will a phantom, then, visit us by night,

Is there an apparition that gathers us, wandering,

and that nocturnal phantom frolic in our presence?

So the night-visiting phantom may frolic with us?

So the graceful phantom wanders among us

وهل نزل الحيا بالوبل ليلاً

وهل نزل الحيا بالوبل ليلاً

بها واعشوشب الروض الأنيق

بها واعشوشب الروض الأنيق

And did the life-giving rain fall there in torrents by night,

And has life-giving rain fallen in torrents by night

Did the wildlife descend to the marsh at night

so that the lovely meadow grew lush with grass?

There, and has the lovely meadow grown lush with grass?

With it, and the thickets of the elegant garden

وهل ضَحِكَ الأقاح على رباها

وهل ضَحِكَ الأقاح على رباها

وخضَّبَ خدَّه فيها الشقيق

وخضَّبَ خدَّه فيها الشقيق

And did the daisies smile upon its hills,

And have the daisies laughed upon its hills,

Did the brambles laugh at their female guardian

while the red anemone dyed its cheek there?

And has the anemone dyed its cheek there?

And the anemone dyed its cheek among them

فَقد مَرَّتْ لنا فيها ليالٍ

فَقد مَرَّتْ لنا فيها ليالٍ

نشاوى بالمدام فلا نفيق

نشاوى بالمدام فلا نفيق

For indeed, nights once passed for us there

For nights have passed for us there,

For we have passed nights of pleasure therein

when, drunk with wine, we never sobered.

Drunk with wine, so we never sober up.

Drinking wine, so we do not awaken