أترى من أحب ينجز وعدا

أترى من أحب ينجز وعدا

في الهوى أم تراه يحفظ عهدا

في الهوى أم تراه يحفظ عهدا

Do you think the one I love will fulfill a promise

Does he who loved fulfill his promise of love?

in love, or do you think he will keep a pledge?

Or does he rather preserve his vow?

برّح الوجد في الفؤاد ولولا

برّح الوجد في الفؤاد ولولا

حبّه ما شكا فؤادي وجدا

حبّه ما شكا فؤادي وجدا

Yearning grew agonizing within the heart; and were it not for

Passion overwhelmed my heart, else

love for him, my heart would not have complained of yearning.

My heart would not have felt such agony.

نام عن ليل مغرم تيمته

نام عن ليل مغرم تيمته

صبوة تكحل النواظر سهدا

صبوة تكحل النواظر سهدا

He slept, heedless of the night of a lover enslaved by

A lover slept through the night, dreaming of his beloved,

a passion that paints the eyes with the kohl of sleeplessness.

While the eyes of the wakeful were lined with kohl.

فإذا رمت نيله صدّ بخلا

فإذا رمت نيله صدّ بخلا

وإذا رمت قربه زاد بعدا

وإذا رمت قربه زاد بعدا

So whenever I sought to win him, he turned away, miserly;

When he sought to draw near, he was pushed back in rejection;

and whenever I sought nearness to him, he grew more distant.

When he desired closeness, the distance grew wider.

جهدت في الهوى أماني نفسي

جهدت في الهوى أماني نفسي

والأمانيّ تعقب النفس جهدا

والأمانيّ تعقب النفس جهدا

My soul's hopes grew weary in love,

My soul vainly struggled in love,

and hopes bring weariness upon the soul.

For hopes ever elude and torment the soul.

قلت ان الغزال يأنس وصلا

قلت ان الغزال يأنس وصلا

فتمادى به النفار وصدّا

فتمادى به النفار وصدّا

I said the gazelle would grow tame in union,

I thought the gazelle might enjoy companionship,

but his skittishness grew unchecked, and he turned away.

But the ostrich spurned him and turned away.

وتأملت ان للغصن عطفاً

وتأملت ان للغصن عطفاً

بالمعنى فمال عني قدّا

بالمعنى فمال عني قدّا

And I imagined the bough had a kindly inclination

I pondered whether the bough might bend in sympathy,

toward the tormented lover; yet his figure leaned away from me.

But it straightened and rose higher instead.

ظمأى للشّراب لاقى سراباً

ظمأى للشّراب لاقى سراباً

لامعاً يضرم الجوانح وقدا

لامعاً يضرم الجوانح وقدا

My thirst for drink encountered a mirage,

Thirsty, I beheld a shimmering mirage,

gleaming, kindling a blaze within the breast.

Kindling the breasts with false hopes.

ورد القلب في هواك عذاباً

ورد القلب في هواك عذاباً

أيها المانعي من العذب وردا

أيها المانعي من العذب وردا

The heart drank torment in its love for you,

My heart, in its love for you, suffered torment.

O you who deny me a draught of sweet water!

O you who deny the sweetness of love!

يا رياض الخدود دمت وان لم

يا رياض الخدود دمت وان لم

يجتني الطرف من رياضك وردا

يجتني الطرف من رياضك وردا

O gardens of the cheeks, may you endure, even if

O gardens of soft cheeks, may you last, though

the gaze has plucked no roses from your gardens.

My eyes can no longer cull roses from your gardens.

ذقت مرّ الصدود منك مراراً

ذقت مرّ الصدود منك مراراً

فاسقني مرّة من الرّيق شهدا

فاسقني مرّة من الرّيق شهدا

I have tasted the bitterness of your rejection many times;

I have tasted the bitterness of your disdain repeatedly,

so let me drink, just once, the honey of your saliva.

So give me now a taste of the sweetness of your lips.

صبوتي في الهوى وحسنك كل

صبوتي في الهوى وحسنك كل

منهما جل وصفه ان يحدّا

منهما جل وصفه ان يحدّا

My ardor in love and your beauty—each

I have poured out my love for you, and your beauty -

of them is beyond the bounds of description.

Both are beyond any words to confine.

ان يفق حسنك الملاح فاني

ان يفق حسنك الملاح فاني

فقت أهل الهوى غراماً ووجدا

فقت أهل الهوى غراماً ووجدا

If your beauty surpasses the beautiful, then I

If your beauty awakens the sleeper, I have been

have surpassed the lovers in passion and yearning.

roused from heedlessness to passion and agony by love for you.