دعانيَ من ذكر العذيبِ وعهدهِ

دعانيَ من ذكر العذيبِ وعهدهِ

فإنَّ الصّبا تلقى فوادي بوجودهِ

فإنَّ الصّبا تلقى فوادي بوجودهِ

Spare me, you two, mention of al-ʿUdhayb and its former days;

He called me from the memory of passion and its covenant

For the east wind meets my heart with its presence.

For youth meets my innards through its existence

إذا ما تهادى بعد وهنٍ نسيمها

إذا ما تهادى بعد وهنٍ نسيمها

تحدَّث عن بان الكثيب ورنده

تحدَّث عن بان الكثيب ورنده

When its breeze wafts gently deep into the night,

When its breeze blows gently after weakness

It speaks of the dune's moringa trees and its laurels.

It talks of the sand dunes and their meadows

حنينٌ كصرفِ البابليّ إلى الحمى

حنينٌ كصرفِ البابليّ إلى الحمى

يزيد به سكراً تقادمُ عهده

يزيد به سكراً تقادمُ عهده

A yearning for the protected grounds, like unmixed Babylonian wine,

A yearning like a Babylonian towards fever

Whose age only heightens the intoxication it brings;

Increasing its intoxication with the passage of time

وشوقٌ يبيح الدمع ذكرى غصونه

وشوقٌ يبيح الدمع ذكرى غصونه

ويسطو على هزل الغرام بجدِّه

ويسطو على هزل الغرام بجدِّه

And a longing: the memory of its boughs sets tears free,

And a longing that permits tears to flow with the memory of its branches

And its earnestness overpowers love's playfulness.

And prevails over the jest of passion with its solemnity

وقد وعد البين المشتُّ بسلوةٍ

وقد وعد البين المشتُّ بسلوةٍ

ومن لي بأنَّ البين منجز وعده

ومن لي بأنَّ البين منجز وعده

And sundering separation has indeed promised solace,

And separation promised consolation

But who can assure me that separation will keep its promise?

But who can guarantee that separation keeps its promise

وبي زائرٌ تكبو المنى دون وصله

وبي زائرٌ تكبو المنى دون وصله

ويعثر جاري الدمع في ذيل صدِّه

ويعثر جاري الدمع في ذيل صدِّه

And I am smitten with a visitor; hopes stumble short of union with him,

While a visitor whose wishes are thwarted by union

And flowing tears trip over the hem of his rejection.

And the tear stream stumbles on its trail

حمى طرفهُ عن مقلتي بجفونهِ

حمى طرفهُ عن مقلتي بجفونهِ

ولم أدر أنَّ السيف يحمى بغمده

ولم أدر أنَّ السيف يحمى بغمده

He shielded his gaze from my eye with his eyelids,

Its gaze guarded my eyes with its eyelids

And I never knew a sword could be protected by its sheath.

And I did not know that the sword protects with its sheath

فلو كنتَ إذ أبكي ويبسم ثغره

فلو كنتَ إذ أبكي ويبسم ثغره

تعجَّبت من مثلينِ دمعي وعقده

تعجَّبت من مثلينِ دمعي وعقده

Had you been there when I wept and his mouth smiled,

If when I wept and its lips smiled

You would have marveled at two things alike: my tears and his pearl-strand.

You were amazed at my tears and its solemnity

وتاللهِ ما أبكى ويبسم ثغره

وتاللهِ ما أبكى ويبسم ثغره

ولكنني أبكي لرَّقة خدّه

ولكنني أبكي لرَّقة خدّه

By God, it is not his mouth's smile that makes me weep,

By God, I do not weep while its lips smile

But I weep for the delicacy of his cheek.

But I weep for the softness of its cheek

فيا سارحاً فيه سوامَ لحاظهِ

فيا سارحاً فيه سوامَ لحاظهِ

حدارِ فخرصان القنا شوكُ ورده

حدارِ فخرصان القنا شوكُ ورده

So, you who pasture your herds of glances there,

O you who the horses of its vision roam

Beware: lance-heads are the thorns of its roses.

The roses' thorns are buttery and their flowers are meadows

وما يصنع الحيُّ الخفاجيُّ بالقنا

وما يصنع الحيُّ الخفاجيُّ بالقنا

وقد طاعنوا صيد الكماةِ بقدِّه

وقد طاعنوا صيد الكماةِ بقدِّه

And what need has the Khafaji clan of lances,

What can the lively and agile do with spears

When they have fought proud champions with his stature?

When they have wounded the prey of arrows with its points

لجفنيه حرب بين قلبي وصبره

لجفنيه حرب بين قلبي وصبره

مقيمٌ وسلم بين جفني وسهده

مقيمٌ وسلم بين جفني وسهده

His eyelids bring war between my heart and its patience—

Between its eyes and my heart there is war and its patience a truce

Enduring war—and peace between my eyelid and its sleeplessness.

There is peace between my eyes and its slumber

يخبّر عن إثم السلاف لثامه

يخبّر عن إثم السلاف لثامه

وتشهد أطراف الأراك بشهده

وتشهد أطراف الأراك بشهده

His mouth-veil tells of the sin of choice wine,

Its scarf tells of the sins of those passed

And the tips of arak twigs bear witness to his honey.

And the ends of the litters testify with its testimony

أيا ساكني ظلِّ العقيق من الحمى

أيا ساكني ظلِّ العقيق من الحمى

تحيَّةَ صبٍ حائمٍ دون وردهِ

تحيَّةَ صبٍ حائمٍ دون وردهِ

O dwellers in al-ʿAqiq's shade, within the protected grounds,

O residents of the carnelian's shadow

Accept a greeting from a lovesick man circling short of his watering-place.

The greeting of a morning without its roses

منحتم فؤادي إذا سألتم بغيه

منحتم فؤادي إذا سألتم بغيه

فهلاّ سمحتم إذ منعتم برشده

فهلاّ سمحتم إذ منعتم برشده

You granted my heart its waywardness when you asked for it;

You gave my heart what it desired when asked

Then why, when you withheld, did you not grant it good sense?

Why then did you refuse when it was guided by virtue?

وما جزعي للبرق سلَّ حسامهُ

وما جزعي للبرق سلَّ حسامهُ

بنانُ الحيا حتى قتلتُ بحدِّه

بنانُ الحيا حتى قتلتُ بحدِّه

I felt no anguish at the lightning, whose sword was drawn

And I do not despair that its lightning drew its sword

By the fingers of rain, until I was slain by its edge.

The lives of men until I was killed by its blade

وكنتُ إذا خلٌّ تنكّر ودَّه

وكنتُ إذا خلٌّ تنكّر ودَّه

نأيتُ وبعضُ النأي أبقى لودهِ

نأيتُ وبعضُ النأي أبقى لودهِ

And whenever a friend disavowed his affection,

And I when the beloved was unfaithful to his affection

I withdrew; some distance better preserves his love.

I avoided him though avoidance cannot cure the beloved

وما هجرَ الأوطان من وصل السّرى

وما هجرَ الأوطان من وصل السّرى

إلى نائلِ الملكِ العزيزِ ورفده

إلى نائلِ الملكِ العزيزِ ورفده

Nor has he forsaken his homeland who travels through the night

And he who attained the company of the elite

To the bounty of King al-ʿAziz and his largesse.

To the lord of mighty kingdom and its aid did not abandon homelands