تعجَّبُ هندٌ من حنيني إلى اللَّمي

تعجَّبُ هندٌ من حنيني إلى اللَّمي

وهلَ عجبٌ صادٍ يحن إلى وردِ

وهلَ عجبٌ صادٍ يحن إلى وردِ

Hind marvels at my yearning for dusky lips.

A Hindi woman wonders at my yearning for the waterhole,

And is it strange that a thirsty man yearns for a watering place?

Yet is it any wonder that one parched should yearn for the rose's draught?

رويدكِ ما أمسكتِ قلباً براحةٍ

رويدكِ ما أمسكتِ قلباً براحةٍ

غراماً ولا نهنهتِ دمعاً على خدِّ

غراماً ولا نهنهتِ دمعاً على خدِّ

Easy now! You have never held a heart in your palm

Gently, girl - you have never held a heart at peace,

Out of passion, nor checked tears upon a cheek.

Consumed with passion, or shed a tear down your cheek.

فلا ذقتِ ما طعمُ الصبابةِ والنَّوى

فلا ذقتِ ما طعمُ الصبابةِ والنَّوى

ولا بتِ من لقيا حبيبِ على وعد

ولا بتِ من لقيا حبيبِ على وعد

So you have never tasted the savor of longing and separation,

For you've not tasted the savor of youth and bliss,

Nor spent a night awaiting a promised meeting with a beloved.

Or passed a night with your lover as promised.

إذا ما حكاكِ البرق عند ابتسامهٍ

إذا ما حكاكِ البرق عند ابتسامهٍ

بكيتُ بكاءَ الثاكلات من الوجد

بكيتُ بكاءَ الثاكلات من الوجد

Whenever lightning mimics you in its smile,

When lightning tells you of his smile,

I weep like bereaved mothers, from love's anguish.

I weep a bereft woman's tears of anguish.

وأشتاق هيف المائسات من القنا

وأشتاق هيف المائسات من القنا

ولولاكمُ ما شاقني مائسُ القدِّ

ولولاكمُ ما شاقني مائسُ القدِّ

And I yearn for the slender, swaying spears;

And I yearn with the longing of the sleepless,

And were it not for you, no swaying figure would stir my longing.

Were it not for you, no yearning would have wasted me.

ولولا ولوعٌ باللحاظ علمته

ولولا ولوعٌ باللحاظ علمته

لما بتُّ أصبو من حسامٍ إلى حدِّ

لما بتُّ أصبو من حسامٍ إلى حدِّ

And were it not for a passion for glances that I have known,

Were it not for the agony of parting I know,

I would not spend the night yearning for a sword's edge.

I'd not stay wakeful till dawn from dusk.

رعى الله قلباً لا يفارق صبوةً

رعى الله قلباً لا يفارق صبوةً

إلى ذات حسنٍ أو حنيناً إلى مجد

إلى ذات حسنٍ أو حنيناً إلى مجد

May God guard a heart that never forsakes passion

May God guard a heart that leaves not the joy of youth

For a beautiful woman, or yearning for glory.

For some beauty, or yearning for glory.

يهيمُ بذات العقد لا كلفاً بهِ

يهيمُ بذات العقد لا كلفاً بهِ

ولكنهُ شوقٌ إلى موضع العقد

ولكنهُ شوقٌ إلى موضع العقد

It is enraptured by the necklace's wearer, not enamored of it,

He craves that necklace not out of affectation,

But it is longing for the place where the necklace rests.

But from a longing for where the necklace lay.

وقالت تولىَّ البعدُ عنَّا بودّهِ

وقالت تولىَّ البعدُ عنَّا بودّهِ

حنانيكِ مثلي لا يحول مع البعد

حنانيكِ مثلي لا يحول مع البعد

And she said, 'Distance has carried his love away from us.'

"Absence has turned his love from me," she said.

Have mercy! One like me does not change with distance.

Can love like mine change with absence?

ثكلتُ محباً غيَّر النأي عهدهُ

ثكلتُ محباً غيَّر النأي عهدهُ

وأم كان شيء لا يدوم على عهد

وأم كان شيء لا يدوم على عهد

May I be bereft of a lover whose pledge distance has changed,

I've lost a lover who broke his vow,

And the mother of anything that was not steadfast in keeping a pledge [wording unclear].

Yet was it anything to last unbroken?