ما زلت أشتاق ناراً أوقدت لهما

ما زلت أشتاق ناراً أوقدت لهما

حتى ظننت عذاب النار قد عذبا

حتى ظننت عذاب النار قد عذبا

I still yearn for a fire kindled for them both,

I still long for a fire I lit for them both

Until I thought the torment of fire had grown sweet.

Until I thought the torment of fire had tormented them

يعلو الدخان بسود من ذوائبها

يعلو الدخان بسود من ذوائبها

قد عط فيها قناع التبر واستلبا

قد عط فيها قناع التبر واستلبا

The smoke rises with black strands of its tresses;

The smoke rises black from its flames

Within it, the veil of gold has been torn and snatched away.

As if the veil of repentance had been torn off and taken away

قد كللت عنبراً بالمسك ممتزجا

قد كللت عنبراً بالمسك ممتزجا

وطوقت جلناراً واكتست ذهبا

وطوقت جلناراً واكتست ذهبا

It has been crowned with ambergris mingled with musk,

It was adorned with amber mixed with musk

And necklaced with pomegranate blossoms, it has donned gold.

And wore a necklace and was clothed in gold

فالنور يلعب في أطرافها مرحاً

فالنور يلعب في أطرافها مرحاً

والخمر يرعد في اكنافها رهبا

والخمر يرعد في اكنافها رهبا

So light plays merrily along its edges,

So light plays at its edges in delight

And the wine trembles in fear beside it.

And wine thunders in its corners, trembling

وطارعنها شرار لو جرى معه

وطارعنها شرار لو جرى معه

برق دنا أو تلقى كوكباً لكبا

برق دنا أو تلقى كوكباً لكبا

And sparks flew from it: should there race alongside them

Sparks flew from it, if they flowed with

A nearby lightning flash—or should they meet a star—it would stumble.

Lightning or met a planet, they would have extinguished it

لو كان وقت نثار خلته درراً

لو كان وقت نثار خلته درراً

أو كان وقت انتصار خلته شهبا

أو كان وقت انتصار خلته شهبا

If it were a time for scattering gifts, I would take them for pearls;

If it were the time of scattering, it would have made it pearls

Or, were it a time of victory, I would take them for shooting stars.

Or the time of triumph, it would have made it meteors

والليل عريان فيه من ملابسه

والليل عريان فيه من ملابسه

نشوان قد شق أثواب الدجى طربا

نشوان قد شق أثواب الدجى طربا

And night is naked there, stripped of its garments,

And the night is naked, stripped of its clothes

Drunken, it has torn the robes of darkness in rapture.

Exuberant, having torn the clothes of darkness in rapture

أقسمت بالطرف لو أشرفت حين خبت

أقسمت بالطرف لو أشرفت حين خبت

جعلت أنفس أعضائي لها حطبا

جعلت أنفس أعضائي لها حطبا

I swore by the gaze: had I looked on when it died down,

I swore by the eyelid, if it looked when it faded

I would have made my most precious limbs its firewood.

It would have made my body parts its firewood