يا غائبا في القلب حاضر

لمتى وانت احب هاجر

O absent one, present in the heart,

How long will you stay away, dearest one?

اخفيت سرك والهوى

في باطني ما زال ظاهر

I concealed your secret, yet love

remains manifest within me.

ارحم عشيرك يا حبب

با حسنه فتن العشائر

Have mercy on your companion, O beloved,

whose beauty has bewitched the clans.

مالي وطرفك وهو ه

ذا فاتر وعلي قادر

What am I to do with your gaze, which is

so languid, yet has power over me?

فكري بلطف جميل ذا

تك يا رقيق الخصر حائر

My thoughts, at the delicate beauty of your

being, O slender-waisted one, are bewildered.

وحياة عينك لم ازل

طول الدجى بهواك ساهر

By the life of your eye, I have never ceased

keeping vigil through the night in love with you.

ابكي ودمعي ناظم

درراً ملألأة وناثر

I weep, and my tears are stringing

glittering pearls and scattering them.

وإذا نظرت ففي جمي

ع البارزات اليك ناظر

And when I look, in all

visible things I gaze toward you.

اودعت شخصك مهجتي

وعليه من روحي ستائر

I lodged your form within my heart,

and over it are veils of my soul.

مذ صوت في قلبي ارا

ك عددت من اهل البصائر

Since within my heart rang the words 'I see

you,' I have been counted among those of insight.

قد قرح الجفن البكا

رحماك يا نور النواظر

Weeping has made my eyelid sore;

have mercy, O light of eyes!

قاطعتني وانا وحق

ك غير هجرك لا احاذر

You have cut me off, though—by your honor—

I fear nothing but your desertion.

ورميتني بجفاك ان

ن جفاك مثل الليل كافر

And you have assailed me with your coldness; indeed,

your coldness, like the night, is faithless.

لاحظ ولوهي انني

ما جال لي بسواك خاطر

Look upon my lovesick yearning: truly,

no thought of anyone but you has crossed my mind.

معناك قبلة عين روح

ي في المحافل والمحاضر

Your essence is the prayer-direction of my soul's eye,

in gatherings and assemblies.

احيَ وصالك مهجتي

لكنه زاد المسافر

Union with you revived my heart,

yet it is a traveler's provision.

واذا بني هذا البعا

د وعنك قلبي غير صابر

And this separation has melted me away,

while my heart cannot bear to be without you.

لك من جميعي نشر وج

د بث في طي الضمائر

For you, from all my being, comes an outpouring of passion,

diffused within the folds of hidden hearts.

ارفق بجسم هد ل

كن في خفاه هواك عامر

Be gentle with a body laid low,

yet love for you thrives in its hidden depths.

لا عاذلا يخشى ولا

يسليه آنا قول عاذر

It fears no censurer, nor

does a sympathizer's word console it for a moment.

رأيت به لهفات حب

ك والغرام له مناظر

You have seen in it the burning yearnings of love

for you; passion has its outward displays.

بك هام طورا سره

واولو الهيام لهم سرائر

Its secret self once wandered mad with love for you;

and those mad with love have secrets of their own.

يا عادلا بقوامه

وقليبه قاس وجائر

O you, upright in stature,

yet hard and unjust in your little heart,

هون عليك ففجر خد

ك آن تمحوه الدياجر

Go easy, for the dawn of your cheek

will in time be effaced by darkness.

هل شمت ضوءا لم يكن

لغلاغل الظلمات صائر

Have you glimpsed a light that was not

bound for the innermost depths of darkness?

تطوى الدفاتر والمحا

بر والمشاهد والنظاهر

The registers and inkwells will be folded away,

along with the scenes and appearances.

فارحم لترحم واغتنم

اجري وكن للكسر جابر

So show mercy to receive mercy, and claim

my reward; be a mender of the broken.