1. كُلُ يَومٍ تَزيد فيهِ شُجوني

    وَكُروبي وَعِلَتي وَأَنيني

    Each day my tangled sorrows increase,

    my anguish, my sickness, and my moaning.

  2. كُلَما لَجَّ في الصُدود تَمادى ال

    قلب في حُبِهِ وَجدَّ جُنوني

    Whenever he persists in turning away, the

    heart persists in loving him, and my madness grows.

  3. كَم جَفاني مِن غَير ذِنب وَكَم جَر

    عَني صَدُهُ كُؤوس المُنون

    How often he shunned me though guiltless, and how often he made

    me drink, through his rebuff, the cups of death.

  4. دَرَست لي عَيناهُ وَحياً خَفيّاً

    فَاِستَرَقَت قَلبي بِسِحرٍ مُبين

    His eyes taught me a hidden revelation,

    and stole my heart away with manifest magic.

  5. رَشقتني بِأَسهُم تَقتل المر

    مي مَهما رَنت بِغَير رَنين

    She shot me with arrows that kill their

    mark whenever she glances, without a sound.

  6. فَتَلَقيتُها بِقَلبٍ جَريح

    وَفُؤاد مضنى وَصَبر حرون

    I received them with a wounded heart,

    an exhausted soul, and ink that balked.

  7. وَجهُهُ جَنة وَلَكن غَدا الأَعرا

    ض مِن دونِها عَذاب الهون

    His face is paradise; yet the barriers of honor have become,

    before it, a torment of humiliation.

  8. مِن مُجيري مِن جَورِهِ مِن نَصيري

    مِن عَذيري مِن مسعدي مِن مَعيني

    Who will shield me from his tyranny? Who will aid me?

    Who will hear my plea, cheer me, and sustain me?

  9. قَد أَرى الشامِتين صَبراً وَلا صَبر

    وَزور تَجلد المَحزون

    I show the gloaters patience—only a false

    display of the grief-stricken man’s endurance.

  10. وَإِذا مَوَّهَ المُحب وَداجى

    فَضَحتُهُ إِمارة المَفتون

    When the lover dissembles and conceals,

    the mark of infatuation exposes him.

  11. أَترى حاسِدي رَماني بِسُلوا

    ن فَعاقبت مُهجَتي بِالظُنون

    Do you think my envier charged me with forgetting you,

    so you punished my soul with suspicions?

  12. أَكرَم اللَه سَمع مَولايَ أَن يَق

    بل يَوماً افك البَغيض المُهين

    God keep my lord’s ears too noble ever to

    accept the vile, hateful one’s slander.

  13. لا وَأَجفانك المراض اللَواتي

    سَلبت صِحَتي فند سُكوني

    No—by your languishing eyelids, which

    robbed me of health and denied me rest—

  14. لَم يَدرِ لي السُلوّ يَوماً بِبال

    وَبِذاك العُيون مِنكَ ضَميني

    forgetfulness never once crossed my mind;

    by those eyes of yours, draw me close.

  15. كَيفَ أَسلوك يا سُروري بِحال

    وَحَياتي حُب الجَمال المَصون

    How could I forget you, my joy, in any state,

    when my very life is love of guarded beauty?

  16. يا خَليليَّ إِن وَجدي تَعَدى

    وَهُمومي أَودَت بِقَلبي الحَزين

    My two friends, my passion has passed all bounds,

    and my cares have destroyed my grieving heart.

  17. هُوَ ما تَعلمان هَمٌّ لِمَن يُب

    صر باد وَرَبَّ هَمٍّ كَمين

    It is, as you both know, a grief apparent to whoever sees it;

    yet many a grief lies hidden.

  18. عَرّجا بي عَلى الرِياض سَحيراً

    وَهِلال الظَلماءِ كَالعَرجون

    Turn aside with me to the gardens at daybreak,

    while darkness’s crescent curves like a date-palm stalk,

  19. وَجَبين الصُبح الشَريق كَمينٌ

    في حَشا اللَيل مودَع كَالجَنين

    and the radiant brow of dawn lies hidden,

    lodged in night’s breast like an unborn child.

  20. وَثُغور الأَقاح تَضحَك في الرَو

    ض إِذا ما بَكَت جُفون الدُجون

    The mouths of daisies laugh across the

    meadow whenever the eyelids of darkness weep.

  21. نَزفت مُقلَتي دَمي بَعدَ دَمعي

    فَأَسقِياني صَرفاً دَم الزَرجون

    My eye poured out my blood after its tears;

    so give me, unmixed, the grapevine’s blood to drink.

  22. لا أَرى مَزجَها إِذا ما جَفا الأَل

    ف المَوافي بِغَير ماء الجُفون

    I see no way to mix it, when my faithful beloved has turned

    away, except with the water of weeping eyes.

  23. ما تَسلى الكِرام قَدماً بِغَير ال

    راح عَن جَفوة الزَمان الدون

    The noble of old found no solace except in

    wine against the harshness of ignoble time.

  24. فَأَسقياني وَغَنيانيَ حَتّى

    لا تَقل الكاس الدهاق يَميني

    So pour for me, and sing to me, until

    the brimming cup never leaves my right hand.

  25. فَعَسى تَصرف الهُموم الحَميا

    عَن وَحيد عَان بِغَير مَعين

    Perhaps strong wine will drive the cares

    from a lonely captive who has no helper;

  26. وَلَعَلي أَغيب عَني إِلى أَن

    تَنقَضي غَفلة الزَمان الخُؤُون

    perhaps I shall lose myself until

    treacherous time’s spell of heedlessness has passed.

  27. قَد تَجافى دَهري فَذب يا فُؤادي

    وَتَنائى أَلفي فيا نَفس بَيني

    My age has turned away from me—melt, then, my heart;

    my beloved has gone far—so, my soul, depart.