1. بَكَيت لِتَغريد الحَمائم في الفَجر

    وَبرَّح بي وَجدي وزايلني صَبري

    I wept at the doves' singing at dawn,

    And my longing tormented me, and my patience deserted me.

  2. وَمِلتُ كَما مالَ النَزيف كَأَنَّما

    سَقاني حَنين الوَرق كَأساً مِن الخَمر

    I swayed as a drunken man sways, as though

    The plaintive cooing of the gray doves had given me a cup of wine.

  3. وَسارَ بِما أَيقينَ لي مِن تَجَلُدي

    نَسيم بَريّا الظاعِنين أَني يَسري

    And carried away what they had left me of my fortitude

    A breeze bearing the departing travelers' scent, wherever it drifted.

  4. خُذي جَسَداً بِأَريح يَحكيك رِقَةً

    فَلاقي بِهِ قَلباً مَع المَركب في أَسرِ

    Take a body, O breeze, as delicate as you,

    Then with it meet a heart held captive with the caravan.

  5. أَيا جسميَ البالي تَجَسَمت مِن ضَناً

    وَيا كَيدي الحَرا تَكونتِ مِن جَمر

    O my wasted body, you took form from wasting sickness;

    And O my burning liver, you were formed from embers.

  6. بَراني الأَسى وَالحُزنُ بَعدَ رَحيلُهُم

    فَلم يتَرُكا مني سِوى عِبرة تَجري

    Grief and sorrow wore me away after their departure,

    Leaving nothing of me but a flowing tear.

  7. غَدوا يَستحنون المطيَّ عَلى السَرى

    فَهَل في جُمود الدَمع للصَب مِن عُذر

    They set out urging their mounts to travel by night;

    Has the lovesick any excuse for tears that will not flow?

  8. وَبانوا وَجِسمي فيهِ بَعضُ بَقيةٍ

    فَلم يَبقَ مِنهُ ما يُصَوَّر في فكر

    They departed while some remnant of my body remained,

    But nothing remains of it that thought could picture.

  9. تَنازَع روحي لِلخُروج يَد النَوى

    فَتَحبِسُها عَنهُ الأَماني في نَحري

    The hand of separation tugs at my soul to make it leave,

    But hopes hold it back from leaving, within my throat.

  10. أَعلل قَلبي بِالمُنى أَن سَنَلتَقي

    وَأَحسبها كَالآل يَلمَع في القَفر

    I soothe my heart with hopes that we shall meet,

    And deem them like a mirage gleaming in the desert.

  11. سَفَكتُم دَمي عَمداً وَلَم تَنحَرِجوا

    وَعاقبتُموني بِالمَنون بِلا وَزر

    You deliberately shed my blood, without scruple,

    And punished me with death for no sin.

  12. لَقَد رَقَّ لي ما تَجَرَعت مِن أَسىً

    فُؤاد عَذولي وَهُوَ أَقسى مِن الصَخر

    The sorrow I swallowed won me the pity

    Of my reproacher's heart, though harder than stone.

  13. سُهادٌ وَسقمٌ وَاِشتِياقٌ وَلَوعَةٌ

    وَصُبحٌ بِلا ضوء وَلَيلٌ بِلا فَجر

    Sleeplessness, sickness, yearning, and anguish;

    A morning without light, a night without dawn;

  14. وَدَمعٌ بِلا جفن وَعَينٌ بِلا كَرى

    وَقَلبٌ بِلا أنسٍ وَسِرٌّ بِلا ستر

    Tears without an eyelid, an eye without sleep;

    A heart without companionship, a secret without concealment.

  15. وَكَم قائِلٍ جَهلاً نسلَّ بِغَيرِهِ

    وَلا تَجرِ ذِكراهُ بِسرٍّ وَلا جَهر

    And many a speaker says in ignorance, “Find solace in another,

    And do not mention him, in secret or aloud.”

  16. وَكَيفَ تَرى يَنسى العَليل شِفاؤُهُ

    وَلَيسَ سلوّ الأَلف مِن خُلُق الحَرّ

    How, do you think, could a sick man forget his cure?

    For forgetting the beloved is not a noble man's nature.

  17. وَهَل يَمنَع الظَمآن طالَ بِهِ الظَما

    مِن أَن يَتمنى بارد الماءِ في السر

    Can the thirsty man, whose thirst has long endured, be forbidden

    To wish in secret for cool water?

  18. أَلا فَأدِر ذِكراهٌ صِرفاً فَإِنَّني

    أَغيب بِهِ عَن حالة الصَحو وَالسُكرِ

    Come, pass his remembrance round undiluted, for I

    Through it pass beyond both sobriety and drunkenness.

  19. أُحِب نُموّ الوَجد فيهِ صَبابَةً

    وَإِن كانَ يَفضي بي إِلى البُؤس وَالضَر

    I love my passion for him to grow in ardor,

    Even if it leads me to misery and harm.

  20. فَلو ثمَّ وَجدٌ فَوقَ وَجدي لَعاشِقٍ

    تَمنيتُهُ أَن يَستَحيل إِلى صَدري

    If any lover had a passion greater than mine,

    I would wish it transferred into my breast.

  21. وَلَم أَنسَ إِذ أَحيا قَتيل صُدوده

    وَقَد زارَ مِن خَوف الوُشاةِ عَلى زَعر

    Nor have I forgotten when he revived the victim of his rejection,

    When he visited, trembling in fear of the tale-bearers.

  22. وَقَرطس أَحشائي بِأَسهُم لِحظِهِ

    رَماني بِها عَمداً عِن النَظَر الشَذر

    And struck my entrails squarely with the arrows of his gaze;

    He shot them at me deliberately with a sidelong look.

  23. فَعاطيتُهُ كَأس العِتاب مَشوبَةً

    بِدَمع حَكى مِن فَيضِهِ زَخرة البَحر

    Then I offered him a cup of reproach, mixed

    With tears whose flood resembled the sea's swell.

  24. وَأَخجَلتُهُ حَتّى تَلهب خَدهُ

    تَلهب أَحشائي مِن الصَد وَالَهَجر

    And I shamed him until his cheek blazed

    As my entrails blazed from rebuff and estrangement.

  25. وَرضت بِها أَخلاقُهُ وَهِيَ صَعبَةٌ

    فَلانَت وَأَهوى مِن قُطوب إِلى بَشَر

    And with it I tamed his temper, though it was unruly;

    So it softened, and he turned from frowning to cheer.

  26. وَحياً يُمسك عطَّرتهُ أَكُفُهُ

    وَأَنفاسُهُ أَذكى مِن المسك وَالعُطر

    And he greeted me with musk his hands had perfumed;

    His breath was more fragrant than musk and perfume.

  27. وَبِتنا نُدير الأُنس وَاللَيل قَد سَجا

    وَقَد غَربت شَمس المُدامَة في البَدر

    We spent the night passing intimacy between us, while the night lay still,

    And the sun of wine had set within the full moon.

  28. وَحَليت بِالياقوت فضة نَحرِهِ

    وَجيد الدُجا حالَ بِأَنجُمِهِ الزُهر

    I adorned the silver of his throat with rubies,

    While night's neck was adorned with its shining stars.

  29. يُخالسني روحي بِسحر جُفونِهِ

    فَأَقضي بِهِ وَجداً وَاحياً وَلا أَدري

    He steals my soul with the magic of his eyelids,

    So through him I die of longing and live, without knowing.

  30. يَقول وَقَد أَوهى النُعاس جُفونَهُ

    وَأَغمَد سَيف اللَحظ مِنهُ عَلى قسر

    He says, while drowsiness has weakened his eyelids

    And forcibly sheathed the sword of his glance,

  31. أُريدُ نُعيد الأُنس قُلت لَهُ مَتى

    فَيَوم تَلاقَينا أَبيع بِهِ عُمري

    “I want us to renew our intimacy.” I asked him, “When?

    For a day of our meeting, I would sell my lifetime.”

  32. فَقالَ وَبَدر اللَيل لِلغَرب قَد هَوى

    وَجِفنُ الدُجا يَبكي مِن الهَجر بِالقَطر

    He answered, while the full moon of night had sunk westward

    And night's eyelid wept drops at parting,

  33. إِذا اِمتَلَأَت مِن دَمع هَذا ثُغور ذا

    فَقُلتُ لَهُ ماذا فَأومى إِلى البَدر

    “When that one's mouths fill with this one's tears.”

    I asked him, “What?” and he gestured toward the full moon.

  34. وَأَغفى وَاستار الظَلام تَكشفت

    قَليلاً وَقَد كادَ الصَباحُ بِنا يَغري

    He dozed, and the veils of darkness parted

    A little, as morning was about to betray us.

  35. سَقيت السَحاب الجون يا زَمَناً مَضى

    وَلَم يَبقَ مِنهُ لِلمشوق سِوى الذكر

    May the dark clouds water you, O bygone time,

    Of which nothing remains for the yearning lover but remembrance.

  36. أَحبتنا لَم يَبقَ صَبر وَلَو بَقي

    لَنا بَعدَكُم صَبر لَكانَ مِن الغَدر

    Our beloved ones, no patience remains; and if

    Any patience remained to us after you, it would be betrayal.

  37. طوبنا بِساط الأُنس وَاللَهو بَعدَكُم

    وَهَذا بِساط الحُزن وَالدَمع في نَشر

    We folded up the carpet of intimacy and merriment after you,

    And here the carpet of sorrow and tears lies spread.

  38. عَسى تبرد الأَحشاء مِن حَرقة الجَوى

    دُموع الأَسى وَالشَوق إِن لَم تَكُن تَبري

    May my entrails be cooled from love's burning anguish

    By tears of sorrow and yearning, even if they cannot heal.

  39. تَناسيتُمونا بَعدَ أُنس وَأُلفة

    أَحب إِلى الجاني مِن الأَمن وَالنَصر

    You deliberately forgot us after intimacy and affection

    Dearer to a wrongdoer than safety and victory.

  40. أَتاحَ لَنا تَفريقنا الدَهر غادِراً

    وَلا غُرو أَنَّ الغَدر مِن شِيَم الدَهر

    Treacherous Time brought about our separation,

    And no wonder: treachery is among Time's traits.

  41. فَيا قَلب صَبراً لِلقَضا وَتَوكلاً

    فَلَيسَ لِغَير اللَهِ شَيءٌ مِن الأَمرِ

    So, O heart, patience with fate, and trust!

    For none but God has any share in command.