1. سَقَت الغَريب حَمائم الفَجر

    كَأس الحَمام بِراحة الذكر

    The doves of dawn gave the stranger to drink

    the cup of death, from remembrance's palm.

  2. لَم أَدرِ ما قالت لِعجمتها

    وَقَضَيتُ مِن وَجدي وَلَم تَدرِ

    I did not know what they said in their strange tongue,

    and I died of my longing, while they did not know.

  3. غَنَت فَفاضَت مُقلَتايَ وَلَم

    تَطف المَدامع غلة الصَدر

    They sang, and my eyes overflowed; yet

    the tears did not quench the burning thirst in my breast.

  4. كَم أَشرَب الدَمع الهَمول إِذا

    غَنى الحَمام وَقَهقَه القَمري

    How often I drink streaming tears when

    the doves sing and the turtledove laughs aloud!

  5. يا مَن أَلفت الضَر بَعدَهُم

    وَآيست مِن بَرئي وَمِن صَبري

    O you after whom I grew accustomed to suffering,

    and despaired of my recovery and my patience!

  6. حَتّى لَو أَنَّ الضَر فارَقني

    لَبَكيت مِن جَزعي عَلى الضَرّ

    Even if suffering were to leave me,

    I would weep in my anguish for suffering itself.

  7. سَقياً لِأَيام مَضينَ لَنا

    في غَفلَة الأَحداث وَالدَهر

    May rain bless the days that passed for us,

    while misfortunes and Time were heedless,

  8. أَشبهنَ مِن طيب وَمِن قَصر

    تَهويمةَ الساري مَع الفَجر

    which, in sweetness and in brevity, resembled

    a night traveler's brief doze at dawn.

  9. وَلجلق الفَيحاءِ مِن بَلَدٍ

    مَسكية الأَرواح وَالنَشر

    And spacious Jilliq—what a city,

    with musky breezes and fragrance!

  10. هِيَ وَجنة الدُنيا وَرَونَقَها

    وَجَبينُها الزاهي بِلا نَكر

    She is the world's cheek and its splendor,

    and its radiant brow, beyond denial.

  11. هِيَ جَنة في الأَرض واحِدَة

    أَنهارُها مِن تَحتِها تَجري

    She is a paradise, unique upon the earth,

    her rivers flowing beneath her.

  12. قَد صَحَّ مُعتَلّ النَسيم بِها

    فاعلَّ ناشقهُ مِن السُكر

    The ailing breeze has regained health within her,

    so whoever inhales it falls ill with intoxication.

  13. وَصفت ضَمائر مائِها فَبَدا

    ما قَد طَواهُ وَنمَّ بالسرّ

    Her water's hidden depths grew clear, and there appeared

    what it had concealed; it divulged the secret.

  14. يَنسابُ في أَرض قَد اِفتَرَشَت

    بِالزَعفَران وَعَنبَر الشحر

    It flows through a land that has been carpeted

    with saffron and the ambergris of al-Shihr.

  15. فَكَأَنَّما ذابَ اللجين بِها

    فَجَرى عَلى أَرض مِن التبر

    So it seemed that silver had melted there,

    then flowed across a ground of unminted gold.

  16. لا زالَ خفاق النَسيم بِها

    يُحيي موات الهم إِذ يَسري

    May the fluttering breeze there never cease

    reviving what grief has deadened as it wafts.

  17. وَمُهفهف فَتَكَت لَواحِظُهُ

    عَف الضَمائر طاهر الأَزر

    And a slender beloved whose glances slew,

    chaste in his thoughts, pure in his garments.

  18. يَقضي عَليَّ بِسحر مُقلَتِهِ

    أَبَداً وَيَحييني وَلا أَدري

    He slays me with the magic of his eye,

    unceasingly, and revives me, though I do not know.

  19. كَم زارَني جَنح الدُجى وَجَلا

    تَهفو جَوانِحُهُ مِن الذُعر

    How often he visited me in night's darkness, afraid,

    his ribs fluttering with terror,

  20. وَالنجم يَجنَح لِلغُروب وَقد

    قَصَّ الصَباح قَوادم النسر

    while the star inclined toward setting, and

    dawn had clipped the Eagle's foremost wing-feathers.

  21. وَبَدا الهِلال لَيلة بَقِيَت

    مِن عُمرِهِ في آخر الشَهر

    And the crescent appeared, with one night left

    of its life at the month's end.

  22. فَكَأَنَّهُ خلخالُ غانية

    قَد غاصَ مِنهُ النُصف في نَهر

    So it seemed a beautiful woman's anklet,

    half of it submerged in a river.

  23. وَكَأَنَّما المَريخ حينَ بَدا

    نار تَشب لِأَعيُن السَفَر

    And Mars, when it appeared, seemed

    a fire blazing for travelers' eyes.

  24. وَكَأَنَّما الجَوزاءُ راقِصَة

    لِوشاحِها قَلق عَلى الخَصر

    And al-Jawza seemed a dancing girl,

    her sash restless upon her waist.

  25. مُتَنَكِراً خَوف الوُشاة وَما

    واشيهِ غَير النَشر وَالثَغر

    Disguised for fear of tale-bearers, with no

    betrayer but his fragrance and his smile.

  26. لَيسَ السَواد لِيَستسرّ وَهَل

    تَخفي الدُجنة طَلعَةَ البَدر

    Blackness could not keep him hidden; and could

    the gloom conceal the full moon's face?

  27. يَذري عَلى خَديهِ عبرتَهُ

    فَيرصع الياقوت بِالدُرّ

    He scatters his tears over his cheeks,

    studding rubies with pearls.

  28. وَيَقول يا وَيل الرَقيب أَما

    يَخشى الأَثيم مَواقف الحَشر

    And he says, 'Woe to the watcher! Does

    the sinner not fear the stations of the Gathering?

  29. ماذا يَرى فينا وَقَد كرمت

    منا مَضاجِعُنا عَن الوَزر

    What does he see in us, when we have kept

    our beds unsullied by sin?'

  30. وَتَضى بِراحَتِهِ الرِداء كَما

    شَقَ الصَباح كَمائِم الزَهر

    And he drew off the cloak with his palm, just as

    dawn split the sheaths of blossoms.

  31. فَلثَمَت راحَتُهُ وَلَم أَرني

    أَهلاً للثم الخَد وَالنَحر

    So I kissed his palm, not deeming myself

    worthy to kiss his cheek and throat.

  32. لَولا العَفاف وَإِنَّهُ خَلقي

    طَبعاً أَدين بِهِ مَدى عُمري

    Were it not for chastity—and it is my character,

    which I naturally uphold throughout my life—

  33. لَكَرعت مِن عَذب مجاجَتِهِ

    خصر المَراشف عاطر الخَمر

    I would have drunk deeply of his sweet saliva,

    his lips cool, his wine fragrant.

  34. قَد جَدَّ في تَفريقِنا زَمَنٌ

    أَبَداً يُدين بخلة الغَدر

    Time has labored to part us,

    forever devoted to the habit of treachery.

  35. وَبَقيت كَالمَأسور في يَدِهِ

    يا رَب فَأَطلقني مِن الأَسر

    And I remained like a captive in its hand;

    O Lord, release me from captivity!