أُتيحَ لِقَلبي مِن شَقاوَةِ جَدِّهِ

أُتيحَ لِقَلبي مِن شَقاوَةِ جَدِّهِ

غَزالٌ غَريرٌ فاتِرُ الطَرفِ ساحِرُه

غَزالٌ غَريرٌ فاتِرُ الطَرفِ ساحِرُه

Through its ill fortune, my heart was granted

My heart was granted from its ancestor’s misery

a guileless gazelle, languid of gaze, who bewitches it.

A gazelle, charming with languid eyes bewitching it

تَقَنَّصَ عَقلي دَلُّهُ وَأَعانَهُ

تَقَنَّصَ عَقلي دَلُّهُ وَأَعانَهُ

عَلى قَبضِ روحي ثَغرُهُ وَمَحاجِرُه

عَلى قَبضِ روحي ثَغرُهُ وَمَحاجِرُه

His coy charm ensnared my mind, and was aided

It hunted down my reason, allured it and aided it

in seizing my soul by his mouth and the hollows of his eyes.

To seize my soul with its mouth and teeth

وُقَد فَعَلَت كُلَّ الأَفاعيلِ عَينُهُ

وُقَد فَعَلَت كُلَّ الأَفاعيلِ عَينُهُ

بِجِسمي فَأَمسى وَالسِقامُ مُخامِرُه

بِجِسمي فَأَمسى وَالسِقامُ مُخامِرُه

And his eye has wrought every kind of mischief

And its eyes did all the actions

upon my body, leaving it steeped in sickness.

To my body so sickness lingered with it

فَأَصبَحتُ قَد أَعيَت بِأَمرِيَ حيلَتي

فَأَصبَحتُ قَد أَعيَت بِأَمرِيَ حيلَتي

وَأَعيا بِهِ ذو الرَأيِ مِمَّن أُشاوِرُه

وَأَعيا بِهِ ذو الرَأيِ مِمَّن أُشاوِرُه

So now I find that my resourcefulness has failed in my plight,

So I became exhausted by my condition and means

and the man of sound judgment among those I consult is baffled by it.

And the wise I consult were baffled by it

وَأَوَّلُ هَذا الحُبِّ حُزنٌ مُلازِمٌ

وَأَوَّلُ هَذا الحُبِّ حُزنٌ مُلازِمٌ

وَهَمٌّ يُطيرُ النَومَ وَالمَوتُ آخِرُه

وَهَمٌّ يُطيرُ النَومَ وَالمَوتُ آخِرُه

And the beginning of this love is abiding sorrow,

The beginning of this love is lasting sorrow

and anguish that drives sleep away—and death is its end.

And worries that expel sleep, death its end