1. صَبٌّ نَأَى فَأَفاعي البَينِ تلسعه

    وَلَيسَ عِندَ ذَوي الآلامِ يَنفَعُهُ

    A lovesick man went far away, and separation's vipers sting him.

    And among those in pain, nothing avails him.

  2. مشرق شَقَّ عنه ثَوبَ سَلوَتِهِ

    حُزناً وَأَضحى سَلبياً مِنهُ ينزَعُهُ

    Radiant, he tore from himself the robe of his solace,

    in sorrow, and became bereft of it, stripping it away.

  3. في كُلِّ يَومٍ له من فِرطِ لَوعَتِهِ

    جِنيَّةٌ في رَضى الأَحبابِ تَصرعُه

    Each day, from his overwhelming burning anguish, he has

    a female jinn that strikes him down for the beloveds' pleasure.

  4. يا صاحِبيَّ أَصبِحاني راح عذركما

    كَأَساً تردَّدَ في بؤسي تَشعشُعُه

    O my two companions, give me a morning drink—your excuse is gone—

    a cup whose radiance flickers amid my misery.

  5. وَخَلِّياني وطرف الحُبِّ أَركضه

    حَتّى تَكَلُّ عَناءً منه أَربعُهُ

    And leave me with love's steed, that I may spur it on,

    until its four legs grow weary from the toil.

  6. أَستودع اللَهَ في أَرض الحِجازِ رشاً

    في رَوضَةِ القَلبِ مأواهُ وَمربَعُهُ

    I entrust to God a young gazelle in the land of the Hijaz,

    whose refuge and springtime abode lie in the heart's garden.

  7. إِن يُعظِمُ البين قَلبي من تَعذُّبهِ

    فَلِلصَّبابَةِ ثدي راح يُرضعُهُ

    If separation swells my heart through its torment,

    then longing has a breast that has begun to nurse it.

  8. ما بنت عنه قِلىً مَنّي لصُحبَتِهِ

    وَلا لودٍ سَها عنه يضيعُهُ

    I did not part from him out of aversion to his companionship,

    nor because of affection he neglected and squandered.

  9. بَل غالَني فيهِ واشٍ ما قدرتُ عَلى

    مرادهِ في مضرّاتي فأدفعُهُ

    Rather, a slanderer assailed me over him; I could not counter

    his intent to harm me, so as to fend him off.

  10. وآشٍ وَشا في أَذائي جهدَ طاقته

    فَلا تَهنّا بحلو العيشِ يَجرَعُهُ

    A slanderer who slandered to hurt me with all his strength—

    so may he never enjoy the sweet life he gulps!

  11. موكَّلٌ بِنَبات الخَيرِ يَحصُدُهُ

    وَلا يَرى مِن صَوابِ الأي يَزرَعُهُ

    Charged with the shoots of goodness, he cuts them down,

    and sees no sound judgment to sow.

  12. قَد كانَ يَحكُمُ ما يَهوى فَأَقبَلُهُ

    وَما أَتى مِن خِطابٍ كُنتُ أَسمَعُهُ

    He would decree whatever he desired, and I would accept it,

    and whatever speech came, I would listen to it.

  13. فَرُحتُ أَفرقُ مِن مَوتي بِمَنزِلِهِ

    إِذ كانَ لَيسَ لَهُ حِفظٌ فَيُردِعُهُ

    So I came to fear my death in his dwelling,

    since he had no restraint to hold him back.

  14. بِاللَهِ يا وَجدُ رِفقاً بِالفُؤادِ فَما

    أَطيقُ أَكثَرَ مَمّا أَنتَ تَصنَعُهُ

    For God's sake, O longing, be gentle with the heart, for I cannot

    endure more than what you are doing.

  15. كَيفَ العَزاء لمن في الغرب مُهجَتُهُ

    وَجسمه بَلدُ الفِسطاطِ مَرتَعُهُ

    How can one find solace whose heart is in the west,

    while his body's pasture is the city of Fustat?

  16. صَبٌّ سَرى النَوم عَن جفنيهِ مُرتَحِلاً

    فَالدَمع في إِثرِهِ جارٍ يُشَيِّعُهُ

    A lovesick man: sleep departed by night from his eyelids,

    and tears flow in its wake, escorting it away.

  17. وَأَنتَ يا وَصلُ عُج في رَبع فُرقتنا

    عَساكَ تَجمع شَملاً عِزَّ مَجمَعُهُ

    And you, O union, turn aside to the abode of our separation;

    perhaps you may reunite a company whose meeting is hard to attain.

  18. وَأَسقِهِ من حَيا التَقريب ساريَة

    فَإِنَّهُ داثِر قَد مُجَّ مَوضِعُهُ

    And water it with a night shower of reunion's life-giving rain,

    for it is effaced, its site already spurned.

  19. عَسى اللَياليَ بِأَوطاي الَّتي سلفت

    يرجعن فيهِ رُجوعاً لا تُوَدِّعُهُ

    May the bygone nights in my haunts

    return there, never to bid it farewell.

  20. فَكَم تركنا هلال الكأسِ طالعة

    فيهِ تُغَيِّب هَمَّ النَفسِ مطلِعُهُ

    And how often we left the crescent of the cup rising

    there, its rising making the soul's sorrow set.

  21. سَماؤُهُ كَفَّ من كَفَّ الغَرامَ بِهِ

    مَمدودَةٌ نَحوَ حَبل الصَبرِ يَقطَعُهُ

    Its sky is the palm of one who curbed passion with it,

    outstretched toward the rope of patience, which he severs.

  22. وَالرّاح رائِحَةٌ فينا وَغادِيَة

    عَلى مَجالِسِ رَبعٍ جَلَّ مرتَعُهُ

    And wine goes round among us, evening and morning,

    through the gatherings of an abode whose pasture was splendid.

  23. راحٌ هيَ الرِيحُ فاجعلها عَلى طربٍ

    تِجارة قَبلَ خُسرٍ لَيسَ يَنفَعُهُ

    Wine is the wind; make of it, amid delight,

    a trade before a loss that profits him nothing.

  24. وَمُت بِها مَوتُ مَن يُرجى الحَياة لَهُ

    فَمَيِّتُ الرّاحِ مَيتٌ صَحَّ مَرجِعُهُ

    And die by it the death of one for whom life is hoped,

    for a man dead from wine is a dead man whose return is assured.

  25. مَخبيَّةُ الدَهرِ كانَت في ذَخائِرِهِ

    فَجادَ من صَفوِها ما كانَ يَمنَعُهُ

    Time's hidden treasure, it lay among his stores;

    then he bestowed of its purity what he had withheld.

  26. كَأَنَّها شفقٌ وَالمزجُ يكسِبُها

    غَيماً سرياً بِلا ريثٍ يُقشِّعُهُ

    As though it were twilight's glow, mixing gives it

    a noble cloud, which it disperses without delay.

  27. وَلائِمٌ لامَني جَهلاً فَقُلتُ لَهُ

    لي في الصَبابَةِ عُذرٌ لَيسَ تَدفعُهُ

    And a reprover blamed me in ignorance, so I said to him:

    I have an excuse for longing that you cannot refute.

  28. لي فاصِرف اللَومَ قَلبٌ شاعَ منكَشِفاً

    في مَذهَبِ الحُبِّ يا هَذا تَشَيُّعُهُ

    I have—so put aside blame—a heart; openly proclaimed

    is its allegiance to love's creed, O you.

  29. وَمهجة لإِمام الحُسنِ يتبعها

    فَالوجه عَهدٌ عَلَينا لَيسَ يَخلَعُهُ

    And a soul for the imam of beauty, who follows it;

    for the face is a covenant binding on us, which he does not cast off.