1. حتّام أكتمُ ما الدّموعُ تُبيحُ

    وإلامَ أغدو مُغرماً وأروحُ

    How long must I hide what tears reveal?

    And how long must I spend my mornings and evenings in love?

  2. وإلى متَى أصبو إلى ريح الصِّبا

    ومُهِيجُ نار جوايَ تِلك الريحُ

    And how long shall I yearn for the wind of youth,

    when that very wind kindles the fire of my anguish?

  3. ومُعنّفٍ نَحو الملامةِ جانحٍ

    لو كانَ لي نحو السلوِّ جنوحُ

    And many a harsh reprover, inclined toward blame—

    if only I were inclined toward forgetting love!—

  4. يُملي عَلى مَن ليس يسمعُ قولَهُ

    في الحبّ قولاً كله مطروحُ

    dictates to one who does not heed his words

    words on love, all of them cast aside.

  5. ومُعذّبي من لا أبوحُ بذكره

    ويكاد يعميني الهوى فأبوحُ

    And my tormentor is one whose name I do not disclose,

    yet love nearly blinds me, so I speak out.

  6. مَن لو رآه البدرُ قال مخاطباً

    أنت المليحُ وما سواكَ مَليحُ

    One whom the full moon, if it saw him, would address:

    'You are the beautiful one; none besides you is beautiful.'

  7. نشوان من خمر الرّضابِ لِقدِّهِ

    منها غبوقٌ دائماً وصَبُوحُ

    Drunk on the wine of saliva; his figure has

    always an evening draught of it and a morning draught.

  8. أعطيتُه رُوحي ومالي طَالباً

    لِلْوَصْلِ وهو بما طلبتُ شحيحُ

    I gave him my soul and my wealth, seeking

    union, while he is miserly with what I sought.

  9. ومَتَى شكوتُ له الْهوى قالَ اصْطَبِرْ

    فالصَّبرُ فيه لِذي الهوى تَرويحُ

    Whenever I complain to him of love, he says: 'Be patient;

    patience in it brings relief to the lover.'

  10. أمكلّفي صَبراً جَميلاً في الْهوى

    تَكْليفُ ما لاَ يُستطَاعُ قبيحُ

    O you who demand noble patience of me in love,

    demanding what cannot be done is ugly.

  11. أرفقْ بجسْمٍ أنتَ سالبُ روحِهِ

    أيَعيشُ جِسْمٌ فَارقتْه الرّوحُ

    Be gentle with a body whose soul you are stealing;

    can a body live once its soul has left it?

  12. وانظْرْ إلى قلبي عليك وناظري

    هذا قَريحُ هوىً وذاكَ جريحُ

    And look at my heart, set on you, and my eye:

    this is sore with love, and that is wounded.

  13. وَسل المدامعَ عَنْ غرامي فَهْو في

    مَتْنِ الخدودِ بمدمعي مَشروحُ

    And ask the tears about my passion, for it is on

    the surface of my cheeks, explained by my tears.

  14. إنْ لاَ تكُنْ لي زورةٌ تَحْيي بها

    روحي فموتٌ مِنْ هواك مُريحُ

    If I am to have no visit by which you revive

    my soul, then death from loving you is a relief.

  15. حيّاً الحَيَا زمَن الغُوَيْرِ وأنتَ لي

    بالقُربِ منكَ وبالوصالِ سَموحُ

    May the rain greet the days of al-Ghuwayr, when you were to me

    generous with nearness to you and with union.

  16. إذْ لا أَخافُ الكاشحين وقولهم

    هذَا الفتى المسْتَهتَرُ المفْضوحُ

    When I feared neither the spiteful nor their saying:

    'This is the reckless, disgraced youth.'

  17. يا عاذِلينَ أنا الّذي قَد قُلْتمُ

    فاغْدوا هُبِلْتُم في الملام وروحوا

    O reprovers, I am what you have said;

    so go forth to reproach at dawn and dusk—may your mothers lose you!

  18. ولَقدْ وقفْنا لِلْوداعِ ببارقٍ

    إذ بارقُ البَينِ المظِلِّ يلوحُ

    And indeed we stood for farewell at Bariq,

    while the lightning of looming separation gleamed.

  19. إذ ليس إلاّ مدمعٌ مُتَدَفّقٌ

    إثر الهوادح أو دمٌ مسفوحُ

    When there was nothing but a torrent of tears

    in the wake of the palanquins [reading uncertain], or blood poured out.

  20. لم ندرِ هَلْ تلكَ النّفوسُ ذَوائباً

    أَم أدمعٌ فوقَ الخدودِ تَسيحُ

    We could not tell whether those were souls dissolving,

    or tears flowing over the cheeks.

  21. وببابلٍ سَقَتِ الغوادي بابلاً

    مُلقىً بآثارِ الخيام طريحُ

    And in Babil—may morning showers water Babil—

    one lies cast down among the traces of the tents.

  22. سَمِيعَ الصَّبابةَ وهْي حقاً باطِلٌ

    وعَصَى النصيحَ وإنّه لَنصيحُ

    He heeds yearning, though it is truly false,

    and has disobeyed the adviser, though he is indeed sincere.

  23. مُتَيقّناً جورَ الغَرامِ وأَنّ مَا

    يُرْوَى عَن المقَلِ المراضِ صَحيحُ

    Certain of love's injustice, and that what

    is told of languishing eyes is true.

  24. قد عَبَّرتْ عَبراتُه عمّا بهِ

    إنّ الْهوى تَلويحُه تَصريحُ

    His tears have expressed what ails him;

    indeed, love's hinting is open declaration.

  25. أَضْحى يُحدّثه أحاديثَ الهوى

    عَنْهُمْ خُزامى بابلٍ والشَيخُ

    Now tales of love are told to him

    about them by Babil's lavender and the elder.

  26. قَلقَ الفؤاد كأنّما هبَت لَهُ

    طرفٌ إلى نَيل الفخار طموحُ

    Restless at heart, as though there had stirred in him

    a gaze aspiring to attain glory.

  27. خَلْقٌ يحاكي البَدْرَ حين يلوحُ مَعْ

    خُلُقٍ يحاكي الزهر حينَ يفوحُ

    A form like the full moon as it gleams, joined to

    a character like flowers when they give off fragrance.

  28. مَن إنْ دجَتْ ظُلَمُ النّوائب حلِّها

    رأيٌ له في المشكلاتِ رجيحُ

    One who, when calamities' shadows darken, dispels them through

    his sound judgment in difficult matters.

  29. ندبٌ يجلّ عن المدائح كلّها

    لو أنّ شعر العَالَمين مَديحُ

    A noble man exalted above all praises,

    even if all the poetry of all peoples were praise.

  30. وإذا أشار النّاسُ نحوَ مُسوّدٍ

    فهو المشارُ إليه والملْموحُ

    And when people point toward a chief,

    it is he they point to and behold.

  31. شَهمٌ يلاقي النّائبات بعزْمَةٍ

    تدعُ الشوامخ وهي بيدٌ فِيحُ

    A valiant man who meets calamities with a resolve

    that leaves towering peaks as vast desert plains.

  32. وفضائلٌ ما حازَها أحدٌ غَدتْ

    ولها على شمسِ النّهار وضوحُ

    And virtues attained by no one else are now manifest,

    with a clarity surpassing the daytime sun.

  33. وندىً كما انهلّ الغمامُ ورآءه

    نسبٌ كما انشقّ الصبَّاح صريحُ

    And bounty like the pouring raincloud; behind it

    is a lineage pure as the breaking dawn.

  34. يتناقَلُ الأُدباء دُرَّ قريضِهَ

    فكأنّه التّهليل والتَّسبيحُ

    Men of letters pass around the pearls of his poetry,

    as though it were proclamations of God's oneness and glorification.

  35. يا أفصحَ الفُصحاء غيرَ مُدافعٍ

    أقْلِلْ لِمثلكَ أن يُقالَ فصيحُ

    O most eloquent of the eloquent, beyond dispute,

    to call one like you 'eloquent' is too little.

  36. إذ أنتَ للأُدباء درةُ تاجها

    بل أنتَ في جسدِ المعالي روحُ

    For you are the pearl in the crown of men of letters;

    rather, you are the soul in the body of excellence.

  37. خُذْها كما ابتَسَمتْ أزاهرُ أيكةٍ

    قد زانها التَّهذيبُ والتَنقيحُ

    Accept it, like the smiling blossoms of a grove,

    beautified by polishing and revision.

  38. غرّاء تَجْتَلبُ القلوبَ غرابةٌ

    لِمَ لاَ وأنتَ بِدُرِّها الممدوحُ

    Radiant, with a novelty that captivates hearts—

    why not, when you are praised in its pearls?

  39. أشكو عظيم جَوىً إليكَ مُضَاعفاً

    لي من سَمومِ سُمُومِه تَلْويحُ

    I complain to you of great anguish, redoubled;

    I am seared by the scorching wind of its poisons.

  40. وصروفَ دهرٍ يا بنَ أحمد لم يَزَلْ

    يبدو لهنَّ تَجهّمٌ وكلوحُ

    And of time's vicissitudes, O son of Ahmad, forever

    showing a scowl and a frown.

  41. فابعَثْ قريضك رقْيَةً يَحْيى بها

    قلبي فَقَد أودى بهِ التَّبريحُ

    So send your verse as a healing charm, that through it

    my heart may live; torment has brought it to ruin.