1. هل بعدَ وصالِكَ مِن وَطَرِ

    أم بعدَ فراقِكَ مِنْ حَذَرِ

    Is there any desire left after union with you?

    Or anything to fear after parting from you?

  2. كانا سبباً للدمعِ عَقَي

    بَ نوى الأحبابِ وللسَّهرِ

    Both caused tears in the wake

    of the loved ones' departure, and sleeplessness.

  3. يا صبرُ سرى الخُلاّنُ فكنْ

    مِن بعدِ البينِ على الأثرِ

    O patience, the dear friends have left by night; follow

    in their wake after the parting.

  4. دمعي في الربعِ وقد بانوا

    يَغني الأطلالَ عنِ المطرِ

    My tears at the dwelling, now they have departed,

    leave the ruins with no need for rain.

  5. والبرقُ لقيتُ شرارتَه

    من نارِ غراميَ بالشَّرَرِ

    And the lightning—I met its spark

    with sparks from the fire of my passion.

  6. والليلُ أراهُ ولا يُفضي

    مِن فرطِ الشوقِ إلى سَحَرِ

    And the night I watch never reaches—

    so intense is my longing—the hour before dawn.

  7. قد كنتُ أنامُ ولي طرفٌ

    ما كان تعرَّضَ للخطرِ

    I used to sleep, and my eye

    had never been exposed to danger.

  8. واليوَمِ أذودُ كرى العينينِ

    لأجلِ نواكَ عنِ البصرِ

    And today I drive the slumber of both eyes

    away from my sight because of your distance.

  9. يا بدرَ دجًى لم يبدُ لنا

    اِلاّ وغَنِيتُ عنِ القمرِ

    O full moon of darkness, you never appear to us

    but I have no need of the moon.

  10. وقضيباً ماسَ وما الأوراقُ

    ترفُّ عليه سوى الشَّعَرِ

    And O swaying bough, no leaves

    flutter upon you save hair.

  11. ما كنتُ بوصلكَ مقتنعاً

    فقنِعتُ لبعدِكَ بالخَبرِ

    I was not content with union with you;

    yet, with you far away, I am content with news.

  12. علِّقتُكَ غِرّاً والأهواء

    فبدأُها عَبَثُ الغَرَرِ

    I fell in love with you, unwary; passions

    begin in perilous play.

  13. ومصيرُ دمِ العشاقِ متى

    طُلَّتْ في الحبِّ إلى الهَدَرِ

    And the fate of lovers' blood, whenever

    it is shed unavenged in love, is to be wasted.

  14. عندي شكوًى لنواكَ

    يَرِقُّ لشكواها قلبُ الحَجَرِ

    I have a complaint over your distance;

    at its lament, the heart of stone grows tender.

  15. وبليتُ بوخزِ هوًى قَصُرتْ

    عنه في القلبِ شبا الاِبَرِ

    And I suffered love's piercing, which could not be matched

    by the points of needles within the heart.

  16. كم بتُّ أؤمِّلُ في النسماتِ

    عبيَر تأرُّجِكَ العَطِرِ

    How often I spent the night hoping to find in the breezes

    the perfume of your fragrant, wafting scent.

  17. واِذا الأوطانُ خلتْ ودِّعْ

    ما كنتَ تؤمِّلُ مِن وَطَرِ

    And when the homes lie empty, bid farewell

    to any desire you had hoped to fulfill.

  18. ومُعَنَّى باتَ وقد قَدَحَتْ

    في أضلُعِهِ نارُ الفِكَرِ

    And a tormented man spent the night, as there blazed

    within his ribs the fire of thoughts.

  19. يهوى أغصانَ قدودِ

    الهِيفِ وما فيهنِّ مِنَ الأطَرِ

    He loves the bough-like figures

    of slender-waisted beauties, and the curves they hold.

  20. ووجوهُ الغيدِ يُكلِّلَها

    عَرَقُ كالدُّرِّ مِنَ الخَفَرِ

    And the faces of graceful women are crowned

    with sweat like pearls, born of modesty.

  21. يا لوعةَ ساعِة بينهمُ

    قد حَقَّ البعدُ فلا تَذَري

    O anguish at the hour of their parting,

    separation is now certain, so spare nothing.

  22. في الصدرِ غليلُ هوًى ما فا

    زَ بورِدِ الوصلِ ولا الصَّدَرِ

    In the breast burns love's thirst, which never attained

    a draught of union, nor departure from its waters.

  23. فعلامَ هجرتَ أمِنْ شَيْبٍ

    جلبتْهُ اليَّ يدُ الفِكَرِ

    So why have you forsaken me? Is it for gray hair

    brought upon me by the hand of thought?

  24. أم مِن واشٍ أجرى العبَراتِ

    رماينُهُ لي بالقِصَرِ

    Or because of a slanderer who made tears flow

    through [his accusations?] against me of inadequacy?

  25. مِنْ عاشَ رأى طولَ الأيا

    م وقد أدَّتْهُ إلى الغِيَرِ

    Whoever lives sees the long passage of days,

    and they have brought him to reversals of fortune.

  26. وبُريقٍ باتَ يُؤرِّقني

    فَعَقَدْتُ بلمعتِهِ نَظَري

    And a little flash of lightning kept me awake all night;

    so I fixed my gaze upon its gleam.

  27. وحكيتُ تسعُّرَهُ في الجوِّ

    مِنَ الأشواقِ بِمُسْتَعِرِ

    And I mirrored its blazing in the sky

    with a blaze of longing.

  28. وصبرتُ على مَضَضِ التسهيد

    وطعمُ الصَّبْرِ فكالصَّبِرِ

    And I endured the pain of sleeplessness;

    and patience tastes like bitter aloes.

  29. يا قلبُ وكم لكَ مِن عُلقٍ

    بالحُورِ قديماً والحَوَرِ

    O heart, how many attachments you have had

    to dark-eyed beauties long ago, and their eyes' bright contrast.

  30. نزعتْ بكَ نحوهمُ حُرَقٌ

    أجِّجْنَ بنارٍ مِنِ ذِكرٍ

    Burning pangs drew you toward them,

    kindled by a fire of remembrance.

  31. فِالامَ تَعَلَّلُ دون السُّمْرِ

    وقد هجروكَ وبالسَّمَرِ

    So how long will you seek solace without the dusky beauties,

    now they have deserted you, in evening conversation?

  32. وإِلامَ وقوفُكَ في دِمَنٍ

    للبينِ بوالٍ كالسُّطُرِ

    And how long will you stand among campsite traces,

    worn away by parting, like written lines?

  33. نظمَ الشعراءُ وما بَقَّوا

    فخراً في القولِ لِمُفْتَخِرِ

    The poets composed, and did not leave

    any glory in speech for anyone to boast of.

  34. وَشَّوا زهرَ الأشعارِ فقد

    كَرَبتْ تختالُ على الزُّهُرِ

    They embroidered the blossoms of verse; indeed,

    they almost strutted proudly above the flowers.

  35. ونظمتُ فجئتُ بما أَربى

    حسناً وأنافَ على الدُّرَرِ

    And I composed, bringing forth what excelled

    in beauty and towered above pearls.

  36. كَلِمٌ كالروضِ أوشيهنّ

    بلا عي وبلا حَصَرِ

    Words like a garden, which I embroider

    without faltering or tongue-tied hesitation.

  37. تُلهي النَّدمانَ إذا ما فاه

    به الركبانُ عنِ السُّكُرِ

    They divert boon companions, whenever spoken

    by riders, from intoxication.

  38. رامُوا ورميتُ فكم قوسٍ

    لهمُ في الشِّعرِ بلا وَتَر

    They tried, and I shot—how many a bow

    is theirs in poetry without a string!

  39. ولئن عجزوا فقلد حَرَصُوا

    ما الحِرصُ مُناطٌ بالظَّفَرِ

    And though they failed, they were eager indeed;

    zeal is not bound to victory.

  40. سلبوا الأعرابَ كلامَهمُ

    وتعاورَهمْ عَجْزُ الحَصَرِ

    They robbed the Bedouins of their words,

    and tongue-tied helplessness beset them in turn.

  41. وتتايهَ أكثرُهمْ حُمْقاً

    بالشِّعرِ على أهلِ الوبَرِ

    And most of them, in their folly, lorded it

    with poetry over the people of hair-cloth tents.

  42. جَهِلوا الأشياءَ ولم أجهلْ

    نقصَ التحجيلِ عنِ الغُرَرِ

    They were ignorant of things; I was not ignorant

    of how white leg-markings fall short of forehead blazes.

  43. فازَ القدماءُ بفضلِ السبقِ

    وأين الصفوُ مِنَ الكَدَرِ

    The ancients won by the merit of precedence;

    and how far clarity is from murk!