1. دمْعٌ هَمى وفؤادٌ طالما خَفَقا

    وزفرةٌ صعِدت كالبرق إذ برقا

    Tears poured, and a heart so often throbbed;

    and a sigh rose like lightning when it flashed.

  2. وفكرةٌ فُكِرت فيما مضى فَبدَت

    تُعلّم الجفنَ مِني في الدُّجى الأرقا

    And a thought, conceived about the past, appeared,

    teaching my eyelid sleeplessness in the darkness.

  3. ومُقْلةٌ شُغِفَت مُذ أبصرت فَجَنَت

    على الفؤادِ الأسى واليأسَ والقَلقا

    And an eye, enamored since it first saw, brought

    sorrow, despair, and anxiety upon the heart.

  4. ومُهجَةٌ عَشِقت عينَ المها فَغَدَت

    دَريئةً لسِهامٍ تخرق الدَّرَقا

    And a soul, in love with the oryx's eye, became

    a target for arrows that pierce shields.

  5. ليتَ الذي شُغِفت فيه يَرِقُّ لها

    لُطفاً ويمنَحُها فَضْلاً زَمانَ لِقا

    If only the one it adores would soften toward it

    out of kindness, and graciously grant it a time to meet.

  6. ظبيٌ لحكم هواه قد خَضَعتُ قلم

    يعدلْ وجار على قلبي وما رَفَقَا

    A gazelle—to his passion's rule I submitted, yet he did not

    act justly: he wronged my heart and showed no gentleness.

  7. خطًّ الجمالُ لَنَا في لَوحِ جُبهته

    سَطراً مُلخَّصُه يا ذُلَّ من عَشِقا

    Beauty wrote for us upon the tablet of his brow

    a line summed up as: 'Oh, the abasement of one who loves!'

  8. والآسُ في خدّه قد قام يُنشِدنا

    تأمَّلوا واشكُروا البارِي الذي خَلقا

    And the myrtle on his cheek rose to chant to us:

    'Contemplate, and thank the Creator who made him!'

  9. ملّكتُه القلبَ لكنْ راح يهجُرُهُ

    يا مَنْ رأى سَيّداُ من عبده أَبِقا

    I gave him possession of my heart, yet he went on forsaking it.

    Oh, who has seen a master fleeing from his slave?

  10. الشمسُ طلعتُه والليلُ طُرَّته

    يا مَنْ رأى الشمسَ يوماً تألَفُ الغسقا

    His face is the sun, and his forelock the night;

    who has ever seen the sun befriend the dusk?

  11. والوردُ وَجْنَتُه والبانُ قامَتُه

    يا مَن رأى الوردَ غُصنَ البان معتنِقا

    His cheek is the rose, and his stature the ban tree;

    who has seen a rose embracing a ban-tree bough?

  12. أبصرتُ في خدّه ناراً وذا عَجَبٌ

    ألآس والوردً في نارٍ وما حُرِقا

    I saw fire upon his cheek—and how wondrous:

    myrtle and rose within a fire, yet neither burned.

  13. والجُلَّنَارُ زها فيه ففاخَرَ بي

    نبتُ البهارِ الذي في وَجْنَتِي عبقا

    Pomegranate blossom flourished in him; rivaling it through me

    was the yellow oxeye that perfumed my cheek.

  14. وقال في ثغره الدرُّ النضير ألاَ

    يَرَى لآلئ دمعي عقدُها انتَسقا

    The lustrous pearls in his mouth spoke—does he not

    see the pearls of my tears, their necklace strung in order?

  15. قالوا له قد نَظَمتُ الشعرَ فيه فَلَم

    يقبَلْ وأضحى يزيد الغيظَ والحنقا

    They told him I had composed verse about him, but he would not

    accept it, and grew ever more angry and enraged.

  16. وقال شِعرك بالتلفيق تخلِطُه

    والكذب فيه كسَيلِ سحَّ مندفقا

    He said, 'You mix your verse with fabrication,

    and falsehood runs through it like a pouring, surging torrent.'

  17. أجلْ تكلَّمَ حَقّاً إِنّما بِسوى

    مديحِ مُوسى قريضي قطُّ ما صَدَقا

    Yes, he spoke truly: apart from

    praise of Musa, my poetry has never told the truth.

  18. يا مالكي هلْ لطيبِ الوصلِ في زمنٍ

    يعود ينفي أَسىً عنّي وفرطَ شَقا

    O my master, might the sweetness of union someday

    return to banish my sorrow and overwhelming misery?

  19. ويا حَبيباً نأى عنّي وغادرني

    تُهيجني الطيرُ تشدو في غصون نقا

    And O beloved who went far from me and left me,

    the birds stir my longing, singing in branches on the sand dune.

  20. إني لبُعدِكُم أرعَى النجومَ وقد

    حَسَدتُ عِقداً لها ألقاه منتسِقا

    Because you are far away, I watch the stars, and I have

    envied a necklace of them that I find neatly strung.

  21. إن كان سَرّك ذُلّي في البِعاد فما

    ذلي سوى عِزّ قلبٍ فيكَ قد علِقا

    If my abasement in separation has pleased you, then

    my abasement is only the glory of a heart attached to you.

  22. موسى رفيقي صديقي مُنيتي أمَلي

    أهوى بك اثنينِ ذاك الخَلقَ والخُلقا

    Musa—my companion, my friend, my wish, my hope—

    I love two things in you: your outward form and your character.

  23. لبّيكَ إني على عهد المودَّة لم

    أَبرح أميناً ففي حِفظي العهودَ ثقا

    At your service! To affection's covenant I have never

    ceased to be faithful; trust my keeping of the pledges.

  24. يا عاذلي فيه صَهْ لو كنت تعرفه

    عرفت فيه فتى مِن خير مَن خُلِقا

    O you who reproach me for him, hush! If you knew him,

    you would recognize a young man among the finest ever created.

  25. أنفقت عمريَ هذا مذ جَنَحتُ له

    فإن جَنَحتَ إليه فاتخذ نفقا

    I have spent this life of mine since I inclined toward him;

    if you incline toward him, make yourself a tunnel.

  26. لا يفرح الحاسدون المبغضون له

    بما به من سقامٍ يوجب القَلَقا

    Let those who envy and hate him not rejoice

    at the illness he suffers, which gives cause for anxiety.

  27. لنا الهنا بِشِفاءٍ حازه ولهم

    شَقا يدرُّ عليهم وابلاً غدقا

    Ours is joy at the recovery he attained; theirs is

    misery that pours upon them in a copious downpour.

  28. يا نائياً عن محبّيك السلامُ على

    ذاكَ المُحَيّا الذي كالبدر منبثقا

    O you far from those who love you, peace upon

    that face which shines forth like the full moon.

  29. جُد بالِلقا عن قريبٍ مالِكي وَلَنا

    أَهنى هَنا مثله لم نلقَ آن نقا

    Grant a meeting soon, my master, and ours will be

    the sweetest joy, pure in that hour, whose like we have never known.

  30. واسمح بردّ جواب عن فتاةِ مَها

    واستر مصائبها واكرم ببنتِ نقا

    And kindly send a reply concerning a gazelle maiden,

    conceal her misfortunes, and be generous with a daughter of the dune.

  31. فأنت أجوَدُ ممن جادَ عارضُه

    وأَنت أكرَمُ ممن بابُه طُرِقا

    For you are more generous than any whose rain-cloud pours,

    and nobler than any whose door is knocked upon.

  32. وأنت أنبغُ مَن في شِعرهم نبغوا

    وأنت أفصحُ مَن بالضادِ قد نطقا

    You are the most gifted of those who excel in their poetry,

    and the most eloquent of those who speak the tongue of ḍād.

  33. فليس يُعجبني فيكَ العلاءُ فذا

    أُبوك قبلكَ يمشي هذه الطرقا

    It is not your eminence that amazes me, for here is

    your father, walking these paths before you.

  34. يا رّ صُنهُ وَصُن أنجالَه أبداً

    واكرُمْ عليهم جميعاً في طويل بقا

    O Lord, preserve him and preserve his children forever,

    and be generous to them all throughout long lives.

  35. واقبَل ختامَ كتابٍ فيكَ مبدأُه

    مِن الأمينِ سَلاماً نشرُه عَبَقا

    Accept the close of a letter whose beginning is you:

    from Amin, a greeting whose fragrance wafts sweetly.

  36. واقبَل تحيةَ جبرانِ وقيصرَ مَن

    قلباهما في بحار الشوق قد غرقا

    Accept, too, the greetings of Jubran and Qaysar, whose

    two hearts have drowned in seas of longing.

  37. إنّا ثلاثةُ خوانٍ ورابِعُنا

    فريدةُ العِقد موسى الساكن الحدقا

    We are three brothers, and our fourth

    is the necklace's peerless jewel, Musa, dwelling in our eyes' pupils.

  38. عليك موسى سلامٌ كلما طلَعت

    شمسٌ وجاد سَحابٌ والرياضُ سَقَى

    Peace upon you, Musa, whenever there rises

    a sun, and a cloud pours rain and waters the gardens.

  39. لا تعتجبْ من مياهٍ فوق ما كَتَبتْ

    يدي فما ذاك بالأمر الذي اختُلِقا

    Do not marvel at the water upon what was written

    by my hand; this is no fabricated matter.

  40. أسلتُ دمعيَ إبّان الكتابة إذ

    خشيت من زفرتي أن تُحْرِق الورقا

    I let my tears flow while writing, for

    I feared that my sigh would burn the paper.