ته ما استطعت فغيرك المملول

يا من به كل الانام عذول

Be as haughty as you can; it is others we tire of.

O you for whose sake all humankind reproaches me.

أما هواك فآخذ بقلوبنا

فكأنه الآيات والتنزيل

As for love of you, it takes hold of our hearts,

as though it were the sacred verses and revelation.

ولنا بخدك آية لا تنحني

حسنا كما للصبح فيه دليل

Your cheek holds a sign for us that does not bow

in beauty, just as dawn finds its proof there.

فكأن وردا أو كأن بنفسجا

يمسى ويصبح بالحيا مطلول

As though a rose, or as though a violet,

were bedewed with rain at evening and at dawn.

وبكاس ياقوت الشفاء مدامة

صحبته من صرف الجدان شمول

And in a cup of healing ruby is wine,

accompanied by wine from pure [unclear text].

في حفظ نجلا وبن حد ظباهما

كل النفوس به دم مطلول

In the keeping of wide eyes—[wording unclear]—lies the edge of their blades;

through it, every soul is blood shed unavenged.

آجالنا فيه الفرتد كأنه

المرآة شكلا وهو فيه شكول

Our appointed deaths are in it; the [unclear word] seems

like a mirror in form, with many shapes within it.

صنم لبست الغي فيه وبزتي

أثواب هافيتي ضنى ونحول

An idol for whose sake I donned error; my garb,

the robes of my well-being, is wasting sickness and emaciation.

عجبا أحل دمي وما جنس الدما

من شأنه التحريم والتحليل

Strange! He made my blood lawful, though the race of idols

has no power to forbid or permit.

يجنى فارضي وهو ممتنع الرضى

فكأنني بجناية معفول

He wrongs me, and I am content, while he refuses contentment;

as though I were fettered for a crime.

سلب الحياة وملني متفرا

وثناه عني كاشح وعذول

He stole my life and tired of me, recoiling,

and a spiteful foe and a reproacher turned him away from me.

لا يستميل الود غصن قوامه

فكما يميل اليك عنك يميل

Affection cannot sway the bough of his stature;

as it inclines toward you, it inclines away from you.

يهوى التصابي والدلال برده

وبرده خط العذار كفيل

His cloak craves youthful dalliance and coquetry,

and the line of cheek-down guarantees their curbing.

في كل يوم لي اليه صبابة

ورسائل ووسائل ورسول

Each day I have an ardent longing for him,

and letters, means of approach, and a messenger.

وأميل نحو محدثي لحديثه

فكأنه ماء وفي غليل

I lean toward my informant for his account,

as though he were water, while thirst burns within me.

فالقلب صب ان دنا مذهول

والصب قلب ان نأى متبول

The heart is a bewildered lover when he draws near,

and the lover a love-stricken heart when he goes away.

والعقل شيء لا لديه ولا معي

والسمع باب بعده مقفول

Reason is something neither with him nor with me,

and hearing is a door locked after him.

أذكى نواه السهد فاحترق الكرى

فرماده بمدامعي مجبول

His absence kindled sleeplessness, and sleep burned away;

its ashes are kneaded with my tears.

فلذاك دمعي كالجماد مجسد

من مقلة قرحي عليه تسيل

That is why my tears are solidified like lifeless matter,

flowing for him from an ulcerated eye.

أنا والنهار عليه أن عز اللقا

طرف ولكن بالقذى مكحول

When meeting him is difficult, daylight and I, for his sake,

are an eye, but kohled with grit.

والليل حجب مثلها دون المنى

يفنى المحب وذيلها مسدول

Night is veils like these, barring desire;

the lover perishes while their hem remains lowered.

والداء اقتله الرقيب وانه

في الحب كالحرمان فيه دخيل

The deadliest ailment is the watcher; indeed,

in love, like deprivation, he is an intruder.

جهل الغرام وحازكن نتيجة

ياليت مثلي في هواك جهول

He knew nothing of passion, yet won you as a result;

would that one like me were ignorant of loving you!

أوليت عشقي وهو اخطر علة

لو ان عاذلنا بها معلول

Or would that my passion—the most dangerous ailment—

had afflicted our reproacher!

أوليت من نصر الوشة وملني

لا ذبت عشقا فيه وهو ملول

Or would that, for him who sided with slanderers and tired of me,

I had not melted with love while he grew weary.

افنيت ايام الشهيبة حسرة

وبلاه لا ضم ولا تقبيل

I spent the days of youth in regret,

and his torment [wording unclear]: neither embrace nor kiss.

وكأنما الايام لم تسمح لنا

فأبى يطوق ساعدي تليل

As though the days had not granted us leave,

refusing to let my forearm encircle a neck.

وكأن للايام عهدا عندنا

وكأنني وحدي به المسؤل

As though the days held us to a pledge,

and I alone were accountable for it.

وتعذر المأمول اوجب قصدنا

قاضي القضاة فعنده المأمول

Thwarted hopes compelled us to seek

the Chief Judge: with him lies what is hoped for.

المصدر العافين قبل ورودهم

غرقى كأن براحتيه سيول

He sends seekers of bounty home before they arrive,

drowned, as though his two palms held torrents.

والمفرغ السحر الحلال قوافيا

تزدان منه الغادة العطبول

And he casts lawful magic into rhymes

that adorn the graceful, long-necked maiden.

قاض بسوق له الغريم غريمه

حقدا ويرجع عنه وهو خليل

A judge to whom a litigant brings his opponent

in malice, then departs from him as a close friend.

يقضي فيرضي الجانبين فراسة

فكأنما اوحى له التخييل

He judges, and through discernment satisfies both sides,

as though imagination had inspired him.

وفد الشريعة روضة زهيت به

والروض ان وفد الغمام خضيل

The delegation of sacred law is a garden made splendid by him;

a garden grows lush when rainclouds visit.

وعلى الحقيقة فالشريعة محرم

ولها الجناب المولوي بعول

In truth, sacred law is inviolate,

and His Lordship is her husband.

يا من تقاد له الفضائل عسكرا

والجهل جيش دونها مقتول

O you to whom the virtues are led as an army,

while ignorance is an army slain before them.

حزت المحامد والمناصب يافعاً

وسعى لبابك شيب وكهول

You gained honors and offices while still a youth,

and gray-haired men and the middle-aged hastened to your gate.

تمتاز في الفضلاء قدرا مثلما

يمتاز دون الفاضل المفضول

You stand apart among the worthy in rank, just as

the inferior stands apart beneath the superior.

ان باحثوك فبحث قدرك مشكل

ما غير مولانا له التأويل

If they debate with you, probing your worth is a difficult question;

none but our lord can interpret it.

او شبهوك فصبح فضلك شاهد

ان ليس بوجد للصباح مثيل

Or if they liken you to another, the dawn of your excellence bears witness

that no equal to the morning can be found.

انثت عليك المشكلات وعقدها

من قيد ألسنة الورى محلول

Difficult problems praise you, and their knots

are loosened from the fetter upon people's tongues.

وسللت عزمك فالعلا صمصامة

يرتد عنها الدهر وهو كليل

You drew your resolve; the heights of glory are a keen sword

from which Time recoils, blunted.

فاغمده حظي ما استطعت فأنه

جفن لعضب ليس فيه فلول

So sheathe it in my fortune as best you can, for it

is a scabbard for a keen blade without a notch.

أنت الكريم وجد مثلي عاثر

فاقل عثاري فالكريم مقيل

You are generous, and the fortune of one like me has stumbled;

lift me from my stumble: the generous raise the fallen.

انا من اباح له النجوم قوافيا

طبع له ماضي الغرار صقيل

I am he to whom the stars were offered as rhymes

by a natural gift with a keen, polished blade-edge.

انا بدر آفاق القريض من الصبا

وشموس فضلى في البلاد تجول

Since childhood I have been the full moon of poetry's horizons,

and the suns of my excellence roam the lands.

انا وارث الكلمات عن هاروميها

ولديك منه شواهد وعدول

I am the heir to words from their Hārūmī [unclear name],

and you possess proofs from him and upright witnesses.

انا من رأيت الناس ثم رأيته

فامتاز عن ماء الحياة النيل

I am he whom you saw after seeing other men,

and the Nile stood apart from the water of life.

فانقده نقدك للرجال فإنه

الا بريز لكن جللته وحول

Assay him as you assay men, for he

is pure gold, though mud has covered him.

ولقد اجلك ان تكون ولم أكن

في موقف للشعر فيه دخول

I esteem you too highly to be present while I am absent

at a gathering where poetry is admitted.

والعشق حزن لا يجاب وانما

مثلي له كل الحزون سهول

Love is rough terrain that cannot be traversed; yet

for one like me, all rough ground is level.

ركب المنايا اينقا ورمى بها

في مهمه فيه الغدو قفول

He mounted deaths as she-camels and drove them

into a trackless desert where morning departure is return.

لا يترك اللذات وهي مذلة

ومتى تعز النفس وهو ذليل

He does not abandon pleasures, though they are a humiliation;

when can the soul be exalted while he is abased?

خشن الثياب واروع في حليها

فاعجب لليث والثياب الغل

His clothes are rough, yet he is splendid in their adornment;

so marvel at a lion with a shackle for clothing!

مل الزمان وكل من أملته

ان لم يفدك صنيعه مملول

He grew weary of Time; whoever you place your hopes in

is tiresome if his kindness brings you no benefit.

ينحك في طمريه مثل الدر في

الأصداف لكن في الثرى مبذول

He [unclear verb] in his two rags, like a pearl in

shells, yet left exposed in the dust.

وكفى بمثلي ان بين ضلوعه

نفسا لها مرقى النفوس نزول

It is enough for one like me that between his ribs

dwells a soul for which other souls' ascent is descent.

ولئن تكن شقت جيوب ملابسي

لتجر لي في العاشقين ذيول

Though the neck-openings of my garments have been torn,

long trains shall trail for me among the lovers.

لا يعلم العضب الثمين نجاده

ما لم يكن من غمده مسلول

Its baldric cannot know the precious keen-edged sword

until it has been drawn from its sheath.

واليكها غراء ملء فم المنى

جاءتك في حلل العفاف تذيل

Here she is for you, radiant, filling the mouth of desire;

she came to you in robes of chastity, trailing her hems.

في منعة عن ان تماشي ظلها الاطما

ع او يقتادها التطفيل

Protected from greed walking beside her shadow,

or sponging leading her along.

تشتاق رؤيتها العيون كأنها

رقم الخدود محبب وجميل

Eyes yearn to see her, as though she were

the markings on cheeks, cherished and beautiful.

ومقالها عند الكرام كأنه

عتب الحبيب على الرضى محمول

Her speech among the noble is like

a beloved's reproach, received with contentment.

فاستجلها زهرا علاك سماؤها

والبدر أنت فلا لقيك افول

So behold her as stars: your eminence is their sky,

and you are the full moon; may setting never meet you.

اما وسؤددك المجسد فضله

قسما ومجدك فيه وهو اثيل

By your nobility, its excellence made manifest,

I swear, and by your glory within it, deep-rooted:

ما كنت لولا انت اهل قائلا

شعراً وإني ان ترد لفؤول

Had you not been worthy, I would never have spoken

poetry; and if you wish, I can say much.

فالمجد انت وكلهم لك طالب

والفضل انت وما عداك فضول

You are glory itself, and all of them seek you;

you are excellence itself, and all beyond you is excess.