أَشاقَك باللِّوَى بَرْقٌ أَلاَحا

أَشاقَك باللِّوَى بَرْقٌ أَلاَحا

فجُنَّ به جَنَانُكَ حين لاَحَا

فجُنَّ به جَنَانُكَ حين لاَحَا

Did lightning flashing at al-Liwā stir your longing,

The lightning flashed its gleam upon your abode

so that your heart went mad over it when it shone?

So it startled your gardens when it flashed

هفا هفوَ اللواءِ الوَرْدِ أَرْخَى

هفا هفوَ اللواءِ الوَرْدِ أَرْخَى

ذوائبَهُ فلاعَبْنَ الرياحا

ذوائبَهُ فلاعَبْنَ الرياحا

It fluttered like a rose-red banner, letting down

Look how the standard's roseate silks have flowed

its tresses, which played with the winds.

And the gales make it dance and waiver

كأن البرقَ في الظلماءِ سِرٌّ

كأن البرقَ في الظلماءِ سِرٌّ

تَضَمَّنَ غيرَ كاتمِهِ فباحا

تَضَمَّنَ غيرَ كاتمِهِ فباحا

As though the lightning in the darkness were a secret

As if the lightning in the gloom were a secret

held by one who would not conceal it, and so brought to light.

That revealed itself to none but its concealer, then divulged

وقاسمني صَدُوحُ البَانِ شَجْوِي

وقاسمني صَدُوحُ البَانِ شَجْوِي

فأجريتُ الدموعَ لهُ وناحا

فأجريتُ الدموعَ لهُ وناحا

And the songbird of the bān tree shared my sorrow,

The parting of dawn shared with me my agony

so I let tears flow for it, and it wailed.

So I let fall my tears and lamented

وكم تَعِبٍ بزورةِ ذي نَوَالٍ

وكم تَعِبٍ بزورةِ ذي نَوَالٍ

ولو زارَ المُوَفَّقَ لاسْتَراحا

ولو زارَ المُوَفَّقَ لاسْتَراحا

And many a man is wearied by a visit to a giver of bounty;

How weary I was of visiting one whose waterskin was empty,

yet had he visited al-Muwaffaq, he would have found rest.

If he had visited al-Muwaffaq, he'd have found rest

وبين بَنَانه والفَيْضِ خُلْفٌ

وبين بَنَانه والفَيْضِ خُلْفٌ

وما نرجو لخُلْفِهِمَا اصطلاحا

وما نرجو لخُلْفِهِمَا اصطلاحا

And between his fingertips and the flood lies a quarrel,

And between its threshold and the open meadow was a distance

and we expect no reconciliation of their dispute.

Nor can we hope that the distance between them will be joined