متى يرق لمضنى الحب هاجره

ومن لهيب الهوى تطفى هواجره

When will his forsaker soften toward the one wasted by love?

And when will his scorching noonday heats from passion's blaze be quenched?

يا للبرية من حلو اللمى غنج

امير حسن مضت فينا اوامره

O humankind, what a coquettish one with sweet, dusky lips!

A prince of beauty whose commands have prevailed among us.

غزال سرب رحيب الجيد ذو هيف

بادي النفار واحلى الظبي نافره

A herd's gazelle, ample of neck, with a slender waist,

Plainly skittish—and the sweetest gazelle is the one that shies away.

تغار شمس الضحى من نور طلعته

تبارك للّه رب الناس فاطره

The midmorning sun envies the radiance of his face.

Blessings to God, Lord of mankind, his Creator!

ما زال في طوفه مضناه ذا غزل

حتى نيم واستهواه ساحره

His love-worn admirer kept circling him with love poetry,

Until he was lulled to sleep and his enchanter captivated him.

ان كان ربع الهوى مني هوى ومضنى

في الحب قيس فاني اليوم عامره

If love's abode has fallen away from me, and the one wasted

In love is Qays, then today I am its dweller.

كيف السبيل الى برد الرضاب وقد

حماه من جفنه الفتان فاتره

How can I reach the cool nectar of his lips, when

The languid gaze from his bewitching eyelid has guarded it?

نبي حسن ابان السيف معجزة

مذ جاء في فترة الاجفان ناظره

A prophet of beauty, he revealed the sword as a miracle,

Since his gaze came amid the languor of eyelids.

تكاد اعطافه تنقد من هيف

لينا كذا حدثت عنه مآزره

His flanks almost split apart from slenderness,

So supple—thus his waist-wraps have spoken of him.

وشعره ان تسل عنه الخبير به

سل ناظري فالدجا يدريه ساهره

And his hair—if you would ask its expert about it,

Ask my eye, for night's darkness is known to its wakeful watcher.

ما شام طرفي برقا من مباسمه

الا ومن جفنه ارعاه ماطره

My eye never caught a lightning flash from his smiling lips

Without watching its rain-cloud pour from its eyelid.

عروض هجرانه دائي وعارضه

عليّ في الحبّ قد دارت دوائره

The measure of his estrangement is my malady, and his cheek—

Its circles have turned against me in love.

وافى وللصبح ضوءٌ من تبسمه

فكاد يفضحنا لولا غدائره

He arrived, and dawn had light from his smile;

So he nearly exposed us, but for his tresses.

يدير من خده القاني موردة

فهل جناها مع العنقود عاصره

He passes round a rose-red draught from his crimson cheek;

So did its presser pluck it along with the grape-cluster?

اذا بدا مشرقا والكأس في يده

باكر صباحك اهنى العيش باكره

When he appears radiant, with the cup in his hand,

Begin your morning early; life's sweetest part is its early hours.

واطرب اذا ما تثنى غصن قامته

فقد ترنم فوق الايك طائره

And rejoice when the bough of his stature sways,

For its bird has sung above the thicket.

حديثه لي بالمعنى البديع حلا

حسنا وشاقت لاسماعي نوادره

His speech to me, with wondrous meaning, grew sweet

In beauty, and his rare tales enchanted my ears.