شَكَتْ عَارِضاً في الْجَفْنِ نَاءَ بِحَمْلِهِ

شَكَتْ عَارِضاً في الْجَفْنِ نَاءَ بِحَمْلِهِ

يُشَاكِلُ تَحْتَ الهُدْبِ عَالِقَةَ الحَبِّ

يُشَاكِلُ تَحْتَ الهُدْبِ عَالِقَةَ الحَبِّ

She complained of an affliction weighing down her eyelid,

She complained of a twinge in her eyelid from its burden

resembling a grain caught beneath the lashes.

It rivals, beneath the eyelashes, the clinging of love

فَقَالَتْ لَحَاهُ اللهُ ضَيْفاً مُشَوِّهاً

فَقَالَتْ لَحَاهُ اللهُ ضَيْفاً مُشَوِّهاً

يُسَمَّونَهُ الشَّحاذُ فِي لُغَةِ الطِّبِّ

يُسَمَّونَهُ الشَّحاذُ فِي لُغَةِ الطِّبِّ

Then she said: May God curse this disfiguring guest!

So she said, may Allah prolong the life of an unseemly guest

They call it ‘the beggar’ in the language of medicine.

Whom they name beggar in the language of medicine

فَقُلْتُ لهَا عَطْفاً عَلَيْهِ وَإِنْ جَنَى

فَقُلْتُ لهَا عَطْفاً عَلَيْهِ وَإِنْ جَنَى

نَعم هُوَ شَحَّاذٌ وَلَكِنَّه قَلْبِي

نَعم هُوَ شَحَّاذٌ وَلَكِنَّه قَلْبِي

So I said to her: Have pity on it, even if it has done wrong;

So I said to her, in sympathy for him, though he transgressed:

yes, it is a beggar, but it is my heart.

Yes, he is a beggar, but he is my heart

فَقَالَتْ وَمَاذَا يَبْتَغِي فَأَجَبْتُهَا

فَقَالَتْ وَمَاذَا يَبْتَغِي فَأَجَبْتُهَا

سَمَا يَسْتَجِيرُ الطَّرْفَ مِنْ أَلَمِ الضَّرْبِ

سَمَا يَسْتَجِيرُ الطَّرْفَ مِنْ أَلَمِ الضَّرْبِ

Then she said: And what does it seek? So I answered her:

She said: What does he seek? I answered her:

It rose, seeking the eye’s protection from the pain of blows.

A look that takes refuge from the pain of being stricken