1. دنفٌ تستّر بالغرامِ طويلا

    حتى تغيّر رقةً ونحولا

    A lovesick man long cloaked himself in passion,

    until he was changed by frailty and wasting.

  2. بسطَ الوصالَ فما تمكَّن جالساً

    حتى أُقيم على البساط دليلا

    He spread out union’s carpet, but had scarcely settled into his seat

    before he was made to stand upon the carpet as a guide.

  3. يا سادتي ماذا الجزاءُ فديتكم

    الفضلُ لو غير الفتى ما قيلا

    O my lords, what is the reward? May I be your ransom!

    Favor—had it been anyone but the youth, it would not have been spoken of.

  4. قالوا تعاطى الصبرَ عن أحبابه

    لو كانَ يصبرُ للصدودِ قليلا

    They said: “He tried to bear separation from his loved ones—

    if only he could endure rejection for a little while!

  5. ماذاق إلا شربةً من هجرنا

    وكأنّه شربَ الفرات شمولا

    He has tasted only a sip of our abandonment,

    yet it is as though he drank the Euphrates as wine.

  6. أيقولُ عشتُ وقد تملكه الهوى

    لو قالَ مِتُّ لكان أقومَ قيلا

    Does he say, ‘I lived,’ though passion has possessed him?

    Had he said, ‘I died,’ he would have spoken more truly.

  7. حلفَ الغرامُ بحبنا وجمالنا

    إن لم يدعه ميتاً فعليلا

    Passion swore by our love and beauty

    to leave him, if not dead, then ailing.”

  8. إن الجفونَ هي السيوفُ وإنما

    قطعت فلم تسمعْ لهن صليلا

    The eyelids are indeed swords, except that

    they cut, yet you heard no clang from them.

  9. قل للحبيب ولا أصرحُ باسمه

    ماذا الملالُ وما عهدتَ ملولا

    Say to the beloved (I will not reveal his name):

    Why this weariness? You were never known to tire.

  10. بيني وبينك ذمةٌ مرعيةٌ

    أتراك تقطعُ حبلها الموصولا

    Between me and you is a covenant faithfully kept;

    would you sever its unbroken cord?

  11. وَلَكَم شربتُ صفاءَ ودّك خالصاً

    ولبستُ ظلاً من رضاكَ ظليلا

    And how often I drank your affection’s purity, unmixed,

    and clothed myself in the deep shade of your favor.

  12. يا غصنَ بانِ بانَ عنّي ظلُّه

    عند الهجير فما وجدتُ مقيلا

    O ban-tree bough, whose shade withdrew from me

    in the midday heat, so I found no resting place!

  13. اعطف على المضنى الذي أحرقته

    في نارِ هجرك لوعةً وغليلا

    Have pity on the weary lover whom you burned

    in your abandonment’s fire, with anguish and burning thirst.

  14. فارقتُه فتقطعتْ أفلاذُه

    شوقاً وما ألفى إليك سبيلا

    I parted from him, and his vitals were torn apart

    with longing, and he found no path to you.

  15. لو لم يكن منك التغيُّر لم يسل

    بالناس لو حشروا إليه قبيلا

    Had you not changed, he would not have found solace

    in others, even if they were gathered to him in a throng.

  16. يا راحلاً عني بقلبٍ مُغضب

    أيطيقُ قلبي غضبةً ورحيلا

    O you departing from me with an angry heart,

    can my heart bear both anger and departure?

  17. قلْ للصبا هيّجت أشجان الصبا

    فوجدت يا ريح القبول قبولا

    Say to the east wind: “You stirred the sorrows of youth,

    and so, O east wind, you have found welcome.”

  18. هلْ لي رسولٌ في الرياح

    فارقته بعث النسيم رسولا

    Have I a messenger among the winds?

    I parted from him; he sent the breeze as a messenger.

  19. يا ليت شعري أين قرّ قراره

    يا قلبُ ويك أما وجدت دليلا

    Oh, if only I knew where he has settled!

    O heart, woe to you! Have you found no guide?

  20. إن لم يعدْ ذاك الوصالُ كعهدنا

    نكّلْت عيني بالبكا تنكيلا

    If that union does not return as once we knew it,

    I shall punish my eye severely with weeping.