قالوا أناب وما أناب

قالوا أتاب فقل أتاب

They said he had repented; he had not.

They said he had repented; say he has repented.

هو لن يعيش ولن

يعيش بغير باطية الشراب

He will not live, nor will he

live without a bowl of wine.

ذهب الشباب فلا شباب

ولا هوى غض الأهاب

Youth is gone; there is no youth,

nor love with tender skin.

فأنا وأنت حياتنا

عرصاتها قفر يباب

So you and I—our life's

grounds are barren and desolate.

سلماي أحلام الصبا

وهواك قد آضا خراب

My Salma, the dreams of youth

and your love have both become ruins.

فدعي تباريح الجوي

أدع الملامة والعتاب

So leave the torments of longing;

I shall leave blame and reproach.

وأقول للشرب المدل

بأنه شرب الشراب

And I say to the drinking company, proud

that it has drunk the wine:

لم يا نداماي الذين

حسبتهم سناً وناب

why, my drinking companions, whom

I thought a tooth and fang,

ومخالباً هوجاء تفقأ

عين من أذرى وعاب

and fierce claws that gouge out

the eye of whoever scorned and reviled,

سقيتموني لالعاً

لكمو لانكمو صحاب

did you pour me—ill fortune

to you, for you are companions—

كأساً زعمتم إنها

خمر فأذ هي كأس صاب

a cup you claimed

was wine, yet was a cup of bitter sap?

يا هبر هات لي الرباب

فقد حننت إلى الرباب

O Habr, bring me the rabab,

for I have yearned for the rabab.

بالأمس وهناً رف برق

فوق مختلف الهضاب

Last night, late, lightning flickered

above the varied hills,

فأثار مختلف الشجون

بخافق ورع أَناب

and stirred all manner of sorrows

in a devout heart that had repented.

فإِذا بطراد الهوى

تزهيه أردية الشباب

And lo, the pursuer of love,

resplendent in the robes of youth.

إن الذين وصفتهم لم ينههم

عما أَتوا شرف يعز ودين

Those you described were not restrained

from what they did by cherished honor or faith.

هم كالكلاب فإن سمعت نباحهم

فتذرعي بالصبر يا برفين

They are like dogs; if you hear their barking,

arm yourself with patience, O Parvin.

وكما وصفت لي الرجال فإنه

يشكو إليك من الحسان حزين

And as you described the men to me, there is

a grieving man who complains to you of beautiful women.

عذبنه ورمينه وهجرنه

فحياته وحياتهن أَنين

They tormented him, assailed him, and abandoned him;

so his life and theirs are moaning.

ماذا عليك إذا أسوت جراحه

وأَريته التحنان كيف يكون

What would it cost you if you healed his wounds

and showed him what tenderness can be,

وجعلت منه فتى يعيش ونغمة

ترجيعها في الخافقين حنين

and made of him a youth who lives, and a melody

whose refrain is longing in East and West,

وأعدت للقلب الوجوم وجيبه

فهفا ورق ولم تذبه شجون

and restored its beating to the downcast heart,

so it fluttered and grew tender, unconsumed by sorrows,

وافتر عن أحلام عهد شبابه

فإذا بها وإذا بهن يقين

and smiled, revealing the dreams of its youthful days,

and lo, there they were—lo, they were real;

وإذا الحياة عذوبة ودعابة

وإذا الهدى والمهتدون جنون

and lo, life was sweetness and playfulness,

and guidance and the rightly guided were madness,

وإذا فتاوى الشيخ محض سخافة

وإذا به في فقهه مسكين

and the sheikh's rulings were sheer absurdity,

and he was pitiful in his jurisprudence?

يا ظبية الوادي ولا واد إذا

ما كنت فيه ولا هناك حزون

O gazelle of the valley—there is no valley if

you are not in it, nor any rugged hills.

إني أعيذك من بذيء شماتة

بهرائها يتبجح المأفون

I seek protection for you from vile gloating,

in whose drivel the fool boasts.

ما أنت إلا بسمة علوية

بدموعها رب الجمال ضنين

You are nothing but a heavenly smile,

with whose tears the Lord of Beauty is sparing.

قولي لمن ظلموك رب ظلامة

شفعت لها عند الشيوخ عيون

Tell those who wronged you: many a wrong

has had eyes intercede for it before the sheikhs.

إني فتاة طهارة أفتى بها

عبود لما ساورته ظنون

I am a girl whose purity was affirmed

by Abbud when suspicions assailed him.

فغدا وبات الشيخ في أوراده

برفين يا برفين يا برفين

So morning and night the sheikh chanted in his litanies:

Parvin, O Parvin, O Parvin.