1. في مِثلِ حُبِّكُمُ لا يَحسُنُ العَذَلُ

    وَإِنَّما الناسُ أَعداءٌ لِما جَهِلوا

    In such love as mine for you, reproach is unfitting.

    People are only enemies of what they do not know.

  2. رَأَوا تَحَيُّرَ فِكري في صِفاتِكُمُ

    فَأَوسَعوا القَولَ إِذ ضاقَت بِيَ الحِيَلُ

    They saw my thoughts bewildered by your qualities,

    So they spoke at length when my means failed me.

  3. وَأَنَّهُم عَرَفوا في الحُبِّ مَعرِفَتي

    بِشَأنِكُم عَذَروا مِن بَعدِ ما عَذَلوا

    Had they known, in love, what I know

    Of you, they would have excused me after reproaching me.

  4. يا جاعِلي خَبَري بِالهَجرِ مُبتَدَأً

    لا عَطفَ فيكُم وَلا لي مِنكُمُ بَدَلُ

    O you who make my predicate a subject through estrangement,

    There is no affection in you, nor have I any substitute for you.

  5. رَفَعتُ حالي وَرَفعُ الحالِ مُمتَنِعٌ

    إِلَيكُمُ وَهوَ لِلتَمييزِ يَحتَمِلُ

    I raised my state—though a 'state' cannot take the nominative—

    To you; yet it admits of distinction.

  6. كَم قَد كَتَمتُ هَواكُم لا أَبوحُ بِهِ

    وَالأَمرُ يَظهَرُ وَالأَخبارُ تَنتَقِلُ

    How often I concealed my love for you, never divulging it,

    Yet the matter comes to light, and tidings travel.

  7. وَبِتُّ أُخفي أَنيني وَالحَنينَ بِكُم

    تَوَهُّماً أَنَّ ذاكَ الجُرحَ يَندَمِلُ

    I spent the night hiding my moans and longing for you,

    Imagining that that wound would heal.

  8. كَيفَ السَبيلُ إِلى إِخفاءِ حُبِّكُمُ

    وَالقَلبُ مُنقَلِبٌ وَالعَقلُ مُعتَقَلُ

    How can my love for you be hidden,

    When my heart is overturned and my mind imprisoned?

  9. يا مُلبِسي القَلبِ ثَوبَ الحُزنِ بَعدَهُمُ

    حُزني قَشيبٌ وَصَبري بَعدَكُم سَمِلُ

    O you who clothe the heart in sorrow after their departure,

    My sorrow is fresh, and my patience, after you, threadbare.

  10. لِذا بَواكِرُ أَيّامي لِبُعدِكُمُ

    أَصائِلٌ وَضُحاها بَعدَكُم طَفَلُ

    Thus the mornings of my days, because you are far away,

    Are late afternoons, and their forenoons, after you, dusk.

  11. أَحسَنتُمُ القَولَ لي وَعداً وَتَكرِمَةً

    لا يَصدُقُ القَولُ حَتّى يَصدُرَ العَمَلُ

    You spoke kindly to me, with promises and honor;

    Words prove true only when deeds follow.

  12. حَتّى إِذا وَثِقَت نَفسي بِمَوعِدِكُم

    وَقُلتُ بُشرايَ زالَ الخَوفُ وَالوَجَلُ

    Until, when my soul trusted your promise,

    And I said, 'Good news for me! Fear and dread are gone,'

  13. حَمَّلتُموني عَلى ضُعفي لِقُوَّتِكُم

    مالَيسَ يَحمِلُهُ سَهلٌ وَلا جَبَلُ

    You burdened me, despite my weakness, because of your strength,

    With what neither plain nor mountain can bear.

  14. لِلَّهِ أَيّامُنا وَالدارُ دانِيَةٌ

    وَالشَملُ مُجتَمِعٌ وَالجَمعُ مُشتَمِلُ

    To God belong our days, when the dwelling was near,

    And our company was united, our gathering embracing all.

  15. شَفَيتُ غُلَّةَ قَلبي وَالغَليلَ بِها

    فَاليَومَ لا غُلَّتي تَشفى وَلا الغَلَلُ

    There I quenched my heart's thirst and burning yearning;

    Today neither my thirst nor burning yearning is eased.

  16. يا حَبَّذا نَسمَةُ السَعدِيِّ حينَ سَرَت

    مَريضَةً في حَواشي مِرطِها بَلَلُ

    Ah, how lovely the breeze of al-Sa'di when it drifted by night,

    Ailing, with dampness along the edges of its mantle.

  17. لا أَوحَشَ اللَهُ مِن قَومٍ لِبُعدِهِمُ

    أَمسَيتُ أَحسُدُ مَن بِالغَمضِ يَكتَحِلُ

    May God never leave me bereft of a people whose distance

    Has made me envy whoever lines his eyes with sleep.

  18. غابوا وَأَلحاظُ أَفكاري تُمَثِّلُهُم

    لِأَنَّهُم في ضَميرِ القَلبِ قَد نَزَلوا

    They vanished, yet the glances of my thoughts portray them,

    For they have settled in the heart's hidden depths.

  19. ساروا وَقَد قَتَلوني بَعدَهُم أَسفاً

    يا لَيتَهُم أَسَروا في الرَكبِ مَن قَتَلوا

    They departed, having killed me with grief in their absence;

    If only they had taken captive in the caravan the one they killed!

  20. وَخَلَّفوني أَعُضُّ الكَفَّ مِن نَدَمٍ

    وَأَكثِرُ النَوحَ لَمّا قَلَّتِ الحِيَلُ

    They left me biting my hand in regret,

    And increasing my lamentation when my means grew few.

  21. أَقولُ في إِثرِهِم وَالعَينُ دامِيَةٌ

    وَالدَمعُ مُنهَمِرٌ مِنها وَمُنهَمِلُ

    I say in their wake, my eye bleeding,

    And tears pouring from it and streaming down:

  22. ما عَوَّدوني أَحِبّائي مُقاطَعَةً

    بَل عَوَّدوني إِذا قاطَعتُهُم وَصَلوا

    My loved ones never accustomed me to estrangement;

    Rather, they taught me: whenever I broke with them, they rejoined me.

  23. وُسِرتُ في إِثرِهُم حَيرانَ مُرتَمِضاً

    وَالعيسُ مِن طَلِّها تَحفى وَتَنتَعِلُ

    And I travelled in their wake, bewildered and burning,

    While the pale camels, from their dew, go barefoot and shod.

  24. تُريكَ مَشيَ الهُوَينا وَهيَ مُسرِعَةٌ

    مَرَّ السَحابَةِ لا رَيثٌ وَلا عَجَلُ

    They show you a leisurely gait, though they move swiftly,

    Like the passage of a cloud, neither slow nor hurried.

  25. لا تَنسِبَنَّ إِلى الغِربانِ بَينَهُمُ

    فَذاكَ بَينَ غَدَت غِربانُهُ الإِبِلُ

    Never ascribe their parting to the crows;

    For this is a parting whose crows have become the camels.

  26. وَفي الهَوادِجِ أَقمارٌ مُحَجَّبَةٌ

    أَغَرَّةٌ حَمَلَتها الأَينُقُ الذَلُلُ

    And in the howdahs are veiled moons,

    Innocent young ones borne by docile she-camels.

  27. تِلكَ البُروجُ الَّتي حَلَّت بُدورُهُمُ

    فيها وَلَيسَ بِها ثَورٌ وَلا حَمَلُ

    Those are the towers where their full moons have settled;

    Within them, there is neither Taurus nor Aries.

  28. وَحَجَّتِ العيسَ حادٍ صَوتُهُ غَرِدٌ

    بِنَغمَةٍ دونَها المَزمومُ وَالرَمَلُ

    And a driver with a melodious voice approached the pale camels,

    With a melody beside which al-Mazmum and al-Ramal fall short.

  29. حَدا بِهِم ثُمَّ حَيّا عيسَهُم مَرَحاً

    وَقالَ سِر مُسرِعاً حُيّيتَ ياجَمَلُ

    He sang them onward, then joyfully greeted their pale camels,

    And said, 'Go swiftly! Greetings to you, O camel!'

  30. لَيتَ التَحَيَّةَ كا نَت لي فَأَشكُرَها

    مَكانَ يا جَمَلٌ حُيِّتَ يا رَجُلُ

    If only that greeting had been mine, so I might give thanks for it,

    Instead of 'O camel': 'Greetings to you, O man!'