حتّامَ تُبذَلُ في هواكَ الأنفُسُ

حتّامَ تُبذَلُ في هواكَ الأنفُسُ

وتُصانُ عنها بالجمالِ وتُحرَسُ

وتُصانُ عنها بالجمالِ وتُحرَسُ

How long will souls be offered up in love of you,

Souls are sacrificed for your love,

while you are shielded from them by beauty and guarded?

And protected from it by beauty and guarded,

وإِلامَ يُوحِشُكَ الغِنَى عن مُغرمٍ

وإِلامَ يُوحِشُكَ الغِنَى عن مُغرمٍ

أبداً بوحشةِ فقرهِ يستأنسُ

أبداً بوحشةِ فقرهِ يستأنسُ

And how long will self-sufficiency keep you apart from a lover

Why does wealth make you lonesome without a lover,

who forever finds companionship in the loneliness of his poverty?

Always with the loneliness of his poverty it makes friends,

كُلِّي لأعينهِ ثُغورٌ لُعَّسٌ

كُلِّي لأعينهِ ثُغورٌ لُعَّسٌ

ومعاطفٌ غيدٌ ودُعجٌ نُعَّسُ

ومعاطفٌ غيدٌ ودُعجٌ نُعَّسُ

To his eyes, all of me is dusky-lipped mouths,

My eyes for it are tears and crying,

and supple figures, and dark, drowsy eyes.

And overflowing emotions and grieving cries,

حيثُ اتَّجهتُ رأَيتُ مُغرىً بي لهُ

حيثُ اتَّجهتُ رأَيتُ مُغرىً بي لهُ

دمعٌ يرضُّ بجانسي يتجَنَّسُ

دمعٌ يرضُّ بجانسي يتجَنَّسُ

Wherever I turned, I saw one enamored of me, whose

Wherever I went I saw for it a lover,

tears crush and become akin to my kind [wording uncertain].

A teardrop that mingles with my side and nestles,

وإذا رجَعتَ إِلى الصَّحيحِ فكلُّها

وإذا رجَعتَ إِلى الصَّحيحِ فكلُّها

أغصانُ دوحٍ قد حواها مغرِسُ

أغصانُ دوحٍ قد حواها مغرِسُ

And when you return to what is true, all of them are

And if you return to the truth, they are all,

boughs of great trees encompassed by a single planting-ground.

Branches of a sand dune it has sheltered and planted,

معنىً بهِ لطُفَ الكَثيفُ فأصبحت

معنىً بهِ لطُفَ الكَثيفُ فأصبحت

صُمُّ الجبالِ هيَ الغصونُ الميَّسُ

صُمُّ الجبالِ هيَ الغصونُ الميَّسُ

A meaning through which the dense grew subtle, so that

With meaning in it the dense became gentle,

the solid mountains became the very swaying boughs.

And the mountain rocks are the soft branches,

وخفيفةٌ طوتِ البعيدَ فرامَةُ

وخفيفةٌ طوتِ البعيدَ فرامَةُ

نجدٌ وليثُ الغابِ ظبيٌ أَلعسُ

نجدٌ وليثُ الغابِ ظبيٌ أَلعسُ

And a light one folded up distance, so Rāmah

And the distant folded lightly so the herd animal,

was Najd, and the lion of the thicket a dusky-lipped gazelle.

Of the forest a fierce lion it alarmed and frightened,

ووراءَ ذاك ولا أُشيرُ لأنَّهُ

ووراءَ ذاك ولا أُشيرُ لأنَّهُ

سِرٌّ لسانُ النُّطقِ عنهُ أخرسُ

سِرٌّ لسانُ النُّطقِ عنهُ أخرسُ

And beyond that—I do not allude to it, for it is

And beyond that I do not hint for it is,

a secret about which the tongue of speech is mute.

A secret the tongue of speech about it is silenced,

أمرٌ لهُ وبه ومنهُ تعيّنت

أمرٌ لهُ وبه ومنهُ تعيّنت

أَعيانُنا ووجودُنا الُمتلَبِّسُ

أَعيانُنا ووجودُنا الُمتلَبِّسُ

A reality for which, through which, and from which took form

A matter for it and by it and from it our entities,

our individual essences and our embodied existence.

Were determined and our existence dressed.