أَغمِد فصارمُ لحظِكَ الَمسلولُ

أَغمِد فصارمُ لحظِكَ الَمسلولُ

كم قد أُريقَ به دمٌ مطلولُ

كم قد أُريقَ به دمٌ مطلولُ

Sheathe it, for the unsheathed sword of your glance

Sheathe your sword, for your glance is unsheathed

Has shed so much blood left unavenged.

How much blood has it spilled unjustly?

إِن كانَ يُنكرُ قتلتي فشهودُه

إِن كانَ يُنكرُ قتلتي فشهودُه

منه على تلكَ الخُدودِ عُدولُ

منه على تلكَ الخُدودِ عُدولُ

If it denies having slain me, its witnesses—

If it denies having killed me, its cheeks

Those it has left upon those cheeks—are trustworthy.

Are upright witnesses against it

جرَّدتَه عَضباً على العُشاقِ هل

جرَّدتَه عَضباً على العُشاقِ هل

أفتاكَ فيما تفعلُ التَّنزيلُ

أفتاكَ فيما تفعلُ التَّنزيلُ

You drew it, a keen blade, against lovers; has

You have unsheathed it angrily against lovers. Has

Revelation given you a ruling on what you do?

The Quran sanctioned what you do?

أم عند أهلِ الحُسنِ فرضٌ واجبٌ

أم عند أهلِ الحُسنِ فرضٌ واجبٌ

نهجٌ أراهُ عنهُ ليسَ يَميلُ

نهجٌ أراهُ عنهُ ليسَ يَميلُ

Or, among the beautiful, is it an obligatory duty—

Or is it an obligatory duty for the beautiful

A path I see him never turn away from?

A path I see it not inclined to?

كيفَ السَّبيلُ إلى ضلالِكَ مرَّةً

كيفَ السَّبيلُ إلى ضلالِكَ مرَّةً

عن طُرقِ هجرِك والدَّلالُ دليلُ

عن طُرقِ هجرِك والدَّلالُ دليلُ

How could you stray, even once,

How can the path to your misguidance be once

From the paths of your estrangement, when coquetry is your guide?

Off the track of your estrangement, while my guide is my yearning?

ومن المساعِدُ لي عليكَ سِوَى الأسَى

ومن المساعِدُ لي عليكَ سِوَى الأسَى

ولِحاظُ جفنكَ بالنُّصولِ تَصولُ

ولِحاظُ جفنكَ بالنُّصولِ تَصولُ

And who will help me against you but sorrow,

What will aid me regarding you except sorrow

While your eyelid's glances charge with blades?

While your eyelids in sleep are turbulent?

تهِ كيفَ شئتَ فما الجمالُ ولايةً

تهِ كيفَ شئتَ فما الجمالُ ولايةً

فالظُّلم صاحبُ أمرهِ معزولُ

فالظُّلم صاحبُ أمرهِ معزولُ

Strut as you please: beauty is no governorship

Be as you wish, for beauty is no governorship

Whose ruler is deposed for injustice.

So injustice is the companion of one deposed.

لكَ أن تجورَ ولا تجودَ إذا اغتدَى

لكَ أن تجورَ ولا تجودَ إذا اغتدَى

في خصرِكَ الواهي الوشاحُ يجولُ

في خصرِكَ الواهي الوشاحُ يجولُ

You may be unjust and ungenerous, when at dawn

You may do wrong and not do good when

The sash roams about your frail waist.

The flimsy girdle wanders round your waist.

مهما خطرتَ تغارُ أغصانُ النَّقا

مهما خطرتَ تغارُ أغصانُ النَّقا

فعلىَ خمائِلِ دَوحهنَّ خُمولُ

فعلىَ خمائِلِ دَوحهنَّ خُمولُ

Whenever you sway as you walk, the branches on the dunes grow jealous,

However much you move coquettishly, narcissus stalks

So the groves of their spreading trees sink into obscurity.

Are tranquil upon their dewy pillows.

ما أصبحت منكَ الشَّمائلُ تنثني

ما أصبحت منكَ الشَّمائلُ تنثني

وتميلُ إلاَّ والرُّضابُ شَمولُ

وتميلُ إلاَّ والرُّضابُ شَمولُ

Never does your graceful bearing bend

Your charms have not ceased to bend

And sway without your saliva being wine.

And incline except when fully armed.

يُذكي عليكَ لَهيبَ وَجدٍ عاذلي

يُذكي عليكَ لَهيبَ وَجدٍ عاذلي

منِّي الخلافُ له ومنهُ يقولُ

منِّي الخلافُ له ومنهُ يقولُ

My reproacher fans the blaze of my longing for you;

My enduring passion kindles against you

From me comes defiance of him; from him comes speech.

A flame - my dissent to it and its saying:

لم يَدرِ أنَّ مَلامَهُ في مَسمَعي

لم يَدرِ أنَّ مَلامَهُ في مَسمَعي

شيءٌ كوصِلكَ ما إليهِ سَبيلُ

شيءٌ كوصِلكَ ما إليهِ سَبيلُ

He did not know that his rebuke, in my hearing,

It did not know that blaming it in my hearing

Is, like union with you, something beyond reach.

Is nothing like your union, to which there is no path.

دعهُ وما هوض فيهِ أيُّ مُتيَّمٍ

دعهُ وما هوض فيهِ أيُّ مُتيَّمٍ

مِثلي نَهاهُ عنِ الغرامِ عَذولُ

مِثلي نَهاهُ عنِ الغرامِ عَذولُ

Leave him to what he is about: what lovesick man

Leave it and its foolish love preaching. Has any

Like me has a reproacher ever turned away from love?

Ascetic like me been deterred from passion by a sermon?

تَعنيفُهُ وتلفُّتي عن نُصحِه

تَعنيفُهُ وتلفُّتي عن نُصحِه

ممَّا يروحُ الشَّرحُ فيهِ يَطولُ

ممَّا يروحُ الشَّرحُ فيهِ يَطولُ

His scolding and my turning away from his advice

Its rebuke and my turning away from its advice

Are matters whose explanation goes on at length.

Are what ease the sickness, though it drags on.

أَملامةً وصُدودَ مهضومِ الحشا

أَملامةً وصُدودَ مهضومِ الحشا

خصرِ الرُّضابِ الخصرُ منه نحيلُ

خصرِ الرُّضابِ الخصرُ منه نحيلُ

Must I bear reproach and rejection by one with a slender midriff,

A flat-nosed one with a slender waist is my beloved,

Whose saliva is cool and whose waist is thin?

The waist made slender by the girdle’s compression.

صَدقت ثناياهُ التي قالت لنا

صَدقت ثناياهُ التي قالت لنا

أَن لا ثمينَ سِوى صِغارِ اللُّولو

أَن لا ثمينَ سِوى صِغارِ اللُّولو

His front teeth spoke truly when they told us

True were its sides that told us

That nothing is precious but little pearls.

Nothing is precious but the smallest pearls.

يَجني ويُلزمُني جنايةَ ذنبِهِ

يَجني ويُلزمُني جنايةَ ذنبِهِ

طرفٌ له بفتورهِ مكحولُ

طرفٌ له بفتورهِ مكحولُ

It sins and makes me bear the guilt of its sin—

It picks fault with me and charges me with its own crime,

An eye of his, kohl-lined with its languor.

A glance that in its languor is threaded.

لِيَجُر ويظلِم كيفَ شاءَ فَهكذا

لِيَجُر ويظلِم كيفَ شاءَ فَهكذا

هذا الورى طُرّاً وهذا الجِيلُ

هذا الورى طُرّاً وهذا الجِيلُ

Let him be unjust and oppress as he wishes; for such are

Let it slander and wrong as it wishes, for thus is

All these people, and this generation.

This world - some steep and some gentle.