1. دَعُوني فإني لا أُطيقُ التَّكَلُّما

    وقَلبي لا يَزدادُ إلا تَألُّما

    Leave me, for I cannot bear to speak,

    And my heart only grows more pained.

  2. تنعَّمتُ في رَبعٍ بديعٍ مَناظراً

    وما تَمَّمَ المولى إلىَّ التَّنَعُّما

    I found delight in an abode with wondrous views,

    Yet the Lord did not make my delight complete.

  3. فقد غابَ مَن نَهوَى وأضرمَ لوعتي

    وزادَ بذِكراهُ الوُلُوعُ تَضَرُّما

    For the one we love has gone, kindling my anguish,

    And passion burned more fiercely with remembrance of him.

  4. وَخَلًَّفَني صَبًّا فريداً مُتَيَّماً

    رضيتُ بكوني مُفرَداً ومُتَيَّمَا

    And he left me love-stricken, alone, enthralled;

    I was content to be alone and enslaved by love.

  5. فما حيلَتي والقلبُ ليسَ بِواجِدٍ

    عليهِ اصطِباراً حين بانَ وأقسما

    What remedy have I, when my heart cannot find

    Patience in his absence, when he departed and swore an oath?

  6. فكلُّ رُبوعٍ لا تَرَى مَن تَشَابِهاً

    تَصيرُ ولو كانت نعيماً جَهَنَّما

    For every abode where you see no one akin to you

    Becomes Hell, even if it were bliss.

  7. فلستَ ترى إلا وجوهاً عَوابساً

    ولستَ ترى وجهاً بها مَُبسِما

    For you see nothing but scowling faces,

    And there you see no smiling face.

  8. أُناسٌ فأما البخلُ فهو حياتُهم

    وَيقضي الذي منهم يَرومُ تَكرُّما

    A people whose very life is miserliness,

    And whoever among them seeks generosity perishes.

  9. فما العيشُ في تزنيتَ إلا مناظرٌ

    ترى في مَناحيها السُّرورَ مُخَيِّما

    For life in Tiznit is nothing but scenery;

    You see joy encamped in its quarters.

  10. ويخلُبُ لبَّ المرءِ سحرُ جَمالها

    وتُنطِقُ من فرطِ المَسَرّةِ أبكَما

    And the magic of its beauty captivates a person's mind,

    And makes a mute person speak from sheer delight.

  11. فظاهِرُها فيه نعيمٌ ورحمةٌ

    وباطنُها فيه العذابُ مُضَخَّما

    For its outward face holds bliss and mercy,

    And within it, torment is magnified.

  12. تُسلِّمُ إن تَمرُر بهم مُتَأَدِّباً

    وقلَّ الذي منهم إذا مَرَّ سَلَّما

    You greet them courteously when you pass,

    Yet few of them offer greetings as they pass.

  13. قضيتُ بها دهراً تَمازَجَ طَعمُه

    من الجَمعِ والتَّفريقِ شُهداً وعَلقماً

    I spent an age there, its taste a mingling

    Of honey and colocynth, from union and separation.

  14. أسِفتُ على الأخلاقِ من بعضِ أهلِها

    وما أسَفي يًجدي لِطبعٍ تَحَكَّما

    I grieved over the morals of some of its people,

    Yet my grief avails nothing against a disposition that rules supreme.

  15. وكان لسانُ الحالِ منها مُخاطِبي

    ألا عم صباحاً يا غريبُ وأَنعِما

    And its unspoken voice addressed me:

    Hail, good morning, stranger, and live at ease!

  16. قضَيتُ سِنيناً بين ظَهرانِ جِيرتِي

    فلم تلقَ فيهم مَن إلى الأدَبِ انتمَى

    I spent years among my neighbors,

    Yet among them you found no one devoted to good manners.

  17. ولم تلقَ إلا أرعناً وابنَ أرعنٍ

    ترى اللُّؤم كلَّ اللؤمِ فيه مُجسَّما

    And you found only a fool and a fool's son;

    You see baseness, utter baseness, embodied in him.

  18. لِذاكَ تَراني بينَ حينٍ وآخرٍ

    أزُفُّ إليكَ السِّحرَ لَحظاً ومَبسِما

    That is why you see me, from time to time,

    Bringing you enchantment in a glance and a smiling mouth,

  19. منَ الغيدِ إمَّا من حُبابٍ فَثَغرُها

    وإما منَ الخمرِ المُعَتَّقِ فاللَّمَآ

    From graceful maidens—either her mouth, fashioned from bubbles,

    Or her lips' dark hue, from aged wine.

  20. مُهفهفَةٌ في ثوبِها الغُصنُ مائِسٌ

    وأزهَرَ فيها الرَّوضُ خَداًّ ومَبسِمَا

    Slender—in her gown a bough sways,

    And the garden has blossomed in her cheek and smiling mouth.

  21. فنِعمَ بها طَرفاً قَذى بِوُجوهِهِم

    فَمِثلُكَ مَن بالحُسنِ حَقًّا تَنَعَّما

    So how welcome she is to an eye made sore by their faces!

    For one like you truly delights in beauty.

  22. وأطلبُ رَبَّ العَرشِ واطلُب معي بأن

    يُطَهِّرَني منهم قَميصاً فَرُبَّما

    And I ask the Lord of the Throne—ask with me—that

    He cleanse me of them, as a shirt is cleansed—for perhaps...