أَسيرُ لِزامٍ مِن غَريمٍ غَرامُهُ

أَسيرُ لِزامٍ مِن غَريمٍ غَرامُهُ

رَأى الصَبرَ لا يُعطيهِ فَضلَ زِمامِهِ

رَأى الصَبرَ لا يُعطيهِ فَضلَ زِمامِهِ

A captive held fast by a creditor—his passion—

Captive of a binding from an estranged beloved

saw that patience would not give him the loose end of its rein.

Saw patience grant him no merit over his reins

فَصارَ يُناجي الهَمَّ في ساحَةِ الدُجى

فَصارَ يُناجي الهَمَّ في ساحَةِ الدُجى

إِذا اللَيلُ أَرخى رَفرَفاً مِن ظِلامِهِ

إِذا اللَيلُ أَرخى رَفرَفاً مِن ظِلامِهِ

So he began whispering to sorrow in the courtyard of darkness,

So he took to whispering his worries in the darkening twilight

whenever night let down a curtain of its gloom.

When night unfurls its swaths of darkness

اَثارَ عَلَيهِ إِلفُهُ حَربَ هَجرِهِ

اَثارَ عَلَيهِ إِلفُهُ حَربَ هَجرِهِ

وَقَد كانَ مِمَّن نالَ سِلمَ سَلامِهِ

وَقَد كانَ مِمَّن نالَ سِلمَ سَلامِهِ

His beloved unleashed upon him the war of abandonment,

His familiarity roused war with his aloofness

though he had been among those who gained the peace of his greeting.

And he had been one who attained the peace of his greeting

فَغادَرَهُ لَو أَنَّهُ فَوقَ ذَرَّةٍ

فَغادَرَهُ لَو أَنَّهُ فَوقَ ذَرَّةٍ

مَشَت وَهي لا تَدري بِهِ مِن سَقامِهِ

مَشَت وَهي لا تَدري بِهِ مِن سَقامِهِ

So he left him such that, were he upon a tiny ant,

So he left him, as if above a mote

it would walk without noticing him, so frail was he from illness.

It walked, not knowing of his malady