خليليَّ ما أحلى الجمال صِفاهُ

خليليَّ ما أحلى الجمال صِفاهُ

فذاك حبيب لا عدمت صَفاهُ

فذاك حبيب لا عدمت صَفاهُ

My two friends, how sweet is beauty! Describe it.

My beloved, how sweet is the purity of his beauty,

For that is a beloved—may I never lose his pure affection.

For that is the one I love, never bereft of his grace.

ألمَّ بياقوت الملاحة خده

ألمَّ بياقوت الملاحة خده

وزاد بريحان العذار شذاه

وزاد بريحان العذار شذاه

His cheek partook of the ruby of loveliness,

His cheek touched by the redness of ruby,

and heightened its fragrance with the basil of cheek-down.

And the basil of perfume added its fragrance.

وأشهر بين السالفين جبينه

وأشهر بين السالفين جبينه

مهند فرق لا يغيب سناه

مهند فرق لا يغيب سناه

His forehead unsheathed between the two sidelocks

His forehead shines amongst all people,

a hair-parting's Indian blade whose gleam never fades.

A bright moon that never loses its splendor.

إذا نظر الليل البهيمُ بهاءه

إذا نظر الليل البهيمُ بهاءه

يقول لقتلي سَنَّهُ وجلاه

يقول لقتلي سَنَّهُ وجلاه

When pitch-black night beholds his splendor,

When the ignorant night looks upon his brilliance,

it says, 'He sharpened and polished it to kill me.'

It says to the darkness, "Conceal and withdraw!"

تناول من باز النهار بياضه

تناول من باز النهار بياضه

فطار غراب الليل حين رآه

فطار غراب الليل حين رآه

He took his whiteness from the hawk of day,

He took from the falcon of daytime its whiteness,

so the crow of night flew away when it saw him.

So the raven of night flew away when it saw him.

وخوله الباري عيون غزالةٍ

وخوله الباري عيون غزالةٍ

تحاذر قناصاً بسنِّ مُداه

تحاذر قناصاً بسنِّ مُداه

And the Creator granted him a gazelle's eyes,

And the Creator gave him the eyes of a gazelle,

wary of a hunter sharpening his knives.

Wary of the hunter's arrow poised to fly.

فواتر إلّا أنهن فواتكٌ

فواتر إلّا أنهن فواتكٌ

يفارق منهن المحب كراه

يفارق منهن المحب كراه

Languid, yet they are deadly;

He has a slender waist without any corpulence,

because of them, the lover parts with his sleep.

We imagine it there but cannot see it.

يبدن بأقواس الحواجب صبره

يبدن بأقواس الحواجب صبره

وهن ضعافٌ لا يُبدن هواه

وهن ضعافٌ لا يُبدن هواه

With the bows of the eyebrows they destroy his patience,

His shoulders bear no heavier burden than camphor,

yet, weak as they are, they do not destroy his love.

Though they demolished the strength of his lovers.

وصفحة بلّور ألمَّ بها السُهى

وصفحة بلّور ألمَّ بها السُهى

وجانس فيها من سهيل أخاه

وجانس فيها من سهيل أخاه

And a crystal surface upon which al-Suha alighted,

With the arches of his eyebrows he shows patience,

and there found a kindred brother in Suhayl.

While they are weak, not displaying his love.

إن استترت بالسندسية خلتَها

إن استترت بالسندسية خلتَها

حديقة رمّان تسرُّ جناه

حديقة رمّان تسرُّ جناه

If veiled in fine silk, you would think it

His cheek is a page of crystal, graced by shyness,

a pomegranate garden concealing its fruit.

Adjoining it the star Suhail like a brother.

تجاور خصراً لا وجود لجرمه

تجاور خصراً لا وجود لجرمه

نقرُّ به وهماً وليس نراه

نقرُّ به وهماً وليس نراه

It adjoins a waist with no bodily substance;

If he covers himself in silken robes,

we acknowledge it in fancy, yet do not see it.

He is a pomegranate garden, its fruits a delight.

وماجبل الكافور أثقل من ربا

وماجبل الكافور أثقل من ربا

روادفِهِ اللائي هدمن قواه

روادفِهِ اللائي هدمن قواه

And no mountain of camphor is heavier than the mounds

What the people all love after this one,

of his buttocks, which have demolished his strength.

Is against the faith of my heart, loving only him.

حُمِلن بساق للعليل يسوقها

حُمِلن بساق للعليل يسوقها

إذا قعدت عنه يقوم عزاه

إذا قعدت عنه يقوم عزاه

They are borne on a leg he brings to the ailing one;

Ask my beloved for mercy to a lover surrendered,

when it holds back from him, his solace rises.

Mercy amidst the fires of passion and longing.

وما بعد هذا يعشق الناس كلهم

وما بعد هذا يعشق الناس كلهم

وإيمان قلبي لا يحب سواه

وإيمان قلبي لا يحب سواه

What more than this do all people love?

Or seek out if his apparition proves difficult,

By my heart's faith, it loves none but him.

Some drops of my tears, perhaps I will see him.

سلاه خليليَّ الرضوخ لعاشقٍ

سلاه خليليَّ الرضوخ لعاشقٍ

سلاه بنيران الهوى وسلاه

سلاه بنيران الهوى وسلاه

Ask him, my two friends, to yield to a lover;

And the sanctity of a love whose permanence I wished,

beseech him by passion's fires and his forgetfulness.

And bygone promises he did not intend to keep.

أو التمسا إن عز ذاك خيالَه

أو التمسا إن عز ذاك خيالَه

وبعضَ كَرَى عيني لعل أراه

وبعضَ كَرَى عيني لعل أراه

Or, if that is too hard, seek his apparition

For none but you, my faith's life, am I a lover,

and a little sleep for my eyes: perhaps I shall see him.

You are my heart, my purpose, my delight.

وحرمةَ ودٍّ ما أَحَبَّ دوامَه

وحرمةَ ودٍّ ما أَحَبَّ دوامَه

وسالفَ وعدٍ لا يريد وفاه

وسالفَ وعدٍ لا يريد وفاه

And by the sanctity of a love he did not wish to last,

and an earlier promise he does not wish to fulfill,

لغيرك محيي الدين ما أنا عاشق

لغيرك محيي الدين ما أنا عاشق

فأنت مني قلبي وأنت عناه

فأنت مني قلبي وأنت عناه

I love none other than you, Muhyi al-Din;

for you are my heart within me, and you are its anguish.