Sol 6.1

  1. خوّفتُه سلوتي فخافا

    وأنجز الوعد ثم وافَى

    I made him fear I would forget him, and he was afraid;

    and he kept his promise, then came,

  2. يقود مِن حسنِه جيوشاً

    ساكنةً خيلُها الشغافا

    leading armies of his beauty,

    whose steeds dwelt within the heart's sheath.

  3. يا حبّذا عَتْبُه مُدِلاّ

    يَنْثر ألفاظَه الظِرافا

    Ah, how sweet his reproach, so coyly bold,

    scattering his charming words!

  4. وقد لوى صُدْغَهُ دلالا

    وهزّ ألحاظَه الضِعافا

    And he had curled his temple-lock coquettishly

    and set his languid glances quivering.

  5. كأنّما الكأسُ في يديه

    من خدّه اسْتنبطت نطافا

    As though the cup in his hands

    had drawn its droplets from his cheek.

  6. حتى إذا مالت الثّريّا

    تروم في المغرِبِ انصرافا

    Until, when the Pleiades inclined,

    seeking to depart in the west,

  7. وخِلت أنّ الصباح بازا

    وخِلت أن الدجى غُدافا

    and I fancied dawn a goshawk,

    and I fancied darkness a raven,

  8. ألثمني خدّه شقِيقا

    وعلّنِي ريقه سُلافا

    he let me kiss his cheek, a red anemone,

    and gave me draughts of his saliva, choice wine.

  9. ثم انثنى للجبِين سُكْرا

    والسكر لا يُحْسِن الخلافا

    Then, drunk, he slumped onto his brow,

    and drunkenness knows not how to resist.

  10. فلَمْ أزل ألثم التّراقي

    والخصرَ والأَنْمل اللطافا

    So I kept kissing his collarbones,

    and his waist and delicate fingertips,

  11. اكتب في جِسمِهِ بخطِّي

    نوناً وياءً لها وكافا

    writing on his body in my own hand

    a nūn, a yāʾ beside it, and a kāf.

  12. هذا على أنني قدِيماً

    ما زِلت أستصحِب العفافا

    All this, though for a long time

    I have kept chastity as my companion.

  13. فافتِك وتُب طاعة وغيَّاً

    سافاً كذا مرة وسافَا

    So be wanton and repent—obedience and sin,

    a layer of this, then a layer of that.

  14. فلا تكن ناسكاً ثقيلاً

    فكَمْ عَفا ربُّنا وعافى

    So do not be a tiresome ascetic,

    for how often our Lord has pardoned and spared!