ما بال عينِك تَقَوى كلَّما ضعفتْ

ما بال عينِك تَقَوى كلَّما ضعفتْ

وما للحظك يسطو وهو ذو سَقَمِ

وما للحظك يسطو وهو ذو سَقَمِ

Why does your eye grow strong whenever it weakens?

Why do your eyes grow stronger whenever you become weak?

And why does your glance strike, though it is ailing?

Why does your glance attack while it is ill?

وما لخدّيك قد زاد احمِرارُهما

وما لخدّيك قد زاد احمِرارُهما

حتى كأنّهما قد ضُرِّجا بدمِ

حتى كأنّهما قد ضُرِّجا بدمِ

And why have your cheeks grown redder,

Why has the redness of your cheeks increased

Until they seem to have been stained with blood?

As if they were stained with blood?

وما لثغرك دُرّاً غيرَ منتثِرٍ

وما لثغرك دُرّاً غيرَ منتثِرٍ

وما للفظك درّاً غيرَ منتظِمِ

وما للفظك درّاً غيرَ منتظِمِ

And why is your mouth like unscattered pearls,

Why are your lips no longer scattering pearls?

And why is your speech like unstrung pearls?

Why is your voice no longer well-ordered?

حُسْناً تحيَّر فيه الناظرون كما

حُسْناً تحيَّر فيه الناظرون كما

تحيّرتْ فِكَر الألباب في كرمي

تحيّرتْ فِكَر الألباب في كرمي

Such beauty bewilders those who gaze, just as

A beauty that bewilders all who look, as

The thoughts of discerning minds are bewildered by my generosity.

my generosity bewildered minds.

ما أبعد الغيثَ من تشبِيهه بِيَدي

ما أبعد الغيثَ من تشبِيهه بِيَدي

وأقربَ الشمسَ من أن تقتَفي شيمي

وأقربَ الشمسَ من أن تقتَفي شيمي

How far the rain is from being likened to my hand,

How far is the rain from being likened to my hands,

And how close the sun is to following my ways!

and how near is the sun to following my qualities!

ما نام يوماً فؤادي عن تنبُّهه

ما نام يوماً فؤادي عن تنبُّهه

ولا تَلعْثَم في مجهوله فَهَمي

ولا تَلعْثَم في مجهوله فَهَمي

Never, even for a day, has my heart slumbered, forsaking its vigilance,

Never has my heart slept from its vigilance,

Nor has my understanding faltered over what it does not know.

nor has my understanding stammered in its unknown.

إذا اكتحلت بنومي استيقظت فِطَني

إذا اكتحلت بنومي استيقظت فِطَني

حتى كأني إذا ما نمتُ لم أنم

حتى كأني إذا ما نمتُ لم أنم

When I use my sleep as kohl, my wits awaken,

When I line my eyes with sleep, my insight awakens

So that, when I sleep, it is as though I have not slept.

so that when I sleep, it is as if I did not sleep.

فما السيوف سوى ما أَرهفت فِطَنى

فما السيوف سوى ما أَرهفت فِطَنى

ولا الرياضُ سوى ما نَمْقتْ حِكَمي

ولا الرياضُ سوى ما نَمْقتْ حِكَمي

So swords are nothing but what my wits have sharpened,

So swords are nothing but what my insight has sharpened

Nor are gardens anything but what my maxims have adorned.

and meadows are nothing but what my wisdom has cultivated.

فَجرّدوا البيض من رأيي ومن فِكَري

فَجرّدوا البيض من رأيي ومن فِكَري

للضرب والتقِطوا الياقوتَ من كَلمي

للضرب والتقِطوا الياقوتَ من كَلمي

So draw the white blades from my judgment and my thoughts,

Strip the eggs of my opinion and my thought

To strike with, and gather rubies from my words.

for striking, and pick out the rubies from my words.

كأنما الناس حولي ظُلْمة وأنا

كأنما الناس حولي ظُلْمة وأنا

بدرٌ وكيف يقاس البدرُ بالظُّلَم

بدرٌ وكيف يقاس البدرُ بالظُّلَم

It is as though the people around me are darkness, while I am

It is as if the people around me are darkness and I

A full moon—how can the full moon be compared with darkness?

am the moon. How can the moon be compared to shadows?

قوم كأنّ الزمان المستقيم لهمْ

قوم كأنّ الزمان المستقيم لهمْ

هَجا بهم نفسَه أو عابَها بِهِمِ

هَجا بهم نفسَه أو عابَها بِهِمِ

A people—as though time, so favorable to them,

A people, as if either the steady time

Had lampooned itself through them, or disparaged itself through them.

railed at them or blamed them.