ويحَ العواذِل لا خَلاقَ لهُم

ويحَ العواذِل لا خَلاقَ لهُم

وَهِمُوا ولم تَصدُقْهُم الفِكَرُ

وَهِمُوا ولم تَصدُقْهُم الفِكَرُ

Alas for the reproachers—no share of goodness is theirs!

Alas for the fickle folk, honor is not theirs

They were mistaken, and their thoughts did not prove true.

They schemed but their minds could not make the schemes materialize

قَالوا فتىً تسمو به هِمَمٌ

قَالوا فتىً تسمو به هِمَمٌ

مُستصْغَرٌ في جَنبها الخَطَرُ

مُستصْغَرٌ في جَنبها الخَطَرُ

They said: a youth whom ambitions lift aloft,

They talked of a gallant youth with lofty aspirations

beside which peril is deemed small,

Yet in face of peril he seemed of small worth

لا يَنْثني عمّا يَهِمُّ بِهِ

لا يَنْثني عمّا يَهِمُّ بِهِ

أو يَنْثَني الصّمصامَةُ الذّكَرُ

أو يَنْثَني الصّمصامَةُ الذّكَرُ

who does not turn aside from what he intends,

He does not flinch from what he is bent on

unless the hard-tempered sword itself should bend.

Nor does the firm-rooted male palm bend

غرّته دنياهُ بزَهرتها

غرّته دنياهُ بزَهرتها

فَصَبَا ومن عادَاتِهَا الغَرَرُ

فَصَبَا ومن عادَاتِهَا الغَرَرُ

His world beguiled him with her bloom,

The world deluded him with its bloom

so he became enamored—and deceit is one of her ways.

So he reveled, for delusion is its wont

فأرَتهُ مثلَ الشمسِ طالِعةً

فأرَتهُ مثلَ الشمسِ طالِعةً

غرّاءَ يعشَى دُونَها البَصرُ

غرّاءَ يعشَى دُونَها البَصرُ

So she showed herself to him like the rising sun,

It showed him the rising sun, radiant

radiant, before whom sight grows dim.

Dazzling, before which sight is dimmed

وبدَتْ له عُطُلاً كأحسنِ ما

وبدَتْ له عُطُلاً كأحسنِ ما

يَبدُو لعينِ المُدلِجِ القَمرُ

يَبدُو لعينِ المُدلِجِ القَمرُ

And she appeared to him unadorned, as lovely as

And it seemed to him a vision of utmost beauty

the moon ever appears to a night-traveler's eye.

As the moon appears to the watcher's eye

حتى إذا ما الحُبُّ أوقَفَهُ

حتى إذا ما الحُبُّ أوقَفَهُ

حَيرانَ لا وِردٌ ولا صَدَرُ

حَيرانَ لا وِردٌ ولا صَدَرُ

Until, when love had held him fast,

Until when love halted him, perplexed

bewildered, neither reaching water nor turning back,

Neither progressing nor turning back

ضَمِنَتْ له من وَصلِهَا عِدَةً

ضَمِنَتْ له من وَصلِهَا عِدَةً

إن نَالَها فَلْيَهنِهِ الظَّفَرُ

إن نَالَها فَلْيَهنِهِ الظَّفَرُ

she gave him a promise of union with her.

It promised him union's delight

If he attains it, may triumph bring him joy;

If he attained his goal, but triumph is fickle

أو كان ذَاك لِحَتْفِه سبَباً

أو كان ذَاك لِحَتْفِه سبَباً

فَدَمُ الفَتَى في مِثلَها هَدَرُ

فَدَمُ الفَتَى في مِثلَها هَدَرُ

or if that should be the cause of his death,

Or that would be the cause of his doom

then a youth's blood, for one like her, goes unavenged.

For the blood of youth like him is cheap