مَا بَيْنَ ضَالِ المُنْحَنَى وَظِلَالِهِ

مَا بَيْنَ ضَالِ المُنْحَنَى وَظِلَالِهِضَلَّ المُتَيَّمُ وَاهْتَدَى بِضَلَالِهِ

Mā bayna ḍāli al-munḥanā waẓilālihi, Ḍalla al-mutayyamu wahtadā biḍalālihi

Between the lote trees of the winding valley and their shade, the enthralled lover lost his way, and found guidance in his straying.

وَبِذَلِكَ الشِّعْبِ اليَمَانِي مُنْيَةٌلِلصَّبِّ قَدْ بَعُدَتْ عَلَى آمَالِهِ

Wabidhalika ash-shiʿbi al-yamānī munyatun, Lilṣṣabbi qad baʿudat ʿalā ʾāmālihi

And in that Yemeni ravine lies a wish of the lover's that has drifted far beyond his hopes.

يَا صَاحِبِي هَذَا العَقِيقُ فَقِفْ بِهِمُتَوَالِهاً إِنْ كُنْتَ لَسْتَ بِوَالِهِ

Yā ṣāḥibī hadhā al-ʿaqīqu faqif bihi, Mutawālihan in kunta lasta biwālihi

My friend, this is al-'Aqiq, so stop here, feigning love's distraction if you are not already distracted.

وَانْظُرْهُ عَنِّي إِنَّ طَرْفِي عَاقَنِيإِرْسَالُ دَمْعِي فِيهِ عَنْ إِرْسَالِهِ

Wanẓurhu ʿannī inna ṭarfī ʿāqanī, Irsālu damʿī fīhi ʿan irsālihi

And look at it for me, for my eye is kept from casting its glance by the tears I shed upon it.

وَاسْأَلْ غَزَالَ كِنَاسِهِ هَلْ عِنْدَهُعِلْمٌ بِقَلْبِي فِي هَوَاهُ وَحَالِهِ

Wasʾal ghazāla kināsihi hal ʿindahu, ʿilmun biqalbī fī hawāhu waḥālihi

Ask the gazelle of its covert whether it knows anything of my heart, its love for it and its state.

وَأَظُنُّهُ لَمْ يَدْرِ ذُلَّ صَبَابَتِيإِذْ ظَلَّ مُلْتَهِياً بِعِزِّ جَمَالِهِ

Waʾaẓunnuhu lam yadri dhulla ṣabābatī, Idh ẓalla multahiyan biʿizzi jamālihi

I think it never knew the humiliation of my passion, for it was ever absorbed in the pride of its beauty.

تَفْدِيهِ مُهْجَتِيَ الَّتِي تَلِفَتْ وَلَامَنٌّ عَلَيْهِ لِأَنَّهَا مِنْ مَالِهِ

Tafdīhi muhjatiya al-latī talifat walā, Mannun ʿalayhi liʾannahā min mālihi

My heart, which has perished, is its ransom, and there is no favour in that, for my heart was always its own.

أَتُرَى دَرَى أَنِّي أَحِنُّ لِهَجْرِهِإِذْ كُنْتُ مُشْتَاقاً لَهُ كَوِصَالِهِ

Aturā darā annī aḥinnu lihajrihi, Idh kuntu mushtāqan lahu kawiṣālihi

Does he know, I wonder, that I yearn even for his desertion, since I long for it as I long for his union?

وَأَبِيتُ سَهْرَاناً أُمَثِّلُ طَيْفَهُلِلطَّرْفِ كَيْ أَلْقَى خَيَالَ خَيَالِهِ

Waʾabītu sahrānan umaththilu ṭayfahu, Lilṭṭarfi kay alqā khayāla khayālihi

I spend the night awake, picturing his phantom before my eye, so that I may meet the image of his image.

لَا ذُقْتُ يَوْماً رَاحَةً مِنْ عَاذِلٍإِنْ كُنْتُ مِلْتُ لِقِيلِهِ وَلِقَالِهِ

Lā dhuqtu yawman rāḥatan min ʿādhilin, In kuntu miltu liqīlihi waliqālihi

May I never taste a day's relief from a blamer if I ever inclined to his idle talk and chatter.

فَوَحَقِّ طِيبِ رِضَى الحَبِيبِ وَوَصْلِهِمَا مَلَّ قَلْبِي حُبَّهُ لِمَلَالِهِ

Fawaḥaqqi ṭībi riḍā al-ḥabībi wawaṣlihi, Mā malla qalbī ḥubbahu limalālihi

By the sweetness of the beloved's pleasure and his union, my heart has never wearied of loving him, though he wearies of me.

وَاهاً إِلَى مَاءِ العُذَيْبِ وَكَيْفَ لِيبِحَشَايَ لَوْ يُطْفَى بِبَرْدِ زُلَالِهِ

Wāhan ilā māʾi al-ʿudhaybi wakayfa lī, Biḥashāya law yuṭfā bibardi zulālihi

Ah, for the water of al-'Udhayb! But how could I quench my heart's fire with the coolness of its pure stream?

وَلَقَدْ يَجِلُّ عَنِ اشْتِيَاقِي مَاؤُهُشَرَفاً فَوَاظَمَئِي لِلَامِعِ آلِهِ

Walaqad yajillu ʿani shtiyāqī māʾuhu, Sharafan fawāẓamaʾī lilāmiʿi ʾālihi

Its water is too noble to be reached by my longing, so, oh, my thirst for the shimmer of its mirage!