قَلْبِي يُحَدِّثُنِي بِأَنَّكَ مُتْلِفِي

قَلْبِي يُحَدِّثُنِي بِأَنَّكَ مُتْلِفِيرُوحِي فِدَاكَ عَرَفْتَ أَمْ لَمْ تَعْرِفِ

Qalbī yuḥaddithunī biʾannaka mutlifī, Rūḥī fidāka ʿarafta am lam taʿrifi

My heart tells me that you will be my ruin; my soul be your ransom, whether you know it or not.

لَمْ أَقْضِ حَقَّ هَوَاكَ إِنْ كُنْتُ الَّذِيلَمْ أَقْضِ فِيهِ أَسًى وَمِثْلِيَ مَنْ يَفِي

Lam aqḍi ḥaqqa hawāka in kuntu al-ladhī, Lam aqḍi fīhi asan wamithliya man yafī

I have not paid love's due to you if I am one who has not died of grief for it, and one like me keeps faith.

مَا لِي سِوَى رُوحِي وَبَاذِلُ نَفْسِهِفِي حُبِّ مَنْ يَهْوَاهُ لَيْسَ بِمُسْرِفِ

Mā lī siwā rūḥī wabādhilu nafsihi, Fī ḥubbi man yahwāhu laysa bimusrifi

I own nothing but my soul, and one who gives himself for love of the one he loves is no spendthrift.

فَلَئِنْ رَضِيتَ بِهَا فَقَدْ أَسْعَفْتَنِييَا خَيْبَةَ المَسْعَى إِذَا لَمْ تُسْعِفِ

Falaʾin raḍīta bihā faqad asʿaftanī, Yā khaybata al-masʿā idhā lam tusʿifi

If you accept it, you have granted my wish; how futile my striving if you do not grant it!

يَا مَانِعِي طِيبَ المَنَامِ وَمَانِحِيثَوْبَ السَّقَامِ بِهِ وَوَجْدِي المُتْلِفِ

Yā māniʿī ṭība al-manāmi wamāniḥī, Thawba as-saqāmi bihi wawajdī al-mutlifi

O you who deny me the sweetness of sleep and grant me the robe of sickness through it, and my consuming passion,

عَطْفاً عَلَى رَمَقِي وَمَا أَبْقَيْتَ لِيمِنْ جِسْمِيَ المُضْنَى وَقَلْبِي المُدْنَفِ

ʿaṭfan ʿalā ramaqī wamā abqayta lī, Min jismiya al-muḍnā waqalbī al-mudnafi

Have pity on my last breath, and on what you have left me of my wasted body and my lovesick heart.

فَالوَجْدُ بَاقٍ وَالوِصَالُ مُمَاطِلِيوَالصَّبْرُ فَانٍ وَاللِّقَاءُ مُسَوِّفِي

Fa-al-wajdu bāqin wa-al-wiṣālu mumāṭilī, Wa-aṣ-ṣabru fānin wa-al-liqāʾu musawwifī

Longing remains, and union keeps putting me off; patience is gone, and meeting is forever postponed.

لَمْ أَخْلُ مِنْ حَسَدٍ عَلَيْكَ فَلَا تُضِعْسَهَرِي بِتَشْنِيعِ الخَيَالِ المُرْجِفِ

Lam akhlu min ḥasadin ʿalayka falā tuḍiʿ, Saharī bitashnīʿi al-khayāli al-murjifi

I am never free of those who envy me for you, so do not let my sleepless nights be belied by the rumours of your phantom.

وَاسْأَلْ نُجُومَ اللَّيْلِ هَلْ زَارَ الكَرَىجَفْنِي وَكَيْفَ يَزُورُ مَنْ لَمْ يَعْرِفِ

Wasʾal nujūma al-layli hal zāra al-karā, Jafnī wakayfa yazūru man lam yaʿrifi

Ask the stars of the night whether sleep has visited my eyelids; how could one visit who never knew them?

لَا غَرْوَ إِنْ شَحَّتْ بِغُمْضِ جُفُونِهَاعَيْنِي وَسَحَّتْ بِالدُّمُوعِ الذُّرَّفِ

Lā gharwa in shaḥḥat bighumḍi jufūnihā, ʿaynī wasaḥḥat bi-ad-dumūʿi adh-dhurrafi

No wonder if my eye is miserly with the closing of its lids and pours forth streams of flowing tears.

وَبِمَا جَرَى فِي مَوْقِفِ التَّوْدِيعِ مِنْأَلَمِ النَّوَى شَاهَدْتُ هَوْلَ المَوْقِفِ

Wabimā jarā fī mawqifi at-tawdīʿi min, Alami an-nawā shāhadtu hawla al-mawqifi

In the pain of parting that befell me at the place of farewell, I saw the terror of the Day of Standing.

إِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ وَصْلٌ لَدَيْكَ فَعِدْ بِهِأَمَلِي وَمَاطِلْ إِنْ وَعَدْتَ وَلَا تَفِي

In lam yakun waṣlun ladayka faʿid bihi, Amalī wamāṭil in waʿadta walā tafī

If there can be no union with you, then promise it to my hope; put me off if you promise, and do not keep it.

فَالمَطْلُ مِنْكَ لَدَيَّ إِنْ عَزَّ الوَفَايَحْلُو كَوَصْلٍ مِنْ حَبِيبٍ مُسْعِفِ

Fa-al-maṭlu minka ladayya in ʿazza al-wafā, Yaḥlū kawaṣlin min ḥabībin musʿifi

For your putting me off, if faithfulness is too dear, is as sweet to me as union with a beloved who grants one's wish.

أَهْفُو لِأَنْفَاسِ النَّسِيمِ تَعِلَّةًوَلِوَجْهِ مَنْ نَقَلَتْ شَذَاهُ تَشَوُّفِي

Ahfū liʾanfāsi an-nasīmi taʿillatan, Waliwajhi man naqalat shadhāhu tashawwufī

I long for the breaths of the breeze as solace, and yearn toward the face of the one whose fragrance it carries.

فَلَعَلَّ نَارَ جَوَانِحِي بِهُبُوبِهَاأَنْ تَنْطَفِي وَأَوَدُّ أَنْ لَا تَنْطَفِي

Falaʿalla nāra jawāniḥī bihubūbihā, An tanṭafī waʾawaddu an lā tanṭafī

Perhaps the fire within my ribs, as the breeze blows, may be quenched; yet I would love it never to be quenched.

يَا أَهْلَ وُدِّي أَنْتُمُ أَمَلِي وَمَنْنَادَاكُمُ يَا أَهْلَ وُدِّي قَدْ كُفِي

Yā ahla wuddī antumu amalī waman, Nādākumu yā ahla wuddī qad kufī

O people of my love, you are my hope, and whoever calls upon you, O people of my love, has all he needs.

عُودُوا لِمَا كُنْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنَ الوَفَاكَرَماً فَإِنِّي ذَلِكَ الخِلُّ الوَفِي

ʿūdū limā kuntum ʿalayhi mina al-wafā, Karaman faʾinnī dhalika al-khillu al-wafī

Return, out of generosity, to the faithfulness you once had, for I am that same loyal and faithful friend.

وَحَيَاتِكُمْ وَحَيَاتِكُمْ قَسَماً وَفِيعُمْرِي بِغَيْرِ حَيَاتِكُمْ لَمْ أَحْلِفِ

Waḥayātikum waḥayātikum qasaman wafī, ʿumrī bighayri ḥayātikum lam aḥlifi

By your life, and again by your life, I swear; and never in my life have I sworn by anything but your life.

لَوْ أَنَّ رُوحِي فِي يَدِي وَوَهَبْتُهَالِمُبَشِّرِي بِقُدُومِكُمْ لَمْ أُنْصِفِ

Law anna rūḥī fī yadī wawahabtuhā, Limubashshirī biqudūmikum lam unṣifi

If my soul were in my hand and I gave it to the one who brought news of your coming, I would not repay him fully.

لَا تَحْسَبُونِي فِي الهَوَى مُتَصَنِّعاًكَلَفِي بِكُمْ خُلُقٌ بِغَيْرِ تَكَلُّفِ

Lā taḥsabūnī fī al-hawā mutaṣanniʿan, Kalafī bikum khuluqun bighayri takallufi

Do not think me a pretender in love: my passion for you is my nature, without affectation.

أَخْفَيْتُ حُبَّكُمُ فَأَخْفَانِي أَسًىحَتَّى لَعَمْرِي كِدْتُ عَنِّي أَخْتَفِي

Akhfaytu ḥubbakumu faʾakhfānī asan, Ḥattā laʿamrī kidtu ʿannī akhtafī

I hid my love for you, and grief hid me, until, by my life, I almost vanished from myself.

وَكَتَمْتُهُ عَنِّي فَلَوْ أَبْدَيْتُهُلَوَجَدْتُهُ أَخْفَى مِنَ اللُّطْفِ الخَفِي

Wakatamtuhu ʿannī falaw abdaytuhu, Lawajadtuhu akhfā mina al-luṭfi al-khafī

I concealed it even from myself; were I to reveal it, I would find it more hidden than the subtlest grace.

وَلَقَدْ أَقُولُ لِمَنْ تَحَرَّشَ بِالهَوَىعَرَّضْتَ نَفْسَكَ لِلْبَلَا فَاسْتَهْدِفِ

Walaqad aqūlu liman taḥarrasha bi-al-hawā, ʿarraḍta nafsaka lilbalā fastahdifi

I say to the one who meddles with love: "You have exposed yourself to trials, so be their target.

أَنْتَ القَتِيلُ بِأَيِّ مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَهُفَاخْتَرْ لِنَفْسِكَ فِي الهَوَى مَنْ تَصْطَفِي

Anta al-qatīlu biʾayyi man aḥbabtahu, Fakhtar linafsika fī al-hawā man taṣṭafī

You are the slain, whoever it is you love; so choose for yourself in love the one you would choose."

قُلْ لِلْعَذُولِ أَطَلْتَ لَوْمِي طَامِعاًأَنَّ المَلَامَ عَنِ الهَوَى مُسْتَوْقِفِي

Qul lilʿadhūli aṭalta lawmī ṭāmiʿan, Anna al-malāma ʿani al-hawā mustawqifī

Say to the blamer: "You have prolonged your blame, hoping that blame would hold me back from love.

دَعْ عَنْكَ تَعْنِيفِي وَذُقْ طَعْمَ الهَوَىفَإِذَا عَشِقْتَ فَبَعْدَ ذَلِكَ عَنِّفِ

Daʿ ʿanka taʿnīfī wadhuq ṭaʿma al-hawā, Faʾidhā ʿashiqta fabaʿda dhalika ʿannifi

Spare me your rebukes and taste love; then, once you have loved, rebuke me after that."

بَرِحَ الخَفَاءُ بِحُبِّ مَنْ لَوْ فِي الدُّجَىسَفَرَ اللِّثَامَ لَقُلْتُ يَا بَدْرُ اخْتَفِ

Bariḥa al-khafāʾu biḥubbi man law fī ad-dujā, Safara al-lithāma laqultu yā badru khtafi

The secret is out: I love one who, if in the dark he lifted his veil, I would say: "O full moon, hide!"

وَإِنِ اكْتَفَى غَيْرِي بِطَيْفِ خَيَالِهِفَأَنَا الَّذِي بِوِصَالِهِ لَا أَكْتَفِي

Waʾini ktafā ghayrī biṭayfi khayālihi, Faʾanā al-ladhī biwiṣālihi lā aktafī

Though others be content with the passing phantom of his image, I am one who is not content even with his union.

وَقْفاً عَلَيْهِ مَحَبَّتِي وَلِمِحْنَتِيبِأَقَلَّ مِنْ تَلَفِي بِهِ لَا أَشْتَفِي

Waqfan ʿalayhi maḥabbatī walimiḥnatī, Biʾaqalla min talafī bihi lā ashtafī

My love is wholly devoted to him, and in my trial I will not be healed by anything less than perishing in him.

وَهَوَاهُ وَهْوَ أَلِيَّتِي وَكَفَى بِهِقَسَماً أَكَادُ أُجِلُّهُ كَالمُصْحَفِ

Wahawāhu wahwa aliyyatī wakafā bihi, Qasaman akādu ujilluhu ka-al-muṣḥafi

By his love, which is my oath, and it suffices as an oath, I almost revere it as I revere the Qur'an.

لَوْ قَالَ تِيهاً قِفْ عَلَى جَمْرِ الغَضَالَوَقَفْتُ مُمْتَثِلاً وَلَمْ أَتَوَقَّفِ

Law qāla tīhan qif ʿalā jamri al-ghaḍā, Lawaqaftu mumtathilan walam atawaqqafi

If in his pride he said, "Stand on the embers of the ghada wood," I would stand there obediently and not hesitate.

أَوْ كَانَ مَنْ يَرْضَى بِخَدِّي مَوْطِئاًلَوَضَعْتُهُ أَرْضاً وَلَمْ أَسْتَنْكِفِ

Aw kāna man yarḍā bikhaddī mawṭiʾan, Lawaḍaʿtuhu arḍan walam astankifi

Or if he were pleased to tread upon my cheek, I would lay it down as ground for him without disdain.

لَا تُنْكِرُوا شَغَفِي بِمَا يَرْضَى وَإِنْهُوَ بِالوِصَالِ عَلَيَّ لَمْ يَتَعَطَّفِ

Lā tunkirū shaghafī bimā yarḍā waʾin, Huwa bi-al-wiṣāli ʿalayya lam yataʿaṭṭafi

Do not deny my passion for whatever pleases him, even if he never grants me the kindness of union.

غَلَبَ الهَوَى فَأَطَعْتُ أَمْرَ صَبَابَتِيمِنْ حَيْثُ فِيهِ عَصَيْتُ نَهْيَ مُعَنِّفِي

Ghalaba al-hawā faʾaṭaʿtu amra ṣabābatī, Min ḥaythu fīhi ʿaṣaytu nahya muʿannifī

Love prevailed, so I obeyed the command of my yearning, and so defied the prohibition of my rebuker.

مِنِّي لَهُ ذُلُّ الخُضُوعِ وَمِنْهُ لِيعِزُّ المَنُوعِ وَقُوَّةُ المُسْتَضْعِفِ

Minnī lahu dhullu al-khuḍūʿi waminhu lī, ʿizzu al-manūʿi waquwwatu al-mustaḍʿifi

From me to him is the humility of submission, and from him to me the might of the one who withholds, and the strength of one who finds me weak.

أَلِفَ الصُّدُودَ وَلِي فُؤَادٌ لَمْ يَزَلْمُذْ كُنْتُ غَيْرَ وِدَادِهِ لَمْ يَأْلَفِ

Alifa aṣ-ṣudūda walī fuʾādun lam yazal, Mudh kuntu ghayra widādihi lam yaʾlafi

He grew used to aversion, while I have a heart that, ever since I came to be, has known no love but his.

يَا مَا أُمَيْلِحَ كُلَّ مَا يَرْضَى بِهِوَرُضَابُهُ يَا مَا أُحَيْلَاهُ بِفِي

Yā mā umayliḥa kulla mā yarḍā bihi, Waruḍābuhu yā mā uḥaylāhu bifī

How charming is everything that pleases him, and his kiss, how very sweet it is to my lips!

لَوْ أَسْمَعُوا يَعْقُوبَ ذِكْرَ مَلَاحَةٍفِي وَجْهِهِ نَسِيَ الجَمَالَ اليُوسُفِي

Law asmaʿū yaʿqūba dhikra malāḥatin, Fī wajhihi nasiya al-jamāla al-yūsufī

Had they let Jacob hear of the beauty of his face, he would have forgotten the beauty of Joseph.

أَوْ لَوْ رَآهُ عَائِداً أَيُّوبُ فِيسِنَةِ الكَرَى قِدْماً مِنَ البَلْوَى شُفِي

Aw law raʾāhu ʿāʾidan ayyūbu fī, Sinati al-karā qidman mina al-balwā shufī

Or had Job seen him coming to visit him in the doze of sleep, he would long ago have been cured of his affliction.

كُلُّ البُدُورِ إِذَا تَجَلَّى مُقْبِلاًتَصْبُو إِلَيْهِ وَكُلُّ قَدٍّ أَهْيَفِ

Kullu al-budūri idhā tajallā muqbilan, Taṣbū ilayhi wakullu qaddin ahyafi

All the full moons, when he appears coming near, yearn for him, as does every slender, graceful form.

إِنْ قُلْتُ عِنْدِي فِيكَ كُلُّ صَبَابَةٍقَالَ المَلَاحَةُ لِي وَكُلُّ الحُسْنِ فِي

In qultu ʿindī fīka kullu ṣabābatin, Qāla al-malāḥatu lī wakullu al-ḥusni fī

If I say, "Every passion I have is for you," he says, "Beauty is mine, and all loveliness is in me."

كَمَلَتْ مَحَاسِنُهُ فَلَوْ أَهْدَى السَّنَالِلْبَدْرِ عِنْدَ تَمَامِهِ لَمْ يُخْسَفِ

Kamalat maḥāsinuhu falaw ahdā as-sanā, Lilbadri ʿinda tamāmihi lam yukhsafi

His beauties are complete; were he to give his radiance to the full moon at its fullness, it would never be eclipsed.

وَعَلَى تَفَنُّنِ وَاصِفِيهِ بِحُسْنِهِيَفْنَى الزَّمَانُ وَفِيهِ مَا لَمْ يُوصَفِ

Waʿalā tafannuni wāṣifīhi biḥusnihi, Yafnā az-zamānu wafīhi mā lam yūṣafi

However artfully those who describe him portray his beauty, time will end while in him remains what has not been described.

وَلَقَدْ صَرَفْتُ لِحُبِّهِ كُلِّي عَلَىيَدِ حُسْنِهِ فَحَمِدْتُ حُسْنَ تَصَرُّفِي

Walaqad ṣaraftu liḥubbihi kullī ʿalā, Yadi ḥusnihi faḥamidtu ḥusna taṣarrufī

I spent my whole self on loving him, at the hand of his beauty, and praised how well I spent it.

فَالعَيْنُ تَهْوَى صُورَةَ الحُسْنِ الَّتِيرُوحِي بِهَا تَصْبُو إِلَى مَعْنًى خَفِي

Fa-al-ʿaynu tahwā ṣūrata al-ḥusni al-latī, Rūḥī bihā taṣbū ilā maʿnan khafī

The eye loves the beautiful form through which my soul yearns toward a hidden meaning.

أَسْعِدْ أُخَيَّ وَغَنِّنِي بِحَدِيثِهِوَانْثُرْ عَلَى سَمْعِي حِلَاهُ وَشَنِّفِ

Asʿid ukhayya waghanninī biḥadīthihi, Wanthur ʿalā samʿī ḥilāhu washannifi

Help me, brother, and sing to me of him; scatter his adornments upon my hearing and adorn my ears,

لِأَرَى بِعَيْنِ السَّمْعِ شَاهِدَ حُسْنِهِمَعْنًى فَأَتْحِفْنِي بِذَاكَ وَشَرِّفِ

Liʾarā biʿayni as-samʿi shāhida ḥusnihi, Maʿnan faʾatḥifnī bidhāka washarrifi

That I may see, with the eye of hearing, the witness of his beauty as a meaning; so grant me that gift and honour me.

يَا أُخْتَ سَعْدٍ مِنْ حَبِيبِي جِئْتِنِيبِرِسَالَةٍ أَدَّيْتِهَا بِتَلَطُّفِ

Yā ukhta saʿdin min ḥabībī jiʾtinī, Birisālatin addaytihā bitalaṭṭufi

O sister of Sa'd, you came to me from my beloved with a message that you delivered with gentle grace.

فَسَمِعْتُ مَا لَمْ تَسْمَعِي وَنَظَرْتُ مَالَمْ تَنْظُرِي وَعَرَفْتُ مَا لَمْ تَعْرِفِي

Fasamiʿtu mā lam tasmaʿī wanaẓartu mā, Lam tanẓurī waʿaraftu mā lam taʿrifī

I heard what you did not hear, and saw what you did not see, and knew what you did not know.

إِنْ زَارَ يَوْماً يَا حَشَايَ تَقَطَّعِيكَلَفاً بِهِ أَوْ سَارَ يَا عَيْنُ اذْرِفِي

In zāra yawman yā ḥashāya taqaṭṭaʿī, Kalafan bihi aw sāra yā ʿaynu dhrifī

If he visits one day, O my heart, be torn apart in passion for him; and if he departs, O my eye, shed tears.

مَا لِلنَّوَى ذَنْبٌ وَمَنْ أَهْوَى مَعِيإِنْ غَابَ عَنْ إِنْسَانِ عَيْنِي فَهْوَ فِي

Mā lilnnawā dhanbun waman ahwā maʿī, In ghāba ʿan insāni ʿaynī fahwa fī

Parting is not to blame, for the one I love is with me: if he is absent from the pupil of my eye, he is within me.