Translation:Muhammad III's poem in Ibn al-Khatib's al-Lamha/1



She made me a promise and broke it;
 * how little loyalty women have!

She reneged from her pledge and did not keep it;
 * she wouldn't have broken it if it had been fair!

How come she shows no sympathy
 * for an ardent lover who never stops inviting her affection,

who seeks all the news about her
 * and contemplates the lightning when it flashes?

I hid my ailment from the eyes of men,
 * but my love became clear after having been hidden.

Oh, how many nights I spent drinking
 * the wine of those lovely lips!

[Now] I've been denied her company,
 * without breaking a pledge, which I fear she has broken.

Original Arabic
واعدني وعداًء وقد أخلفا أقل شيء في الملاح الوفا وحال عن عهدي ولم يرعه ما ضرّه لو أنه أنصافا ما بالها لم تتعطف على صبّ لها ما زال مستعطفا يستطلع الأنباء من نحوها ويرقب البرق إذا ما هفا خفيت سقماً عن عيان الورى وبان حبي بعد ما قدخفى لله كم من ليلة بتُّها أُدير من ذاك اللمى قرقفا منعتني بالوصل منها وما أخلفت عهداً خفتُ أن يخلفا