✦ Vowels: AI reading, checked against two printed editions (Cairo 1872 and 1889); not yet reviewed by a person. Five marks the metre requires, which the print does not show, are supplied by AI and marked. How the vowelling was made
Text: the 1872 edition with the commentaries of al-Būrīnī and al-Nābulusī (Cairo), checked letter by letter against the Cairo 1889 print; not yet collated with G. Scattolin’s critical edition of the Dīwān (IFAO, 2004).

ʿUmar ibn al-Fāriḍ · Huwa al-ḥubb fa-slam bi-l-ḥashā

هو الحب فاسلم بالحشا ما الهوى سهل

It Is Love

Name: It Is Love
Author: Ibn al-Fāriḍ

¶ 1
هُوَ الحُبُّ فَاسْلَمْ بِالحَشَا مَا الهَوَى سَهْلُ
فَمَا اخْتَارَهُ مُضْنًى بِهِ وَلَهُ عَقْلُ
It is love, so keep your inmost heart safe: passion is not easy. / No one worn down by it, who still has his reason, ever chose it.
Literal It [is] love, so be safe with the inmost heart; not [is] passion easy // so not chose it [one] wasted by it, and to him [is] reason
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¶ 2
وَعِشْ خَالِيًا فَالحُبُّ رَاحَتُهُ عَنَا
فَأَوَّلُهُ سُقْمٌ وَآخِرُهُ قَتْلُ
Live free of it, for love's ease is hardship. / Its beginning is sickness, and its end is killing.
Literal And live [as one] empty/free, // for love — its ease [is] hardship; // so its first [is] sickness, and its last [is] killing
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¶ 3
وَلَكِنْ لَدَيَّ المَوْتُ فِيهِ صَبَابَةً
حَيَاةٌ لِمَنْ أَهْوَى عَلَيَّ بِهَا الفَضْلُ
But for me, death in it, out of yearning, is life for the one I love, and by it I am owed a favour. / (Or: ...and by it the favour over me is hers/his.)
Literal And-but // with me [is] the death in it, [out of] ardent yearning, [a] life for [the one] whom I love; upon me by it [is] the favour
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¶ 4
نَصَحْتُكَ عِلْمًا بِالهَوَى وَالَّذِي أَرَى
مُخَالَفَتِي فَاخْتَرْ لِنَفْسِكَ مَا يَحْلُو
I have advised you, knowing passion well; and what I hold is that opposing me is the way. / So choose for yourself whatever is sweet to you.
Literal I advised you, [as] knowledge of passion // and that which I see [is] my opposition; so choose for yourself what is sweet
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¶ 5
فَإِنْ شِئْتَ أَنْ تَحْيَا سَعِيدًا فَمُتْ بِهِ
شَهِيدًا وَإِلَّا فَالغَرَامُ لَهُ أَهْلُ
If you wish to live happy, then die by it / a martyr; if not, then ardent love has its own people.
Literal So if you wish // to live happy, die by it [as] a martyr; and if not, then ardent love, for it [there are] people (fit for it)
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¶ 6
فَمَنْ لَمْ يَمُتْ فِي حُبِّهِ لَمْ يَعِشْ بِهِ
وَدُونَ اجْتِنَاءِ النَّحْلِ مَا جَنَتِ النَّحْلُ
Whoever does not die in love for him has not lived through him. / And short of gathering the bees' honey lies what the bees have wrought.
Literal So whoever [does] not die in his love // [has] not lived by him; // and short of the gathering of the bees [lies] // what the bees have gathered/wrought [against the gatherer]
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¶ 7
تَمَسَّكْ بِأَذْيَالِ الهَوَى وَاخْلَعِ الحَيَا
وَخَلِّ سَبِيلَ النَّاسِكِينَ وَإِنْ جَلُّوا
Hold fast to the hem of passion and cast off modesty, / and leave the way of the devout alone, even if they are exalted.
Literal Hold fast to the hems of passion // and take off modesty, // and leave [the] path of the devout, even if they be great
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¶ 8
وَقُلْ لِقَتِيلِ الحُبِّ وَفَّيْتَ حَقَّهُ
وَلِلْمُدَّعِي هَيْهَاتَ مَا الكَحَلُ الكُحْلُ
And say to the one slain by love: you have paid love its due. / And to the pretender: Far from it! The kohl applied is not the kohl-darkened eye.
Literal And say to the slain of love: you have fulfilled its right // and to the pretender: Far off! [Applied] kohl is not [natural] kohl-darkness
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¶ 9
تَعَرَّضَ قَوْمٌ لِلْغَرَامِ وَأَعْرَضُوا
بِجَانِبِهِمْ عَنْ صِحَّتِي فِيهِ وَاعْتَلُّوا
A people exposed themselves to ardent love, then turned aside, / turning their shoulders from my soundness in it, and pleaded an ailment.
Literal Exposed-themselves [a] people to ardent-love // and they-turned-away with their side from my soundness in it, and they-pleaded-illness
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¶ 10
رَضُوا بِالأَمَانِي وَابْتُلُوا بِحُظُوظِهِمْ
وَخَاضُوا بِحَارَ الحُبِّ دَعْوَى فَمَا ابْتَلُّوا
They were content with wishes and were tried by their own shares; / they waded the seas of love in mere claim, yet never got wet.
Literal They were content with [mere] wishes // and were afflicted by their [worldly] portions; // and they plunged [into] the seas of love [as] a claim, // and were not wetted
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¶ 11
فَهُمْ فِي السُّرَى لَمْ يَبْرَحُوا مِنْ مَكَانِهِمْ
وَمَا ظَعَنُوا فِي السَّيْرِ عَنْهُ وَقَدْ كَلُّوا
So they, on the night journey, have not stirred from their place / and have not moved on from it in their travelling, though they are worn out.
Literal So they [are] in the night-journey // [they] have not left from their place; / and [they] have not departed in the going from it, while they have [indeed] grown weary
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¶ 12
وَعَنْ مَذْهَبِي لَمَّا اسْتَحَبُّوا العَمَى عَلَى
الهُدَى حَسَدًا مِنْ عِنْدِ أَنْفُسِهِمْ ضَلُّوا
Quotes the Quran 41:17 · text of the quotation verified against Tanzil
Quotes the Quran 2:109 · text of the quotation verified against Tanzil
And from my way, when they preferred blindness to guidance, / out of envy that came from their own selves, they went astray.
Literal And from my path // when they preferred blindness over guidance // [in] envy from the (very) selves of them // they went astray
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¶ 13
أَحِبَّةَ قَلْبِي وَالمَحَبَّةُ شَافِعِي
لَدَيْكُمْ إِذَا شِئْتُمْ بِهَا اتَّصَلَ الحَبْلُ
Beloved ones of my heart, love is my intercessor with you. / If you so wish, by it the rope is joined.
Literal Beloved ones of my heart // and love [is] my intercessor // with you; if you wish, by it the rope is joined
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¶ 14
عَسَى عَطْفَةٌ مِنْكُمْ عَلَيَّ بِنَظْرَةٍ
فَقَدْ تَعِبَتْ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكُمُ الرُّسْلُ
Perhaps a turning of kindness from you toward me, with a single glance, / for the messengers between me and you have grown weary.
Literal Perhaps [there may be] a inclining-of-kindness from you upon me, with a glance // for indeed have grown weary, between me and between you, the messengers
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¶ 15
أَحِبَّايَ أَنْتُمْ أَحْسَنَ الدَّهْرُ أَمْ أَسَا
فَكُونُوا كَمَا شِئْتُمْ أَنَا ذَلِكَ الخِلُّ
My loved ones, you: whether Time has done well or done ill, / be as you wish; I am that same friend.
Literal My beloveds [are] you, // whether Time did well or did ill; // so be as you wished // I [am] that friend
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¶ 16
إِذَا كَانَ حَظِّي الهَجْرَ مِنْكُمْ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ
بِعَادٌ فَذَاكَ الهَجْرُ عِنْدِي هُوَ الوَصْلُ
If my portion from you is estrangement, and there is no distance, then that estrangement is, to me, union.
Literal If [it] was my lot — the estrangement from you // and there was not [any] distance — then that estrangement, with me, is [itself] the union
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¶ 17
وَمَا الصَّدُّ إِلَّا الوُدُّ مَا لَمْ يَكُنْ قِلًى
وَأَصْعَبُ شَيْءٍ غَيْرَ إِعْرَاضِكُمْ سَهْلُ
Your rejection is nothing but affection, so long as it is not hatred, / and the hardest of things, short of your turning away from me, is easy.
Literal And not [is] the rebuff but affection // so long as it is not hatred; // and the hardest thing, other than your turning-away, [is] easy
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¶ 18
وَتَعْذِيبُكُمْ عَذْبٌ لَدَيَّ وَجَوْرُكُمْ
عَلَيَّ بِمَا يَقْضِي الهَوَى لَكُمْ عَدْلُ
Your tormenting me is sweet to me, / and your injustice toward me, by what passion decrees for you, is justice.
Literal And your tormenting [of me] (is) sweet // in my sight, and your injustice against me, by what passion decrees for you, (is) justice
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¶ 19
وَصَبْرِيَ صَبْرٌ عَنْكُمْ وَعَلَيْكُمْ
أَرَى أَبَدًا عِنْدِي مَرَارَتَهُ تَحْلُو
My patience away from you is aloe; and my patience over you, / always, to my mind, I see its bitterness turn sweet.
Literal And my patience away from you [is] aloe, and [my patience] over you: // I see, always, in my view, its bitterness [to] become sweet
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¶ 20
أَخَذْتُمْ فُؤَادِي وَهْوَ بَعْضِي فَمَا الَّذِي
يَضُرُّكُمْ لَوْ كَانَ عِنْدَكُمُ الكُلُّ
You have taken my heart, and it is part of me. / What harm would it do you if the whole of me were with you?
Literal You took my heart // and it [is] a part of me; so what [is] that which // would harm you, if [there] were with you the whole
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¶ 21
نَأَيْتُمْ فَغَيْرَ الدَّمْعِ لَمْ أَرَ وَافِيَا
سِوَى زَفْرَةٍ مِنْ حَرِّ نَارِ الجَوَى تَعْلُو
You have gone far away, and I have found nothing faithful but the tear / except a sigh, from the heat of the fire of love's burning, that rises.
Literal You (pl.) went far away, // so other than the tear I did not see [anything] faithful, // except a sigh, from the heat of the fire of burning-passion, [that] rises
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¶ 22
فَسُهْدِيَ حَيٌّ فِي جُفُونِي مُخَلَّدٌ
وَنَوْمِي بِهَا مَيْتٌ وَدَمْعِي لَهُ غُسْلُ
So my sleeplessness lives on in my eyelids, abiding forever, / and my sleep in them is dead, and my tears are its washing of the corpse.
Literal So my sleeplessness [is] alive in my eyelids, everlasting // and my sleep in them [is] dead, and my tears for it [are] the ritual washing
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¶ 23
هَوًى طَلَّ مَا بَيْنَ الطُّلُولِ دَمِي فَمِنْ
جُفُونِي جَرَى بِالسَّفْحِ مِنْ سَفْحِهِ وَبْلُ
A passion that left my blood spilled and unavenged among the ruins; / so from my eyelids, at the hillside, a downpour ran, from its pouring.
Literal A passion [that] made-waste, [in] what [is] between the ruins, my blood // so from my eyelids ran, at the slope (safḥ), from its pouring (safḥ), a downpour.
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¶ 24
تَبَالَهَ قَوْمِي إِذْ رَأَوْنِي مُتَيَّمًا
وَقَالُوا بِمَنْ هَذَا الفَتَى مَسَّهُ الخَبْلُ
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¶ 25
وَمَاذَا عَسَى عَنِّي يُقَالُ سِوَى غَدَا
بِنُعْمٍ لَهُ شُغْلٌ نَعَمْ لِي بِهَا شُغْلُ
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¶ 26
وَقَالَ نِسَاءُ الحَيِّ عَنَّا بِذِكْرِ مَنْ
جَفَانَا وَبَعْدَ العِزِّ لَذَّ لَهُ الذُّلُّ
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¶ 27
إِذَا أَنْعَمَتْ نُعْمٌ عَلَيَّ بِنَظْرَةٍ
فَلَا أَسْعَدَتْ سُعْدَى وَلَا أَجْمَلَتْ جُمْلُ
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¶ 28
وَقَدْ صَدِئَتْ عَيْنِي بِرُؤْيَةِ غَيْرِهَا
وَلَثْمُ جُفُونِي تُرْبَهَا لِلصَّدَا يَجْلُو
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¶ 29
وَقَدْ عَلِمُوا أَنِّي قَتِيلُ لِحَاظِهَا
فَإِنَّ لَهَا فِي كُلِّ جَارِحَةٍ نَصْلُ
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¶ 30
حَدِيثِي قَدِيمٌ فِي هَوَاهَا وَمَا لَهُ
كَمَا عَلِمَتْ بَعْدٌ وَلَيْسَ لَهُ قَبْلُ
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¶ 31
وَمَا لِيَ مِثْلٌ فِي غَرَامِي بِهَا كَمَا
غَدَتْ فِتْنَةً فِي حُسْنِهَا مَا لَهَا مِثْلُ
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¶ 32
حَرَامٌ شِفَا سُقْمِي لَدَيْهَا رَضِيتُ مَا
بِهِ قَسَمَتْ لِي فِي الهَوَى وَدَمِي حِلُّ
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¶ 33
فَحَالِي وَإِنْ سَاءَتْ فَقَدْ حَسُنَتْ بِهَا
وَمَا حَطَّ قَدْرِي فِي هَوَاهَا بِهِ أَعْلُو
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¶ 34
وَعُنْوَانُ مَا فِيهَا لَقِيتُ وَمَا بِهِ
شَقِيتُ وَفِي قَوْلِي اخْتَصَرْتُ وَلَمْ أَغْلُو
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¶ 35
خَفِيتُ ضَنًى حَتَّى لَقَدْ ضَلَّ عَائِدِي
وَكَيْفَ تَرَى العُوَّادُ مَنْ لَا لَهُ ظِلُّ
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¶ 36
وَمَا عَثَرَتْ عَيْنٌ عَلَى أَثَرِي وَلَمْ
تَدَعْ لِيَ رَسْمًا فِي الهَوَى الأَعْيُنُ النُّجْلُ
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¶ 37
وَلِي هِمَّةٌ تَعْلُو إِذَا مَا ذَكَرْتُهَا
وَرُوحٌ بِذِكْرَاهَا إِذَا رَخُصَتْ تَغْلُو
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¶ 38
جَرَى حُبُّهَا مَجْرَى دَمِي فِي مَفَاصِلِي
فَأَصْبَحَ لِي عَنْ كُلِّ شُغْلٍ بِهَا شُغْلُ
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¶ 39
فَنَافِسْ بِبَذْلِ النَّفْسِ فِيهَا أَخَا الهَوَى
فَإِنْ قَبِلَتْهَا مِنْكَ يَا حَبَّذَا البَذْلُ
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¶ 40
فَمَنْ لَمْ يَجُدْ فِي حُبِّ نُعْمٍ بِنَفْسِهِ
وَلَوْ جَادَ بِالدُّنْيَا إِلَيْهِ انْتَهَى البُخْلُ
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¶ 41
وَلَوْلَا مُرَاعَاةُ الصِّيَانَةِ غَيْرَةً
وَلَوْ كَثُرُوا أَهْلُ الصَّبَابَةِ أَوْ قَلُّوا
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¶ 42
لَقُلْتُ لِعُشَّاقِ المَلَاحَةِ أَقْبِلُوا
إِلَيْهَا عَلَى رَأْيِي وَعَنْ غَيْرِهَا وَلُّوا
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¶ 43
وَإِنْ ذُكِرَتْ يَوْمًا فَخَرُّوا لِذِكْرِهَا
سُجُودًا وَإِنْ لَاحَتْ إِلَى وَجْهِهَا صَلُّوا
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¶ 44
وَفِي حُبِّهَا بِعْتُ السَّعَادَةَ بِالشَّقَا
ضَلَالًا وَعَقْلِي عَنْ هُدَايَ بِهِ عَقْلُ
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¶ 45
وَقُلْتُ لِرُشْدِي وَالتَّنَسُّكِ وَالتُّقَى
تَخَلَّوْا وَمَا بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ الهَوَى خَلُّوا
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¶ 46
وَفَرَّغْتُ قَلْبِي عَنْ وُجُودِيَ مُخْلِصًا
لَعَلِّيَ فِي شُغْلِي بِهَا مَعَهَا أَخْلُو
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¶ 47
وَمِنْ أَجْلِهَا أَسْعَى لِمَنْ بَيْنَنَا سَعَى
وَأَعْدُو وَلَا أَغْدُو لِمَنْ دَأْبُهُ العَذْلُ
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¶ 48
فَأَرْتَاحُ لِلْوَاشِينَ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَهَا
لِتَعْلَمَ مَا أَلْقَى وَمَا عِنْدَهَا جَهْلُ
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¶ 49
وَأَصْبُو إِلَى العُذَّالِ حُبًّا لِذِكْرِهَا
كَأَنَّهُمْ مَا بَيْنَنَا فِي الهَوَى رُسْلُ
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¶ 50
فَإِنْ حَدَّثُوا عَنْهَا فَكُلِّي مَسَامِعُ
وَكُلِّيَ إِنْ حَدَّثْتُهُمْ أَلْسُنٌ تَتْلُو
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¶ 51
تَخَالَفَتِ الأَقْوَالُ فِينَا تَبَايُنًا
بِرَجْمِ ظُنُونٍ بَيْنَنَا مَا لَهَا أَصْلُ
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¶ 52
فَشَنَّعَ قَوْمٌ بِالوِصَالِ وَلَمْ تَصِلْ
وَأَرْجَفَ بِالسُّلْوَانِ قَوْمٌ وَلَمْ أَسْلُو
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¶ 53
فَمَا صَدَقَ التَّشْنِيعُ عَنْهَا لِشِقْوَتِي
وَقَدْ كَذَبَتْ عَنِّي الأَرَاجِيفُ وَالنَّقْلُ
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¶ 54
وَكَيْفَ أُرَجِّي وَصْلَ مَنْ لَوْ تَصَوَّرَتْ
حِمَاهَا المُنَى وَهْمًا لَضَاقَتْ بِهَا السُّبْلُ
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¶ 55
وَإِنْ وَعَدَتْ لَمْ يَلْحَقِ الفِعْلُ قَوْلَهَا
وَإِنْ أَوْعَدَتْ فَالقَوْلُ يَسْبِقُهُ الفِعْلُ
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¶ 56
عِدِينِي بِوَصْلٍ وَامْطُلِي بِنَجَازِهِ
فَعِنْدِي إِذَا صَحَّ الهَوَى حَسُنَ المَطْلُ
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¶ 57
وَحُرْمَةِ عَهْدٍ بَيْنَنَا عَنْهُ لَمْ أَحُلْ
وَعَقْدٍ بِأَيْدٍ بَيْنَنَا مَا لَهُ حَلُّ
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¶ 58
لَأَنْتِ عَلَى غَيْظِ النَّوَى وَرِضَا الهَوَى
لَدَيَّ وَقَلْبِي سَاعَةً مِنْكِ مَا يَخْلُو
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¶ 59
تُرَى مُقْلَتِي يَوْمًا تَرَى مَنْ أُحِبُّهُمْ
وَيُعْتِبُنِي دَهْرِي وَيَجْتَمِعُ الشَّمْلُ
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¶ 60
وَمَا بَرِحُوا مَعْنًى أَرَاهُمْ مَعِي فَإِنْ
نَأَوْا صُورَةً فِي الذِّهْنِ قَامَ لَهُمْ شَكْلُ
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¶ 61
فَهُمْ نَصْبَ عَيْنِي ظَاهِرًا حَيْثُمَا سَرَوْا
وَهُمْ فِي فُؤَادِي بَاطِنًا أَيْنَمَا حَلُّوا
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¶ 62
لَهُمْ أَبَدًا مِنِّي حُنُوٌّ وَإِنْ جَفَوْا
وَلِي أَبَدًا مَيْلٌ إِلَيْهِمْ وَإِنْ مَلُّوا
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