Text & Translation
Ma Ihtiyali Ya Rifaqi
source:
Abū Khalīl al-Qabbānī
al-ghuṣn al-tanī ḥīn māl
Ṣadda ʿannī wa-jāfānī wa-aṭāl
lā salām, lā kalām, lā suʾāl, lā ibtisāmah
Lastu adrī yā rifāqī ahuwa tayh am dalāl?
Dhibtu shawqan wa-huwa ʿannī muʿriḍ
Ma iḥtiyālī yā rifāqī fī ghazāl ʿalam
al-ghuṣn al-tanī ḥīn māl
Lastu adrī yā rifāqī ahuwa tayh am dalāl?
Dhibtu shawqan.
What shall I do, my friends
English translation ©
Natasha Loges
The bending branch that sways, inclining in its place?
He turned from me, grew cold, and kept away,
No greeting, no word, no question, no smile’s ray.
I do not know, my friends—
Is it bewilderment, or is it coy display?
I melt with longing, while he turns aside, astray.
What shall I do, my friends, with that gazelle of grace,
The bending branch that sways, inclining in its place?
I do not know, my friends—
Is it bewilderment, or is it coy display?
I melt with longing.
Ma Ihtiyali Ya Rifaqi
source:
Abū Khalīl al-Qabbānī
What shall I do, my friends
English source:
Natasha Loges
Ma iḥtiyālī yā rifāqī fī ghazāl ʿalam
What shall I do, my friends, with that gazelle of grace,
al-ghuṣn al-tanī ḥīn māl
The bending branch that sways, inclining in its place?
Ṣadda ʿannī wa-jāfānī wa-aṭāl
He turned from me, grew cold, and kept away,
lā salām, lā kalām, lā suʾāl, lā ibtisāmah
No greeting, no word, no question, no smile’s ray.
Lastu adrī yā rifāqī ahuwa tayh am dalāl?
I do not know, my friends—
Dhibtu shawqan wa-huwa ʿannī muʿriḍ
Is it bewilderment, or is it coy display?
Ma iḥtiyālī yā rifāqī fī ghazāl ʿalam
I melt with longing, while he turns aside, astray.
al-ghuṣn al-tanī ḥīn māl
What shall I do, my friends, with that gazelle of grace,
Lastu adrī yā rifāqī ahuwa tayh am dalāl?
The bending branch that sways, inclining in its place?
Dhibtu shawqan.
I do not know, my friends—
