شعر البحتري – أميرتي لا تغفري ذنبي

Poem Translation:

Forgive me not, my crime is love too deep,
A flame so fierce, in endless woe I weep.
Would fate decree that thou shouldst feel the same,
Then I, not thee, would bear love’s cruel flame.

I fed my heart with lies of thee so sweet,
Yet blushed when truth and falsehood dared to meet.
If pain and sorrow be thy heart’s delight,
Then let me perish, trembling in thy sight.

Poem Explanation:

In this poem, Al-Buhturi paints love as both an overwhelming passion and an unbearable torment. The poet paradoxically begs his beloved not to forgive him, as his “sin” is simply the depth of his love. He wishes he could suffer in her place, showing an extreme form of devotion.

A key moment of self-awareness emerges when he admits to deceiving his own heart with false hopes—until even his heart could no longer believe the lies. In the final lines, the poet submits entirely to his beloved’s will, declaring that if his suffering pleases her, then he accepts it willingly. This ultimate surrender reflects a classic theme in Arabic love poetry: the lover’s complete devotion and self-sacrifice.