1. My beloved, why are the stars as if
The night refused the horizons to flow with its planets?
١. خليليَّ ما بالُ النجوم كأَّنما
أبى الليل أن تسري بأفقٍ كواكبهْ
2. It grew mighty and tyrannical and flung its blindness,
And came like the sea I was sailing.
٢. تعاظمَ واطغوغى وألقى بعاعهُ
وأقبل كالبحر الذي أنا راكبه
3. I fear its threats and hope to brave it
How can one brave the sea if he fears it?
٣. أهابُ عواديه وآملُ خوضهُ
وكيف يخوض اليمََّ من هو هائبه
4. When the surface of earth comes at first, its ships
Feared that their ships would decrease.
٤. إذا حلَّ ظهر الأرض أولاهُ أشفقت
غواربها من أن تقلَّ غواربه
5. So if it had turned into henna for a group
It would have been happy that its tails grew white.
٥. فلو أنَّهُ أمسى خضاباً لمعشرٍ
لسرَّ خضيباً أن تشيبَ ذوائبه
6. When you say it has passed and crossed its limits
Its ships lengthened upon us like mountains.
٦. إذا قلتَ قد ولَّتْ وجازت صدورهُ
أطلتْ علينا كالجبال مناكبه
7. It misled with them the touching hands their goal
From straying until the land complained.
٧. أضلَّ بها الأيدي اللوامسَ قصدها
من التيه حتى وَّفر الدرَّ حالبه
8. If the nights were like it for someone who counts
Despair would not have composed its piercing verses.
٨. فلو طرَّقت أن الليالي بمثلها
لذي حسبٍ ما نظم الجزعَ ثاقبه
9. How many times did my eyes ask dawn for its slumber
But it did not lift its veil or blink.
٩. كم استأذنت عيني على فجر خدرهِ
فما رفعتْْ أسترهُ وهيادبه
10. It is not hoped for morning, and its
Horizons are dark and its sunsets.
١٠. وليس بمرجو الصباح وهذه
مشارقهُ مسودةٌ ومغاربه
11. I see every color that accompanies time
Will arrive except its wings and disappearance.
١١. أرى كلَّ صبغ يصحبُ الدهرَ لونه
سينصلُ إلا جنحهُ وغيابه
12. It took it suddenly so the ghosts dispersed
And walked away fearing their steps' count.
١٢. بغتهُ فهابت أن تلمَّ طيوفهُ
وتسري وخافت أن تدبَّ عقاربه
13. I have not seen a night like a sheltering mountain
Its perils embraced with its needs.
١٣. ولم أرَ مثلَ الليل طوداً للاجىءٍ
مهالكهُ حفتْ بهنَّ مطالبه