1. The lizard slept till the club was deserted,
And there remained none but the valley's bird.

2. She twittered in the stillness of night calling her chicks,
And in her twitter was a lament for the hearer.

3. She repeated it in the best of tunes I had heard,
And chanted a poem in the best chanting.

4. Oh, the beauty of the sad enchanting poetical song!
And oh, the beauty of the tune! And oh, the beauty of the chanting!

5. So I stared with my eyes piercing the darkness,
And my hearing reached from afar the singing bird.

6. Then I awoke in her night and remembered
The chicks that tomorrow would be gone and the gone would not return.

7. I set free the memory with her, so she sang sadly
The song of bereavement, having lost her chicks.

8. And she said, whispering unto herself, why is my companion
Late beyond his usual time?

9. It was the way of night that he would come back,
And that's the last time for birds.

10. So, my bird would not come back to me, to my misfortune,
Though in my life he was most faithful.

11. Is he lost from his dwelling in his wandering?
Has he missed the road back from the distances?

12. How can birds get lost from their nest?
As every dune on the way is a guide to them.

13. Or has the hunter trapped him in his net?
Or has an eagle snatched him despite his turning and twisting?

14. Or has a wild animal confronted him suddenly?
Or has a serpent swallowed him after ambushing?

15. His voice was the best consolation to me
As my voice used to console him against worries.

16. And whenever we wanted to have some fun,
We would fly high in a cloudy dawn.

17. And then we would swoop together
To soft thickets full of grapes.

18. And we were in days of pleasure, two companions happy together.
Then fate singled me out and bereaved me of my equals.

19. I remained exposed to the hardships of time, lonely
In a small nest of hay and twigs.

20. And we had built it together on a tree branch
That looked out on water, grass and flowers.

21. We built it until we exhausted ourselves
In order to live together in happiness and then in rest.

22. He would stay near me, and then in the nest laying
His drowsiness on the branch when it overcame him.

23. But alas! Destiny snatched him away cruelly
And spoiled my life after him, the worst spoiling.

24. Oh, if only my companion had stayed unharmed!
And I would have sacrificed myself and my life for his.

25. He went and did not return. So, was death standing
In ambush for you on the side of the road?

26. By your Creator do me justice! Or guide me to death
For I have drunk from the cup from which all have drunk!