انظر الى جنب السماء الدامي

لهب على الأمواج ذات ضرام

Look at the sky's bleeding flank:

Flame upon the waves, blazing with fire.

شفقان هذا في السماء منشّر

قانٍ وذاك على العباب الطامي

Two afterglows: this one unfurled in the sky,

Crimson, and that one upon the swelling sea.

الشمس والبحر المريج تلاقيا

أمّ الضياء ومعدن الإنعام

The sun and the turbulent sea have met—

The mother of light and the mine of bounty.

خلعت سرابيل النهار كأنها

غيداءُ تسبح منه في حمّام

She has shed the robes of day, as though she were

A graceful maiden swimming in a bath of its waters.

أفلت وكائن من شموس ممالك

بالشاطئين هوت هويّ الهام

She set—and how many suns of kingdoms

Along the two shores have fallen as heads fall!

دهر يدور صباحه ومساؤه

متعاقبان على مدى الأيام

Time revolves; its morning and its evening

Alternate throughout the course of days.

يا حسرات والغزالة كاسفٌ

في الغرب حاجبها وراء لثام

O sorrows! And the sun's darkened

Brow lies in the west behind a veil.

يرفلن في الحسن القشيب كأنما

ألبسنه يبقى على الأعوام

They parade in fresh beauty, as though what

They were clothed in would endure through the years.

الحسن شمس في المليحة لا يرى

يومين في فلك حليف تمام

Beauty is a sun in a lovely woman, never seen

For two days in its orbit, allied to perfection.

حسناء مصر وكم سبت من قيصر

عات وأذكت من جوى وغرام

Egypt's beauty—how many a Caesar she captivated,

Haughty as he was—and what heartache and passion she kindled!

رفلت كما ترفلن فاستعلى بها

عزُّ الجمال وعزة الأحكام

She walked in splendor as you do; through her rose

The glory of beauty and the majesty of rule.

ملكت نفوس القوم حول سريرها

ورقابهم باللحظ والصمصام

She ruled the souls of the people around her throne,

And their necks, by a glance and the keen-edged sword.

وتجرعت سم الأساود بعد ما

ساغت من اللذات كأس سمام

And she gulped the venom of black serpents, after

A cup of deadly poison drawn from pleasures had gone down smoothly.

وذوت فأين اليوم سمر محاجر

منها ولدن معاطف وقوام

And she withered—where now are the dusky eye-sockets

Of hers, and her supple curves and figure?

الليل أرخى في السماء سدوله

ورمى باستار على الآطام

Night has lowered its curtains in the sky,

And cast veils over the fortresses.

من كل مُطّلع وكل ثنيّة

نور يغيب مبدّلاً بظلام

From every lookout and every mountain pass,

Light vanishes, replaced by darkness.

تسري هنا لكمُ السفين كما سرى

شبح يؤمّ عوالم الاحلام

Here before you the ships glide, as did

A phantom bound for the worlds of dreams.

والنجم في غسق المساء كأنه

شرر تطاير في خلال أيام

And the stars in evening's dusk are like

Sparks flying amid smoke.

والطير تزقو والغصون تناوحت

نشوى تميل تمايل النّوام

And the birds chirp, and the branches sway toward one another,

Intoxicated, swaying like sleepers.

يمسي رسول السلم بين فروعها

بعد التحام دائم وخصام

Peace's messenger spends the evening among their boughs,

After ceaseless clashes and strife.

والبحر يبتدر الشطوط أتيّه

بالكر آونة وبالإحجام

And the sea's surging tide rushes at the shores,

Now charging, now drawing back.

أبداً يرتل من روىٍّ واحد

شعراً معانيه بغير كلام

Forever it chants in a single rhyme,

A poem whose meanings are without words.

حتى إذا اشتبك الظلام تشابهت

ثم الذرا بمواطئ الاقدام

Until, when darkness thickens, they look alike:

The summits there and the places where feet tread.

درست معالمها فليس بظاهر

منها الحضيض ولا العماد السامي

Their landmarks are effaced; no longer visible

Are their low ground or their lofty pillars.

أغرقتها يا ليل فيك وربما

غرقت بحار فيك وهي طوام

You have drowned them in yourself, O night, and often

Seas have drowned in you while surging high.

بوركت فاغمر بالظلام ظلامي

يا مغرق الأفراح ولآلام

Blessed be you; flood my darkness with darkness,

O you who drown joys and pains.