1. بَعَيشِكَ هَل تَدري أَهوجُ الجَنائِبِ

    تَخُبُّ بِرَحلي أَم ظُهورُ النَجائِبِ

    By your life, do you know: is it the raging south winds

    that trot with my saddle, or the backs of noble camels?

  2. فَما لُحتُ في أولى المَشارِقِ كَوكَباً

    فَأَشرَقتُ حَتّى جِئتُ أُخرى المَغارِبِ

    For scarcely had I appeared, a star at the first eastern horizon,

    and shone, before I reached the last western horizon.

  3. وَحيداً تَهاداني الفَيافي فَأَجتَلي

    وَجوهَ المَنايا في قِناعِ الغَياهِبِ

    Alone, the deserts pass me between them, and I behold

    the faces of death behind the veil of darkness.

  4. وَلا جارَ إِلّا مِن حُسامٍ مُصَمَّمٍ

    وَلا دارَ إِلّا في قُتودِ الرَكائِبِ

    And no neighbor save a sword that cuts clean through,

    and no home save upon the saddle-frames of riding camels.

  5. وَلا أُنسَ إِلّا أَن أُضاحِكَ ساعَةً

    ثُغورَ الأَماني في وُجوهِ المَطالِبِ

    And no solace but to exchange smiles awhile

    with the smiling mouths of hopes on the faces of things I seek.

  6. وَلَيلٍ إِذا ماقُلتُ قَد بادَ فَاِنقَضى

    تَكَشَّفَ عَن وَعدٍ مِنَ الظَنِّ كاذِبِ

    And many a night, whenever I said, “It has vanished and ended,”

    revealed a false promise born of conjecture.

  7. سَحَبتُ الدَياجي فيهِ سودَ ذَوائِبٍ

    لِأَعتَنِقَ الآمالَ بيضَ تَرائِبِ

    Through it I trailed the darkness, black tresses,

    to embrace hopes, white of bosom.

  8. فَمَزَّقتُ جَيبَ اللَيلِ عَن شَخصِ أَطلَسٍ

    تَطَلَّعَ وَضّاحَ المَضاحِكِ قاطِبِ

    Then I tore open night's collar to reveal an ash-gray figure,

    that peered out, bright-toothed yet frowning.

  9. رَأَيتُ بِهِ قِطعاً مِنَ الفَجرِ أَغبَشاً

    تَأَمَّلَ عَن نَجمٍ تَوَقَّدَ ثاقِبِ

    In it I saw a dusky fragment of dawn,

    gazing through a star that blazed with piercing light.

  10. وَأَرعَنَ طَمّاحِ الذُؤابَةِ باذِخٍ

    يُطاوِلُ أَعنانَ السَماءِ بِغارِبِ

    And a craggy mountain, its crest reaching high, lofty,

    vying with the heights of heaven with its summit.

  11. يَسُدُّ مَهَبَّ الريحِ عَن كُلِّ وُجهَةٍ

    وَيَزحَمُ لَيلاً شُهبَهُ بِالمَناكِبِ

    It blocks the wind's passage from every direction,

    and at night jostles the stars with its shoulders.

  12. وَقورٍ عَلى ظَهرِ الفَلاةِ كَأَنّهُ

    طِوالَ اللَيالي مُفكِّرٌ في العَواقِبِ

    Solemn upon the wilderness's back, as though

    all through the nights it pondered the ends of things.

  13. يَلوثُ عَلَيهِ الغَيمُ سودَ عَمائِمٍ

    لَها مِن وَميضِ البَرقِ حُمرُ ذَوائِبِ

    Clouds wind black turbans around it,

    with red tassels made of lightning's flash.

  14. أَصَختُ إِلَيهِ وَهوَ أَخرَسُ صامِتٌ

    فَحَدَّثَني لَيلُ السُرى بِالعَجائِبِ

    I listened intently to it, though it was mute and silent;

    then, during the night journey, it told me wonders.

  15. وَقالَ أَلا كَم كُنتُ مَلجَأَ قاتِلٍ

    وَمَوطِنَ أَوّاهٍ تَبَتَّلَ تائِبِ

    And it said, “Behold, how often I have been a killer's refuge,

    and the home of a sighing penitent who devoted himself to worship.

  16. وَكَم مَرَّ بي مِن مُدلِجٍ وَمُؤَوِّبٍ

    وَقالَ بِظِلّي مِن مَطِيٍّ وَراكِبِ

    And how many night travelers and daytime travelers have passed me,

    and rested at noon in my shade, both mounts and riders.

  17. وَلاطَمَ مِن نُكبِ الرِياحِ مَعاطِفي

    وَزاحَمَ مِن خُضرِ البِحارِ غَوارِبي

    And crosswinds have slapped my flanks,

    and green seas have jostled my summits.

  18. فَما كانَ إِلّا أَن طَوَتهُم يَدُ الرَدى

    وَطارَت بِهِم ريحُ النَوى وَالنَوائِبِ

    Yet it came to nothing but death's hand folding them away,

    and the wind of separation and calamities sweeping them off.

  19. فَما خَفقُ أَيكي غَيرَ رَجفَةِ أَضلُعٍ

    وَلا نَوحُ وُرقي غَيرَ صَرخَةِ نادِبِ

    So my groves' rustling is nothing but the trembling of ribs,

    and my gray doves' lament is nothing but a mourner's cry.

  20. وَما غَيَّضَ السُلوانَ دَمعي وَإِنَّما

    نَزَفتُ دُموعي في فِراقِ الصَواحِبِ

    Nor has consolation dried my tears; rather,

    I have exhausted my tears in parting from companions.

  21. فَحَتّى مَتى أَبقى وَيَظعَنُ صاحِبٌ

    أُوَدِّعُ مِنهُ راحِلاً غَيرَ آيِبِ

    So how long shall I remain while a companion departs,

    bidding him farewell as he leaves, never to return?

  22. وَحَتّى مَتى أَرعى الكَواكِبَ ساهِراً

    فَمِن طالِعٍ أُخرى اللَيالي وَغارِبِ

    And how long shall I watch the stars, sleepless,

    some rising at night's end and others setting?

  23. فَرُحماكَ يا مَولايَ دِعوَةَ ضارِعٍ

    يَمُدُّ إِلى نُعماكَ راحَةَ راغِبِ

    So have mercy, O my Lord—a humble supplicant's plea,

    who stretches toward Your bounty the palm of one who longs.”

  24. فَأَسمَعَني مِن وَعظِهِ كُلَّ عِبرَةٍ

    يُتَرجِمُها عَنهُ لِسانُ التَجارِبِ

    Thus, from its admonition, it made me hear every lesson

    that the tongue of experience interprets on its behalf.

  25. فَسَلّى بِما أَبكى وَسَرّى بِما شَجا

    وَكانَ عَلى عَهدِ السُرى خَيرَ صاحِبِ

    So it consoled me with what made me weep, and soothed me with what grieved me,

    and during my night journey was the best of companions.

  26. وَقُلتُ وَقَد نَكَّبتُ عَنهُ لِطِيَّةٍ

    سَلامٌ فَإِنّا مِن مُقيمٍ وَذاهِبِ

    And I said, having turned aside from it toward my destination,

    “Peace! For of us, one stays and one goes.”