كَرِهتُ بَعدَ الحَبيبِ عَيشي

كَرِهتُ بَعدَ الحَبيبِ عَيشي

فَهَل إِلى مُنيَتي سَبيلُ

فَهَل إِلى مُنيَتي سَبيلُ

I have hated my life since losing my beloved.

I hated my life after losing my beloved

I grew to loathe my life after the beloved,

Is there, then, a way to attain my wish?

Is there a way to my death?

So is there, to my own demise, any way?

لِقاءُ مَن عَلَّني نواهُ

لِقاءُ مَن عَلَّني نواهُ

بُرئي فَيا حَبَّذا الرَحيلُ

بُرئي فَيا حَبَّذا الرَحيلُ

Meeting the one whose absence made me ill

Meeting the one who intended me well

To meet the one whose absence has left me ailing

Is my cure—ah, how welcome departure!

Would be good, so departure is best

Would be my cure; oh, how welcome is departure!

لَهفي وَوَيحي عَلى حَبيبٍ

لَهفي وَوَيحي عَلى حَبيبٍ

ما مِنهُ بدٌّ وَلا بَديلُ

ما مِنهُ بدٌّ وَلا بَديلُ

My anguish, and woe to me, for a beloved

I yearn and alas for a beloved

My grief and woe are for a beloved,

Whom I cannot do without, and who has no substitute.

With no alternative or substitute

For whom there is no substitute, nor any replacement.

لَمّا نَمى وَاِنتَمى لِفَضلٍ

لَمّا نَمى وَاِنتَمى لِفَضلٍ

وَقيلَ مُستَنبطٌ نَبيلُ

وَقيلَ مُستَنبطٌ نَبيلُ

When he grew and allied himself with excellence,

When he grew and was weaned from virtue

When he grew and laid claim to virtue,

And was called an insightful, noble thinker,

It was said a noble derived

And was called a noble, insightful scholar,

لَبّى الرَدى داعِياً وَلَبّى

لَبّى الرَدى داعِياً وَلَبّى

جَمالهُ صَبرِيَ الجَميلُ

جَمالهُ صَبرِيَ الجَميلُ

He answered death's call, and in turn

He obeyed the departure caller and obeyed

He answered the call of Death, and likewise

My gracious patience answered his beauty.

His beauty made my patience beautiful

My beautiful patience surrendered to his beauty.

لُمتُ عَلى الدَمعِ فَاِنتَهى بي

لُمتُ عَلى الدَمعِ فَاِنتَهى بي

حُزني حَتّى اِنتَهى العَذولُ

حُزني حَتّى اِنتَهى العَذولُ

I reproached myself for tears; then I was carried by

I blamed myself for crying that ended me

I reproached myself for tears, until

My grief so far that even the reproacher desisted.

Until my sadness ended longing

My sorrow silenced me, and the scolder ceased.

لَستُ أَرى الصَبرَ عَن رَبيع

لَستُ أَرى الصَبرَ عَن رَبيع

طابَ الضُحى مِنهُ وَالأَصيلُ

طابَ الضُحى مِنهُ وَالأَصيلُ

I see no way to bear the loss of a spring

I cannot see patience for a spring

I see no way to bear patience apart from a spring

Whose midmorning and late afternoon were sweet.

Whose morning and night were good

Whose forenoons and eventides were pleasant and sweet.

لَذَّت حَياتي بِهِ وَقَرَّت

لَذَّت حَياتي بِهِ وَقَرَّت

عَينِيَ حَتّى بَدا الذُبولُ

عَينِيَ حَتّى بَدا الذُبولُ

My life was sweet with him, and gladdened was

My life was sweet with him and

My life was delightful with him, and my eyes found rest,

My eye, until the withering appeared.

My eye was content until it withered

Until the signs of withering began to appear.

لَولا حَياتي وَقَولُ قَومٍ

لَولا حَياتي وَقَولُ قَومٍ

سُفِّهَ أستاذُنا الخَليلُ

سُفِّهَ أستاذُنا الخَليلُ

Were it not for my life and some people's saying,

Were it not for my life and people saying

Were it not for my remaining life and the words of folk—

“Our dear teacher has been deemed a fool,”

Our teacher has been made a fool

Saying, "Our master Al-Khalil has become a fool,"

لَطَمتُ ديباجَتي عَلى اِبنٍ

لَطَمتُ ديباجَتي عَلى اِبنٍ

خُيِّلَ لي أَنَّهُ قَتيلُ

خُيِّلَ لي أَنَّهُ قَتيلُ

I would have slapped my cheeks over a son

I would have torn my clothes for a son

I would have struck my face in mourning for a son,

Who seemed to me to have been slain.

I imagined had been killed

Who seemed to my eyes as one slain.

لَم أَنسَ إِذ قامَت النَواعي

لَم أَنسَ إِذ قامَت النَواعي

وَجاءَ في قَبضِهِ الرَسولُ

وَجاءَ في قَبضِهِ الرَسولُ

I have not forgotten when the mourning women rose,

I did not forget when the bier stood

I have not forgotten when the wailers rose,

And the messenger came to take him,

And the messenger came to take him

And the Messenger came to take his soul,

لَيلَةَ تَهليلِهِ بِصَوتٍ

لَيلَةَ تَهليلِهِ بِصَوتٍ

أَرقهُ السقمُ وَالنُحولُ

أَرقهُ السقمُ وَالنُحولُ

On the night he proclaimed God's oneness, in a voice

The night of his deathly rattle in a voice

The night he uttered the credo with a voice

Made faint by sickness and wasting.

Emaciated by illness and thinness

Made frail by sickness and wasting away.

لَجَّت بُكاءً هُناكَ عَيني

لَجَّت بُكاءً هُناكَ عَيني

وَخِلتُ أَنَّ الذُرى تَزولُ

وَخِلتُ أَنَّ الذُرى تَزولُ

There my eye persisted in weeping,

My eyes poured with tears there

My eyes persisted in weeping there,

And I thought the summits were vanishing.

And I felt the atoms would disappear

And I imagined the mountain peaks were crumbling.

لَم يَقضِ حَتّى بَكَت سَماءٌ

لَم يَقضِ حَتّى بَكَت سَماءٌ

لِعَهدِها بِالبُكاءِ طولُ

لِعَهدِها بِالبُكاءِ طولُ

He had not yet died when a sky wept,

He did not pass until a sky cried

He did not pass until a heaven wept,

Long acquainted with weeping,

For its long habit of crying

With a weeping that had long been vowed.

لِدائِهِ أَنجُمُ المَعالي

لِدائِهِ أَنجُمُ المَعالي

لا لحت إِذ عاقَهُ الأُفولُ

لا لحت إِذ عاقَهُ الأُفولُ

For his illness. O stars of lofty glory,

For his sickness the stars of glory

For his ailment, the stars of high glory

May you not shine, since setting hindered him.

Did not shine when decline took him

Ceased to shine when his setting eclipsed them.