ابوها يريك البؤس في عهد لهوه

وامها في عهد المسرات مأتما

Her father shows you misery in the days of his merriment;

and her mother, amid joys, a scene of mourning.

وَقَد خيم الحزن المجسم فوقهم

وواها اذا الحزن المجسم خيما

Embodied sorrow has settled over them;

and alas when embodied sorrow makes its camp!

وَما أَهل لَيلى بين ذاكَ سشوى امرىء

يرى العَيش اوصابا واخر مبهما

And Layla’s family, amid all this, were nothing but one person

who sees life as afflictions, and another inscrutable.

يَجس لها الكف الطَبيب وَكفه

تمثل عند البنت صابا وَعلقما

The doctor feels her palm, and his own hand

seems to the girl bitter sap and colocynth.

وَيشخص في لَيلى وَيَنظر بَعدَها

الى والد ركنا من البيت لازما

He stares at Layla, then turns his gaze

toward a father keeping to one corner of the house.

يعزيه بالعين الَّتي رب نظرة

بها نحو مَرموق تفوق التكلما

He consoles him with his eye—for many a glance

cast toward another surpasses spoken words.

ولما اِنحَنى بالباب عند خروجه

يسلم بعض الحزن للأَهل سلما

When he bowed at the door as he was leaving,

bidding farewell, he handed the family a share of grief.

رات اهلها لاذوا بها وَكأَنَّهم

يريدون أَن يسصحبوها إِلى السَما

She saw her family cling to her, as though they

wished to take her along to heaven.

فانطقها حب التَشفي واظهرت

لهم باسها والياس فيهم تجسما

The desire for revenge made her speak, and she revealed

her fierceness to them, while despair took shape among them.

وَقالَت تَبكون املصاب وَلَم يَكن

لنيرانه غير التَعنت مضرها

And she said, “You weep over this calamity, though nothing

but obstinacy kindled its fires.

يعز عليكم موت شخصي وقبله

بعثتم لِقَلبي المضوت مذ كان مغرما

My body’s death grieves you, though before it

you sent death to my heart ever since it fell in love.

فَما لي أَراكم حول نَعشي جَميعكم

سِوى واحِد بعدي سَيَقضي متيما

Why, then, do I see you all around my bier,

except one who will die after me, love-stricken?

تقدم كل محدقا بِتَعاسَتي

واحمد وَيلي آه لن يتقدما

Everyone has come forward, staring at my misery,

yet Ahmad—woe is me, ah!—will not come forward.

دعوه يكن يوم اِرتِحالي مشاهدا

فَتاة رات عيش الهَوان محرما

Let him, on the day of my departure, behold

a girl who deemed a life of humiliation forbidden.

دعوا عينه تبصر مَسائي فان لي

فؤادا إِذا جاءَ الحَبيب تنعما

Let his eye behold my distress, for I have

a heart that delights when the beloved comes.

دعوني اودع من قضيت بحبه

اسى علني القي المناجاة باسما

Let me bid farewell to him for whose love I have been dying

of grief; perhaps I may utter intimate words with a smile.”

وَجاءَ ابن عم البنت يصفر وجهه

إِذا ما دضنا منها قَليلا وَكلما

The girl’s paternal cousin came, his face turning pale

as he drew a little nearer to her and spoke.

فَعادَت اليها الروح وافتر ثغرها

كذلك ثغر القوم لما تبسما

Then her spirit returned, and her lips parted in a smile;

the others’ lips did likewise when hers smiled.

وَقالَت لَهُم خلوا حَبيبي بِجانِبي

قَليلا فولوا كلهم وَتقدما

She said to them, “Leave my beloved by my side

awhile.” They all turned away, and he stepped forward.

اشارَت إِلى الكُرسي وَلما استوى به

عَلى خدها الدمع اِستَوى وَتنظما

She pointed to the chair, and when he sat upon it,

tears settled on her cheek and formed a string.

وَقالَت بصوت يجعل الرطب يابِسا

لَقَد آنَ مَوتي ان مَوتي تحتما

And she spoke in a voice that turns the moist dry:

“My time to die has come; my death is inevitable.

وَلكن لي سرا خَطيراً اريد أَن

ابثكه كَي تَستَفيق وَتَعلما

But I have a grave secret that I wish

to tell you, so you may come to your senses and know.

هناك يَكون المَوت راحَتي الَّتي

اؤملها فاسمع حَديثي مقسما

Thereupon, death will be the rest that

I hope for; so hear my words, spoken under oath.”

وَمذ فتحت فاها لتطلع حبها

عَلى السر ماتَت قبَل أَن تَتَكَلما

And when she opened her mouth to acquaint her beloved

with the secret, she died before she could speak.