1. رَجِعتُ إِلَيكِ اليَومَ مِن بَعدَ غُربَتي

    وَفي النَفسِ آلامٌ تَفيضُ ثَوائِرُ

    I returned to you today after my time away,

    And rebellious pains overflow within my soul.

  2. رَجِعتُ وَعَقلي تائِهُ الفِكرِ شارِدٌ

    وَأُبتُ وَقَلبي واهِنُ الخَفقِ خائِرُ

    I returned, my mind lost in thought and wandering,

    And came back, my heart weak of beat, exhausted.

  3. فَيا أَرضَ أَحلامي أَأَلقى طُفولَتي

    وَيُسعِدُني يَومٌ مِنَ العُمرِ آخَرُ

    O land of my dreams, shall I find my childhood,

    And will another day of life bring me joy?

  4. تَعَسَّفتُ فيكِ اللَيلَ وَالريحُ صَرصَرٌ

    وَخُضتُ إِلَيكِ المَوجَ وَالنَهرُ ثائِرُ

    I wandered pathlessly through you by night, the wind a bitter gale,

    And waded through the waves toward you, while the river raged.

  5. أَتَيتُ لِأَلقى في ظِلالِكِ راحَةً

    فَيَهدَأَ قَلبي وَهوَ لَهفانُ حائِرُ

    I came to find rest in your shade,

    So that my heart might calm, yearning and bewildered.

  6. أَموتُ قَريرَ العَينِ فيكِ مُنعِماً

    يُخَدِّرُني نَفحٌ مِنَ المُرجِ عاطِرُ

    May I die contented within you, at ease,

    Lulled by a fragrant breath from the meadow.

  7. وَيَلحَفُني هذا البَنَفسَجُ وَلتَكُن

    مَسارِحُ عَينَيَّ الرُبا وَالمَحاضِرُ

    And may this violet enfold me; and let

    The hills and settlements be the roaming grounds of my eyes;

  8. وَآخِرَ ما أُصغي إِلَيهِ مِنَ الصَدى

    خَريرُكِ يَفنى وَهوَ في المَوتِ سائِرُ

    And the last echo that I listen to

    Be your murmuring, fading as it journeys into death.

  9. وَلكِن بِلا جَدوى أَتَيتُ فَلَم أَجِد

    سِوى قَفرَةٍ أَشباحُها تَتَكاثَرُ

    But I came in vain, and did not find

    Anything but a barren waste whose specters multiply.

  10. وَقَد نَصَبَت أَيدي الشِتاءَ سِياجَها

    عَلَيها وَأَسوارُ الظَلامِ تُحاصِرُ

    And winter's hands have raised their fence

    Around it, while the walls of darkness besiege it.

  11. وَقَد خَيَّمَ الصَمتُ الهَتوفُ مَعَ البِلى

    عَلَيكِ وَأَرواحُ الدُجى تَتَنافَرُ

    And resounding silence, together with decay, has settled

    Upon you, while the spirits of darkness repel one another.

  12. وَقَد هاجَمَ الغابُ الكَثيفُ غِياضَها

    لِيَغزوها وَالمَوجُ يَزبِدُ هادِرُ

    And the dense forest has assailed its groves

    To overrun them, while the waves foam and roar.

  13. وَهَبَّ نَسيمٌ بارِدٌ مِن كُهوفِها

    تُجاوِبُهُ في الريحِ هَذي المَغاوِرُ

    And a cold breeze has blown from its caves,

    Answered in the wind by these caverns.

  14. وَقَد رَفرَفَ الخُفاشُ فيها وَحَوَّمَت

    عَلى الشَطِّ غِربانُ الفَناءِ الكَواسِرُ

    And the bat has fluttered there, and circling

    Over the shore are the predatory ravens of destruction.

  15. وَداوِيَّةٌ لِلبومِ مِن فَوقِ سَرحَةٍ

    قَضى فَوقَها مِن قارِسِ البَردِ طائِرُ

    And an echoing cry of owls, from atop a spreading tree

    Atop which a bird died of the biting cold,

  16. تُرتِلُ لَحنَ المَوتِ في مَعبَدِ الدُجى

    وَتَروي أَساطيراً رَوَتها الدَياجِرُ

    Chants death's melody in the temple of darkness,

    And recounts legends that the deep darkness recounted.

  17. كَأَنَّكَ في سِفرِ اللَيالي مَلاحِمٌ

    يُرَتِّلُها في جانِبِ المَوتِ شاعِرُ

    As though you were epics in the book of nights,

    Recited by a poet at death's side.

  18. لَقَد حَكَمَ المَوتُ المُشَتِّتُ حُكمَهُ

    عَلَينا وَأَحداثُ اللَيالي الجَوائِرُ

    Death, the scatterer, has indeed passed its sentence

    Upon us, as have the nights' tyrannous calamities.

  19. فَيا كَوكَباً فَوقَ العَواصِفِ ساهِماً

    يُتابِعُهُ طَيفُ الدُجى وَهوَ غائِرُ

    O pensive star above the storms,

    Followed by the phantom of darkness as it sinks,

  20. وَيا شُعلَةَ النوتي تَخفِقُ في الدُجى

    وَقَد هاجَمَتها الريحُ وَالنوءُ صافِرُ

    And O mariner's flame, flickering in the darkness,

    Assailed by the wind while the storm whistles,

  21. وَيا زَهرَةً في شاطيءِ الحُزنِ أَينَعَت

    وَقَد أَتحَفَت مِنها الخَريفَ بَواكِرُ

    And O flower that blossomed on sorrow's shore,

    Whose first fruits have already graced autumn,

  22. نَمَت وَحدَها لَم تَلقَ غَيرَ ظِلالَها

    أَليفاً تُشاكيهِ الأَسى وَتُساوِرُ

    It grew alone, finding none but its own shadows

    As a companion to share its sorrow with and grapple with.

  23. أَلا فَاِستَريحي الآنَ حَسبُكِ وَاِهدَئي

    فَإِنَّ تَحَمُّلي ما تَستَبيحُ المَقادِرُ

    Ah, rest now; enough for you—be still,

    For it is my endurance that the fates ravage.

  24. رَكِبتِ مَعَ الآمالِ كُلَّ مَهوبَةٍ

    وَعُدتِ كَما عادَ الطَريدُ المُهاجِرُ

    You rode with hopes into every fearful place,

    And returned as the banished wanderer returned,

  25. رَأى خَلفَ أَسوارِ المَدينَةِ دَوحَةً

    حَنَت فَوقَهُ بِالظِلِّ وَاليَومُ ناجِرُ

    Who saw beyond the city's walls a great tree

    That bent over him with shade, while the day was scorching.

  26. لَقَد فَرَغَت في عالَمِ الحُزنِ جَولَتي

    وَما فَرَغَت مِنّي اللَيالي الدَوائِرُ

    My journey through the world of sorrow has indeed ended,

    Yet the circling nights have not finished with me.

  27. فَيا أُفقَ الدُنيا وَيا فَجرَ لَيلِها

    وَمَن خَفَقَت فيهِ المُنى وَالخَواطِرُ

    O horizon of the world, O dawn of its night,

    And you in whom wishes and thoughts have fluttered,

  28. وَمِن تَسبَّحِ الأَحلامُ في مَلَكوتِهِ

    حَيارى وَتَفنى في هَواهُ المَشاعِرُ

    And in whose dominion dreams swim,

    Bewildered, while feelings perish in love for him,

  29. أَيا شَفَقاً في عالَمٍ جَوُّ أَرضِهِ

    خَيالٌ عَلى الوادي المَهومِ ساهِرُ

    O twilight in a world whose earthly sky

    Is a vision keeping vigil over the dream-haunted valley,

  30. تَحِفُّ بِها في الصَمتِ أَشجارُ جَنَّةٍ

    يُفاوِحُني مِنها عَلى الوَهمِ عاطِرُ

    Trees of a garden surround it in silence;

    From it a fragrance wafts toward me in fancy.

  31. وَأَسمَعُ موسيقى بِها ذَهَبِيَّةٍ

    تَفيضُ بِها فَوقَ المُروجِ قَياثِرُ

    And within it I hear golden music,

    Poured forth by lyres above the meadows.

  32. وَأَترُكُ عَيني في الخَيالِ تَشُقُّهُ

    فَأَلمَحُ أَشباحاً هُناكَ تُسامِرُ

    And I let my eye cut through imagination,

    Then glimpse phantoms there, conversing by night.

  33. لَقَد هَدَأَت ريحُ الكُهوفِ وَنَفَضَت

    عَلى الأُفقِ مِن حُلمِ المُروجِ بَشائِرُ

    The wind of the caves has indeed stilled, and scattered

    Glad tidings from the meadows' dream across the horizon.

  34. وَقَد خَفَقَت بَينَ العَرائِسِ نَسمَةٌ

    يُعابِثُها في غَفوَةِ الفَجرِ ثامِرُ

    And a breeze has fluttered among the brides,

    Teased by a fruit-bearing tree in dawn's drowsiness.

  35. بَدا الصُبحُ فَوقَ المَرجِ أَصفَرُ ناصِلاً

    فَلاحَظَهُ زَهرُ الرُبا وَهوَ حائِرُ

    Morning appeared above the meadow, yellow and wan,

    And the flowers of the hills watched it in bewilderment.

  36. وَما نَفَحَت فَوقَ الرَباوَةِ زَهرَةٌ

    وَلا دَفَّ في هَذي الخَمائِلِ طائِرُ

    No flower breathed its scent above the hill,

    Nor did a bird flutter in these thickets.

  37. وَقَد نَتَفَ الشَحرورُ في الرَوضِ ريشَهُ

    وَحَلَّت مِنَ الصَفصافِ فيهِ ضَفائِرُ

    And the blackbird has plucked its feathers in the garden,

    And braids of willow have come undone within it.

  38. وَقَد خَيَّمَت فَوقَ العَرائِشِ وَحشَةٌ

    وَصَمتٌ عَلى أَوراقِها الصُفرِ ناشِرُ

    And loneliness has settled over the trellises,

    And silence spreads across their yellow leaves.

  39. لَقَد خَفَّ نَسمُ الصُبحِ يَهمِسُ ناعِياً

    إِلى السَهلِ أَن قَد فارَقَ الكَونَ شاعِرُ

    The morning breeze has softened, whispering tidings of death

    To the plain that a poet has left the universe.

  40. لِذا نَقَسَ النَحلُ الزُهورَ فَجَلجَلَت

    وَنابَت عَنِ الأَجراسِ هَذي الأَزاهِرُ

    Thus the bees tolled the flowers, and they rang out,

    And these blossoms took the place of bells.