1. أَشرِقي كَالفَجرِ غَرّاءَ الجَبين

    وَاِترُكي نورَكِ يَهدي العالَمين

    Shine forth like dawn, with radiant brow.

    And let your light guide all the worlds.

  2. وَاِطلَعي في لَيلِ حُزني كَوكَباً

    تَعصِميني مِن ضَلالِ العاشِقين

    And rise as a star in the night of my sorrow,

    To shield me from the straying of lovers.

  3. وَاِطرَحي في قَفرِ عُمري زَهرَةً

    عَلَّها تَنمو وَتَزكو بَعدَ حين

    And cast a flower into my life's barren waste,

    Perhaps it will grow and flourish after a while.

  4. وَاِبسُمي تَبسُمَ لَنا بَيضُ المُنى

    وَاِضحَكي تَضحَك لَنا غُرُّ السِنين

    And smile, that white hopes may smile upon us;

    And laugh, that radiant years may laugh for us.

  5. ها هُوَ اللَيلُ كَما كانَ بَدا

    يَحمِلُ الحُزنَ لِقَلبي وَالحَنين

    Here is the night, as it appeared before,

    Carrying sorrow and longing to my heart.

  6. هَيكَلُ الأَحزانِ في مِحرابِهِ

    قَرَّبَ العُشّاقَ قُربانَ العُيون

    A temple of sorrows; in its sanctuary

    It has offered lovers as a sacrifice to the eyes.

  7. عُطرُهُ أَحزانُ أَزهارِ الرُبا

    وَنَداهُ عَبَراتُ البائِسين

    Its fragrance is the sorrows of the flowers on the hills,

    And its dew the tears of the wretched.

  8. وَسَرى النَسمُ في أَحشائِهِ

    مُهَجٌ ذابَت وَأَرواحٌ فَنَين

    And the breeze drifted through its depths:

    Hearts that melted, and souls that perished.

  9. كُلُّ شَيءٍ هانَ في شَرعِ الهَوى

    يا مَلاكي وَالهَوى لَيسَ يَهون

    All things count for little under love's law,

    O my angel, yet love does not count for little.

  10. لَم يَرَ اللَيلُ سِوى بِنتِ هَوىً

    قَرَأَت ما سَتُعاني في الجَبين

    Night saw only a daughter of love,

    Who read upon the brow what she would suffer.

  11. لَبِسَت في بَدئِهِ ثَوبَ الهَوى

    وَبِأُخراهُ ثِيابَ النادِمين

    At its beginning she donned love's robe,

    And at its end the garments of the remorseful.

  12. وَعَميدٌ باتَ مَطوِيَ الحَشا

    في سُكونِ اللَيلِ مَبحوحَ الأَنين

    And a lovesick man who passed the night, his heart drawn tight,

    In the stillness of night, hoarse with moaning.

  13. قامَ في اللَيلِ كَطَيفٍ غابِرٍ

    وَكَأَنَّ اللَيلَ مِحرابُ القُرون

    He rose in the night like a phantom from the past,

    And as though the night were the sanctuary of the ages.

  14. وَمُغَنٍّ غَلَبَ الحُزنُ عَلى

    وَتَرِ اللَهوِ لَدَيهِ وَالمَجون

    And a singer—sorrow prevailed over

    His string of merriment and wantonness.

  15. لَيسَ يَدري فِكرُهُ ما لَحنُهُ

    وَهوَ رَجعُ السِحرِ مِن ماضٍ شَطون

    His mind does not know what his melody is,

    And it is the echo of enchantment from a distant past.

  16. أَيُّها اللَيلُ أَتَينا نَشتَكي

    فَاِستَمَع شَكوى الحَزانى المُتعَبين

    O night, we have come to complain,

    So listen to the lament of the sorrowful and weary.

  17. هَدَّنا الحُزنُ وَأَضنانا الأَسى

    وَبَرانا الوَجدُ في دُنيا الشُجون

    Sorrow has shattered us, and grief has worn us out,

    And longing has worn us thin in a world of sorrows.

  18. قَد شَكَوناكَ وَجِئنا نَشتَكي

    لَكَ شَيئاً مِن خَيالِ الذاهِلين

    We have complained of you, and have come to complain

    To you of something from the imaginings of the bewildered.

  19. إِنَّني يا لَيلُ أَحكي غُنوَةً

    فَنِيَت فيكَ عَلى مَرِّ السِنين

    Indeed, O night, I am like a song

    That perished in you with the passing of the years,

  20. وَاِستَحالَت في البَلى قُبَّرَةً

    تَتَغَنّى في دُجى وادي المَنون

    And in decay became a lark,

    Singing in the darkness of the valley of death.

  21. إِنَّني يا لَيلُ أَحكي حُزمَةً

    مِن شُعاعٍ في سَماءِ الحالِمين

    Indeed, O night, I am like a bundle

    Of radiance in the dreamers' sky.

  22. ضَمَّها نَحوَكَ فِكرٌ هائِلٌ

    أَزعَجَ الأَربابَ بَينَ الثائِرين

    A tremendous thought drew it toward you,

    And alarmed the gods among the rebels.

  23. وَاِستَحالَت زَورَقاً تَعبُرُهُ

    فَزَعاتُ المَوتِ لَيلاً مِن سَنين

    And it became a skiff, traversed

    By death's terrors at night, for years.

  24. هذِهِ أُغنِيَتي رَتَّلتُها

    لَكِ يا دُنيايَ في ديرِ السُكون

    This is my song; I chanted it

    For you, O my world, in the monastery of stillness.

  25. لَحنُها أَنتِ وَحُزني وَقعُها

    وَنَذيرُ المَوتِ بَعضُ السامِعين

    You are its melody, and my sorrow its rhythm,

    And death's herald is one of the listeners.

  26. لا تَلومي ما بِها من حَزَنٍ

    إِنَّما الأَحزانُ موسيقى الحَزين

    Do not fault the sorrow within it;

    Sorrows are but the music of the sorrowful.

  27. أَعذَبُ الأَلحانِ لَحنٌ أَفرَغَت

    فيهِ أَناتُ الأَسى طَيَّ الحَنين

    The sweetest melody is a tune filled

    By grief's sighs with the inward folds of longing.

  28. عانِقيني في الدُجى إِقتَرِبي

    إِنَّني أَفزَعُ مِمّا تَفزَعين

    Embrace me in the darkness; come near.

    Indeed, I fear what you fear.

  29. قَرِّبي خَدَّكِ ضُمّيني إِلى

    صَدرِكِ الحاني اُلثُمي هذا الجَبين

    Bring your cheek close; draw me to

    Your tender breast; kiss this brow.

  30. إِنَّما نَحنُ كَركَبٍ ضَلَّ في

    تيهِ صَحراءَ بِقَومٍ تائِهين

    We are but like a caravan that lost its way in

    A desert's trackless waste, with bewildered people.

  31. قَد نَسينا كُلَّ ما كانَ لَنا

    وَتَرَكنا في غَدٍ ما سَيَكون

    We have forgotten all that was ours,

    And left to tomorrow what will be.