1. تُرى يجتمعُ الشّملُ

    تُرى يَتَفِقُ الوصلُ

    I wonder, will the scattered company reunite?

    I wonder, will reunion come about?

  2. تُرى العيشَ الذي مرَّ

    مريراً بعدهُمْ يحلو

    I wonder, will the life that passed

    bitterly after they left grow sweet?

  3. تُرى من شاغلِ الهمِّ

    فؤادي المبتلى يخلو

    I wonder, from consuming sorrow

    will my afflicted heart be free?

  4. بغيري شُغلوا عنِّي

    وعندي بهمُ شُغْلُ

    They were distracted from me by others,

    while I am occupied with them.

  5. وكانوا لا يملُّونَ

    فما بالهمُ ملُّوا

    They used never to grow weary;

    why, then, have they grown weary?

  6. وراموا سلوةَ المغرَ

    مِ والمغرمُ لا يَسْلُو

    And they wished the enamored one to forget,

    yet the enamored one cannot forget.

  7. إذا ما كنتُ لا أَسلُو

    فماذا ينفعُ العَذْلُ

    If I cannot forget,

    what good does reproach do?

  8. أَلا يا قلبُ إنَّ العزَّ

    في شرعِ الهوى ذُلُّ

    Ah, heart, honor

    in love's law is abasement.

  9. وما دَلَّ على ذل

    كَ إلاَّ ذلكَ الدَّلُّ

    And nothing revealed your abasement

    but that coy charm.

  10. أَلا يا حبذا بالجِزْ

    عِ ذاكَ البانُ والأَثلُ

    Ah, how lovely, at the valley's bend,

    those moringa and tamarisk trees!

  11. إذِ الأَبكارُ للآصا

    لِ في بهجتها تتلُو

    When mornings followed evenings

    in their splendor;

  12. وأنفاسُ صبا الأَسحا

    رِ بالصِّحّةِ تعتُلُّ

    and breaths of the predawn east wind

    grew ill with health;

  13. هديل الوُرْقِ في مُورِ

    قةٍ أَفنانُها هُدْلُ

    the gray doves' cooing in a leafy tree

    whose branches hung low;

  14. وأَكنافُ الصِّبا خُضرٌ

    وأَفناءُ الحمى خُضْلُ

    and the realms of youth were green,

    and the sanctuary's grounds were lush;

  15. وللذَّاتِ أَبوابٌ

    وما من دُونها قُفْلُ

    and pleasures had doors,

    with no lock barring them.

  16. تُرى يرجعُ من طيبِ

    زماني ذلكَ الفَصْلُ

    I wonder, will there return, from the sweetness

    of my days, that season?

  17. تغرَّبتُ فلا دارٌ

    ولا جارٌ ولا أهلُ

    I went abroad: no home,

    no neighbor, and no family.

  18. أخلائي ببغدادَ

    وهل لي غيركمْ خلُّ

    My friends in Baghdad—

    do I have a friend besides you?

  19. سقَى مغناكمُ دمعي

    إذا ما احتبسَ الوبلُ

    May my tears water your dwelling

    whenever the downpour is withheld.

  20. عذابي فيكم عَذْبٌ

    وقتلي لكمُ حِلُّ

    My torment for you is sweet,

    and killing me is lawful for you.

  21. وهذا الدَّمعُ قد أَعر

    بَ عن شوقيَ فاستملوا

    And these tears have spoken

    of my longing; take their dictation.

  22. وهذا الدينُ قد حَلَّ

    فلِمْ ذا الوعدُ والمطلُ

    And this debt has fallen due;

    so why this promise and delay?

  23. أَعيذوني من الهجرِ

    فهجرانكمُ قَتْلُ

    Protect me from abandonment,

    for your abandonment is death.

  24. هبوا لي لُقيةً منكمْ

    فبالأَرواحِ ما تغلو

    Grant me a meeting with you,

    for even at the cost of souls it is not too dear.

  25. وإن شئتمْ على قلبي

    وسلوانكمُ دُلُّوا

    And if you wish, to my heart

    and to forgetting you, show me the way.

  26. لفقدِ الملكِ العاد

    لِ يبكي المُلْكُ والعَدْلُ

    For the loss of the just king,

    kingship and justice weep.

  27. فأَينَ الكرمُ العِدُّ

    وأَين النّائلُ الجَزْلُ

    Where, then, is inexhaustible generosity,

    and where are the lavish gifts?

  28. وقد أظلمتِ الآفا

    قُ لا شَمسٌ ولا ظلُ

    And the horizons have darkened:

    no sun, and no shade.

  29. ولمّا غابَ نورُ الدِّي

    نِ عنّا أظلمَ الحَفْلُ

    And when Nur al-Din was gone

    from us, the gathering darkened.

  30. وزالَ الخصبُ والخيرُ

    وزادَ الشرُّ والمَحْلُ

    And abundance and goodness vanished,

    and evil and drought increased.

  31. وماتَ البأسُ والجوُ

    دُ وعاشَ اليأسُ والبُخْلُ

    And valor and generosity died,

    and despair and miserliness lived.

  32. وعزَّ النّقصُ لما ها

    نَ أَهلُ الفضلِ والفَضْلُ

    And deficiency was exalted when

    men of merit and merit itself were abased.

  33. وهل ينفقُ ذو العِلمِ

    إذا ما نَفَقَ الجّهْلُ

    And can a man of learning find favor

    when ignorance is in demand?

  34. وإنَّ الجدَّ لا يسم

    نُ حتى يُسمنَ الهَزْلُ

    And indeed, earnestness does not grow fat

    until frivolity is fattened.

  35. ومذْ فارقَ أَهلَ الخي

    رِ ما ضُمَّ له شَمْلُ

    And since he parted from the good,

    no company has been reunited for him.

  36. وكادَ الدِّينُ ينحطُّ

    وكادَ الكفرُ أَنْ يعلُو

    And faith nearly declined,

    and unbelief nearly rose.

  37. على قلبي من الأَيا

    مِ في خِفَّتِها ثِقْلُ

    Upon my heart, from the days,

    for all their lightness, lies a weight.

  38. وقد حَطَّ على الكرهِ

    من الهمِّ بهِ رَحْلُ

    And, despite my reluctance, there has settled

    upon it a saddle of sorrow.

  39. ومَنْ صُلْتَ بهِ في الدَّه

    ر أَضحى وهو لي صلُّ

    And he through whom you held sway in this world

    has become a viper to me.

  40. تولّى دُونيَ الدُّونُ

    وأَبقَى العِزَّ لي عَزْلُ

    The base one took office in my stead,

    and dismissal preserved my honor.

  41. وأَولى بي من الحلي

    ةِ ما بينهمُ العَطْلُ

    And better for me than ornament,

    while among them, is to be unadorned.

  42. وماذا ينفعُ الأَعي

    نَ من بعدِ العَمَى كُحْلُ

    And what use to the eyes,

    after blindness, is kohl?

  43. ولولا المَلكُ الصال

    حُ ما شَدُّوا ولا حَلُّوا

    Were it not for al-Malik al-Salih,

    they could neither bind nor loose.

  44. ولمّا أَنْ زكا النَجْرُ

    زكا في الكرمِ النّجْلُ

    And since the stock was noble,

    the son flourished in generosity.

  45. وجاءَ الفرعُ بالمقصو

    دِ لمّا ذهبَ الأصْلُ

    And the branch brought what was sought

    when the root departed.

  46. وجودُ البعضِ كالكلِّ

    إذا ما فُقدَ الكلُّ

    The presence of a part is as the whole

    when the whole is lost.

  47. وليثُ الغابِ إن غابَ

    حَمَى موضِعَهُ الشِّبْلُ

    And if the lion of the forest is gone,

    the cub guards his place.

  48. وما كان لنورِ الدِّي

    نِ ولا نجلُهُ مثلُ

    And neither Nur al-Din

    nor his son had an equal.

  49. توكّلتُ على اللهِ

    إذا ضاقتْ بي السُّبْلُ

    I put my trust in God

    when the paths grow narrow for me.

  50. وعَلّقتُ بحبلِ اللهِ

    كفِّيَ فهو الحَبْلُ

    And I fastened to God's rope

    my hand, for it is the rope.