أَقول لَعَيني إِن يَكُن مَلّ مُسعدي

أَقول لَعَيني إِن يَكُن مَلّ مُسعدي

فَأَيَتُّها العَينُ السَخينة أَسعدي

فَأَيَتُّها العَينُ السَخينة أَسعدي

I say to my eye: if my fellow mourner has grown weary,

I say to my eyes, if you are tired of weeping,

I say to my eye: if my comforters have grown weary,

then, O eye hot with grief, help me mourn.

Then O my sad eyes, make me happy,

Then you, O fevered eye, must grant me aid.

وَلا تَبخَلي عَيني بدمعك إِنَّهُ

وَلا تَبخَلي عَيني بدمعك إِنَّهُ

مَتى تُسبلي لي رقّ دَمعي وَتَجمُدي

مَتى تُسبلي لي رقّ دَمعي وَتَجمُدي

And do not begrudge your tears, my eye, for

Do not be stingy with your tears, for they

Do not be miserly with your tears, O eye, for truly,

whenever you shed them for me, my tears grow scant and you run dry.

Whenever you shed them generously for me, and then withhold,

When you pour them out for me, my weeping eases though you turn to stone.

وَكَيف سُلّوي عَن حَبيب خَيالُه

وَكَيف سُلّوي عَن حَبيب خَيالُه

أَمامي وَخَلفي في مَقامي وَمَقعَدي

أَمامي وَخَلفي في مَقامي وَمَقعَدي

And how can I forget a loved one whose image

And how can I be diverted from longing for a beloved whose image

And how can I find solace from a beloved whose phantom

is before me and behind me, where I stand and where I sit?

Is before me and behind me, wherever I stand and sit?

Stands before me and behind me, wherever I rise or sit?

نَظَرتُ إِلَيهِ فَوقَ أَعواد نعشه

نَظَرتُ إِلَيهِ فَوقَ أَعواد نعشه

بمطروفة حيرى تَجور وَتَهتَدي

بمطروفة حيرى تَجور وَتَهتَدي

I looked at him upon the timbers of his bier,

I looked at him above the poles of his bier

I gazed upon him atop the wood of his bier,

with a stricken, bewildered eye, straying and finding its way.

Borne waveringly, wandering and losing its way.

With a weary, bewildered eye that wanders, then finds its mark.

فَجاشت إِليَّ النَفس ثُمَّ رَدَدُتها

فَجاشت إِليَّ النَفس ثُمَّ رَدَدُتها

إِلى الصَبر فعلَ الحازِم المتجلّد

إِلى الصَبر فعلَ الحازِم المتجلّد

So my soul surged toward me; then I turned it back

My soul surged towards me, but I drove it back

My soul heaved within me, but I forced it back,

to patience, as a resolute, self-controlled man would.

To patience, as the resolute man of strength controls himself.

Toward patience, with the resolve of the steadfast man.

وَلَو يُفتَدى مَيتٌ بِشَيء فَدَيته

وَلَو يُفتَدى مَيتٌ بِشَيء فَدَيته

بِنَفسي وَمالي من طَريف وَمُتلَد

بِنَفسي وَمالي من طَريف وَمُتلَد

And if a dead man could be ransomed with anything, I would ransom him

If the dead could be ransomed for anything, I would ransom him

And were the dead to be ransomed by anything, I would have ransomed him

with my life and my wealth, newly acquired and inherited.

With my soul and wealth, down to my worn-out sandal.

With my own life, and my wealth—both the new and the ancestral.

وَلَكِن رَأَيت المَوت يُمسي رَسوله

وَلَكِن رَأَيت المَوت يُمسي رَسوله

وَيُصبح لِلنَفس اللجوج بمرصد

وَيُصبح لِلنَفس اللجوج بمرصد

But I have seen that death's messenger spends the evening

But I saw that Death sends his messenger at dawn

But I have seen Death: his messenger arrives at dusk,

and the morning lying in wait for the obstinate soul.

And at dusk to the soul that is stubbornly disobedient.

And by dawn lies in ambush for the clinging soul.