يا لَيتَ شِعري وَكَم مِن مُنيةٍ قُدِرَت

يا لَيتَ شِعري وَكَم مِن مُنيةٍ قُدِرَت

وِفقاً وَأُخرى أَتى مِن دونِها القَدَرُ

وِفقاً وَأُخرى أَتى مِن دونِها القَدَرُ

Ah, if only I knew! How many wishes were decreed

Oh, how I wish I knew how many a death was destined

as hoped, while fate stood in the way of another.

For me, and how many another the Fates went past.

وَمُضمَرِ الكَشحِ يَطويهِ الضَجيعُ لَهُ

وَمُضمَرِ الكَشحِ يَطويهِ الضَجيعُ لَهُ

طَيَّ الحِمالَةِ لا جافٍ وَلا فَقِرُ

طَيَّ الحِمالَةِ لا جافٍ وَلا فَقِرُ

And many a slender-waisted one, whom his bedfellow folds

And how the sleek and plump, though wrinkles now infest him,

as a sword-strap is folded—neither stiff nor weak of spine.

Bears yet his frame erect and walks the plain unbowed -

لَهُ شَبيهانِ لا نَقصٌ يَعيبُهُما

لَهُ شَبيهانِ لا نَقصٌ يَعيبُهُما

بِحَيثُ كانا وَلا طولٌ وَلا قِصَرُ

بِحَيثُ كانا وَلا طولٌ وَلا قِصَرُ

He has two counterparts, marred by no defect,

Two mates, alike unmarred, towering to view,

wherever they are—neither too long nor too short.

Still rightly paired in height and slenderness.