يا ليتَ لي كالفراشِ أجنحةً

يا ليتَ لي كالفراشِ أجنحةً

أهفو بها في الفضاءِ هيمانَا

أهفو بها في الفضاءِ هيمانَا

Oh, if only I had wings like a butterfly's,

I wish I had wings like a butterfly

I would flutter with them through the sky, love-dazed,

To flutter freely in the sky

أدفُّ للنُّورِ في مشارقِهِ

أدفُّ للنُّورِ في مشارقِهِ

وأغتدي من سناه نشوانَا

وأغتدي من سناه نشوانَا

Beat my wings toward the light where it rises,

I would rush to meet the dawn

And go forth at dawn, drunk on its radiance,

And rejuvenate with its radiance

وأرشفُ القطْرَ من بواكِرِه

وأرشفُ القطْرَ من بواكِرِه

فلا أرودُ الضفافَ ظمآنَا

فلا أرودُ الضفافَ ظمآنَا

And sip the earliest drops of dew,

I would sip the first raindrops

So I would not roam the riverbanks thirsty,

Never returning thirsty to the banks

وألْثم النَّوْرَ في سنابلِهِ

وألْثم النَّوْرَ في سنابلِهِ

مصفقًا للنسيمِ جذلانا

مصفقًا للنسيمِ جذلانا

And kiss the blossoms on their spikes,

I would caress the buds in their bloom

Clapping for the breeze in delight.

Clapping for the gentle breeze

حتى إذا ما المساءُ ظللني

حتى إذا ما المساءُ ظللني

سريتُ بين الورود سهرانَا

سريتُ بين الورود سهرانَا

Until, when evening cast its shade over me,

Until the evening shadows me

I would wander by night among the roses, wakeful,

I would wander among roses awake

أشربُ أنفاسها وقد خفقتْ

أشربُ أنفاسها وقد خفقتْ

صدورُها للربيع تحنَانَا

صدورُها للربيع تحنَانَا

I would drink in their breaths, as there throbbed

Imbibe their scents, their hearts aflutter

Their breasts with longing for spring.

For spring, yearning in tenderness

تحلمُ بالفجر فوق جنَّتها

تحلمُ بالفجر فوق جنَّتها

يموج فيه الغمامُ ألوانَا

يموج فيه الغمامُ ألوانَا

They dream of dawn above their garden,

Dreaming of dawn in their garden

Where the clouds billow in colors,

Where clouds flow in colorful trance

وبالعصافيرِ في ملاحنها

وبالعصافيرِ في ملاحنها

تهزُّ قلبَ الصباحِ إرنانَا

تهزُّ قلبَ الصباحِ إرنانَا

And of sparrows in their melodies,

And birds with mellifluous cadence

Stirring the heart of morning with ringing song.

Make the morning’s heart dance

لو يعلمُ الزهرُ سرَّ عاشِقِهِ

لو يعلمُ الزهرُ سرَّ عاشِقِهِ

أفردَ لي من هواه بستانَا

أفردَ لي من هواه بستانَا

If the flowers knew their lover's secret,

If the flowers knew their lover’s secret

They would set aside a garden for me out of their love,

They would grant me a plot from his garden

فلا تراني العيونُ مقتحمًا

فلا تراني العيونُ مقتحمًا

سياجَه، أو تحسُ لي شانَا

سياجَه، أو تحسُ لي شانَا

So no eyes would see me breaking through

So eyes won’t see me trespassing

Its fence, or sense any activity of mine.

Or feel I have any claim

إذن لغرَّدْتُ في خمائلِهِ

إذن لغرَّدْتُ في خمائلِهِ

وصغتُ فيه الحياةَ ألحانَا

وصغتُ فيه الحياةَ ألحانَا

Then I would surely warble in its leafy groves,

Then I would’ve sung among its bushes

And fashion life there into melodies.

And immortalized life into an ode

لكنَّه شاء خلقَ مبتدعٍ

لكنَّه شاء خلقَ مبتدعٍ

من فنِّه العبقريِّ فنانَا

من فنِّه العبقريِّ فنانَا

But they wished to create an innovator,

But He willed to create an innovative artist

An artist from their brilliant art.

And adorn him as a genius creator

أراده شاعرًا فدلَّهه

أراده شاعرًا فدلَّهه

وسامه جفوةً وهجرانَا

وسامه جفوةً وهجرانَا

They wanted him a poet, so they drove him mad with love,

He destined him a poet, and so guided him

And made him endure coldness and abandonment.

Then alienated him with disdain and estrangement

فليحمِني الحسنُ زهرَ جنَّتهِ

فليحمِني الحسنُ زهرَ جنَّتهِ

وليُقصني العمرَ عنه حرمانَا

وليُقصني العمرَ عنه حرمانَا

So let Beauty deny me the flowers of its garden,

So may Beauty protect me with its flower

And keep me from it all my life, bereft.

And Life deny me deprivation from it

ما كنتُ لولاهُ طائرًا غردًا

ما كنتُ لولاهُ طائرًا غردًا

ولو جهلتُ الغناءَ ما كانَا!

ولو جهلتُ الغناءَ ما كانَا!

Without it, I would not have been a singing bird,

Without it I wouldn’t have been a singing bird

And had I not known song, it would not have existed!

Without it, music wouldn't have been made!