خُلُوُّ فؤادي بالمَوَدّةِ إخْلالُ

خُلُوُّ فؤادي بالمَوَدّةِ إخْلالُ

وإبْلاءُ جِسمي في طِلابِكِ إبْلالُ

وإبْلاءُ جِسمي في طِلابِكِ إبْلالُ

For my heart to be empty of love would be a betrayal;

My heart's emptiness is a breach of affection;

to wear out my body in seeking you is healing.

and wearing out my body in seeking you is healing.

ولي حاجةٌ عنْد المنيّةِ فَتْكُها

ولي حاجةٌ عنْد المنيّةِ فَتْكُها

برُوحيَ والأهواءُ مُذْ كُنّ أهْوالُ

برُوحيَ والأهواءُ مُذْ كُنّ أهْوالُ

I have a request of Death—let her fulfill it

I have a request of Death: that she strike

by taking my soul; passions, ever since they existed, have been terrors.

my soul down; passions have been terrors since they first existed.

إذا مُتُّ لم أحْفِلْ أبالشأم حُفْرَةٌ

إذا مُتُّ لم أحْفِلْ أبالشأم حُفْرَةٌ

حَوَتْنيَ أم ريمٌ برَيْمانَ مُنْهالُ

حَوَتْنيَ أم ريمٌ برَيْمانَ مُنْهالُ

If I die, I care not whether a pit in Syria

If I die, I shall not care whether a pit in al-Shām

holds me, or a crumbling grave at Raymān.

holds me, or a crumbling grave-mound at Raymān.

على أنّ قَلْبي آنِسٌ أنْ يُقال لي

على أنّ قَلْبي آنِسٌ أنْ يُقال لي

إلى آلِ هذا القبر يَدفِنُك الآلُ

إلى آلِ هذا القبر يَدفِنُك الآلُ

Still, my heart takes comfort when I am told:

Yet my heart takes comfort in being told:

“Beside this grave your kin will bury you.”

"The family will bury you beside the people of this grave."

دعا اللّهُ أُمّاً لَيْتَ أنّي أمامَها

دعا اللّهُ أُمّاً لَيْتَ أنّي أمامَها

دُعيتُ ولو أنّ الهواجِرَ آصالُ

دُعيتُ ولو أنّ الهواجِرَ آصالُ

God has summoned my mother—would that, before her,

God summoned a mother; would that I, before her,

I had been summoned, even were scorching noons eventides.

had been summoned, even were the blazing noons late afternoons.

مضَتْ وكأنّي مُرْضَعٌ وقد ارْتَقَتْ

مضَتْ وكأنّي مُرْضَعٌ وقد ارْتَقَتْ

بيَ السنُّ حتى شَكْلُ فَودَيّ أشْكالُ

بيَ السنُّ حتى شَكْلُ فَودَيّ أشْكالُ

She is gone, and I am like a nursing infant, though age has mounted

She departed, and I was as though a suckling infant, though age had raised

within me until the coloring of my temples has grown mottled.

me until my temple-locks displayed varied hues.

أراني الكَرى أنّي أُصِبْتُ بناجِذٍ

أراني الكَرى أنّي أُصِبْتُ بناجِذٍ

ألا إنّ أحلامَ الرّقادِ لَضُلاّلُ

ألا إنّ أحلامَ الرّقادِ لَضُلاّلُ

Slumber showed me myself afflicted in a molar;

Sleep showed me that I had lost a molar;

indeed, the dreams of sleep are sheer delusion.

ah, the dreams of slumber are surely mistaken!

أجارِحَتِي العُظْمى تُشَبِّه ساهِياً

أجارِحَتِي العُظْمى تُشَبِّه ساهِياً

بِسنٍّ لها في ساحةِ الفَمِ أمْثالُ

بِسنٍّ لها في ساحةِ الفَمِ أمْثالُ

Does slumber heedlessly compare my greatest limb

Do you heedlessly liken my greatest organ

to a tooth that has peers in the courtyard of the mouth?

to a tooth with others like it in the mouth's expanse?

وبينَ الرَّدى والنوْم قُرْبَى وَنِسْبَةٌ

وبينَ الرَّدى والنوْم قُرْبَى وَنِسْبَةٌ

وشَتّانَ بُرْءٌ للنّفُوس وإعْلالُ

وشَتّانَ بُرْءٌ للنّفُوس وإعْلالُ

Between death and sleep there are kinship and affinity,

And between death and sleep lie kinship and affinity,

yet worlds apart are healing souls and making them ill.

yet how different are healing for souls and affliction!

إذا نِمْتُ لاقَيْتُ الأحِبّةَ بَعدما

إذا نِمْتُ لاقَيْتُ الأحِبّةَ بَعدما

طَوَتْهمْ شُهورٌ في الترابِ وأحوالُ

طَوَتْهمْ شُهورٌ في الترابِ وأحوالُ

When I sleep, I meet the beloved, after

When I sleep, I meet my loved ones, after

months and years have folded them away in the earth.

months and years have enfolded them in the dust.