أخلفت ميعادك يا أفعل

أخلفت ميعادك يا أفعل

وغير هذا بالوفا أجمل

وغير هذا بالوفا أجمل

You failed to keep your appointment, O Afʿal;

You broke your promise, O Afal

and acting otherwise would better befit fidelity.

Though being faithful is more beautiful

لا تعتقدها هفوة سهلة

لا تعتقدها هفوة سهلة

ما كل ذنب ثقله أحمل

ما كل ذنب ثقله أحمل

Do not consider it a trivial lapse:

Don't think it's an easy slip

not every offense has a weight I can bear.

Not every sin, I carry its weight

أعداك حجاج بأخلاقه

أعداك حجاج بأخلاقه

حاشاك أن تعمل ما يعمل

حاشاك أن تعمل ما يعمل

Hajjaj has infected you with his ways;

I swear you by your manners

far be it from you to do what he does.

Far be it from you to do what he does

أقسم لا يسمعها غيره

أقسم لا يسمعها غيره

وعندها المذموم والمهمل

وعندها المذموم والمهمل

He swore that none but he would hear her,

I swear, no one else hears it

while with her are the reviled and the neglected.

And he is then the despised and neglected

ويلاه إن غنت قفا نبك من

ويلاه إن غنت قفا نبك من

ذكرى حبيب داره حومل

ذكرى حبيب داره حومل

Woe is me if she sings: “Stop, you two; let us weep for

Woe to him, if he sings standing, I weep from

the memory of a beloved whose home is Hawmal.”

The memory of a beloved whose home is demolished

جناية منه وجرح على

جناية منه وجرح على

مودة الأحباب لا يدمل

مودة الأحباب لا يدمل

A wrong on his part, and a wound to

A crime from him, and a wound that does not heal

the affection between friends that will not heal.

On the affection of loved ones

هذا عتاب لزمت ميمه

هذا عتاب لزمت ميمه

مع لامه فاسمع لما أعمل

مع لامه فاسمع لما أعمل

This is a reproach: I have kept to its mīm,

This is a reproach, stick to its rhyme

along with its lām; so listen to what I compose.

Listen to what I do