1. Gada's tears shattered the heart
I wonder what ails her, what grieves her

2. God granted her beauty but did not protect it
I wish He had not granted it to her

3. She stood by that sandy shore at night
Voicing her complaints

4. Her whimpers turned into moans
When her eyelids dried from excessive weeping

5. At times she pounds her chest and at others
Rips her clothes until, exhausted,

6. She converses with the stars in the sky
And confides in the crescent, her brother, in the stillness of night

7. Despair fills her heart, oh my sorrow
And anguish quenched her soul and winked at it

8. She calls but people pay her no heed
My God, why don’t You answer her call

9. No dear one feels sorry for her
No friend consoles her grief and relieves it

10. The night opened its chest to the Pleiades
And the wave wept in pity for her youth

11. The passion that possessed me possessed her
So her lover abandoned her and was unfaithful

12. Or did he discard her as my era discarded me
With its calamities? I wish it had not discarded her

13. My feelings led me to the girl
My soul garnered what weakened it

14. I quickened my steps toward her on the wings
Of night while people slept so I could see her

15. And there I was before a maiden
Who told the myrtle about her overwhelming sorrow, her cheeks

16. She invited me to come closer to her
After her eyes had reddened and brimmed with tears

17. Where I saw a skeleton of bones
Shattered by destiny - how cruel it was!

18. A look that cut the ties of my heart
Please, friend, tell me about her footing

19. The bitter days made her drink saber
And quenched my thirst - how could I not feel sorry for her?

20. My grieving heart forgot its own grief
After sharing the girl’s grief

21. I dried her tears and dried my own tears
And asked the maiden what grieved her

22. So she complained about the injustice of her mother and father
May God destroy her mother and father

23. They burdened her, woe to her, with a heavy load
She buckled under its weight so they buckled her

24. They forced her into marriage with an old
Man just because he was wealthy – so they forced her

25. They set the date for the wedding so she came
To mourn her luck when her hope was dashed

26. The face of that wrinkled old man
Struck fear in her heart and extinguished her youth

27. Is it just for a wealthy man
To marry a young girl – where, oh where, is her youth?

28. It is unjust that she share her den
With someone who was the source of her agony

29. It is unjust that she be led to someone
Whose voice her ears cannot bear

30. It is unfair that she touch a cheek
That has wrinkles like his cheek

31. It is unfair that a withered hand
Fondle her plump hand like his

32. It is unfair that she kiss a mouth
That is empty like his mouth

33. It is unfair that an old man flirt
With her bosom when his sideburns are graying

34. It is unfair that he puts a necklace
Around her smooth neck that is like his forearm

35. Have you seen a gazelle fall for an eagle
And heard its cooing?

36. Or seen a gazelle love, o people,
A wolf and place her hands around its neck?

37. Take the old man, o God, as a bier
From the ribs of his descendants for her youth

38. Then the old man will weave shrouds
From his beard for her wedding

39. And from his bosom he will prepare
A grave for her - this is what her parents chose

40. Lord, have mercy on the girl and be gentle
She has borne enough - it is enough

41. Humiliation wasted her body though she was
In the prime of youth and did not fulfill her wishes

42. She lost Khalid, her youth’s companion
And Khalid was who she loved with all her being

43. He promised to marry her so none
Pleased her but him and she loved no one but him

44. Without him life had no joy and Khalid
Could not have lived without her

45. Khalid - that kind noble-hearted lad
With sublime feelings who cannot forget her

46. How can he forget that girl who
Expressed her loyalty and fidelity so often?

47. How can he forget that girl who saw
No one in this world but him?

48. How can he forget that girl who bid him
Farewell, weeping, and placed him in the innermost depths of her heart?

49. How can he forget that girl at the mention
Of whose name his tears flowed?

50. How can he forget that girl whose great
And sublime loyalty made him proud?

51. How can he forget that girl who would melt
Into his embraces complaining of her love?

52. How can he forget that girl who - oh how many a time -
Quenched his burning thirst from her saliva?

53. Only yesterday she was Gada, a heart-rending
Beauty that filled the soul with bliss when seen

54. Only yesterday she was a rose that revived spirits
Or, rather, intoxicated hearts with her fragrance

55. Only yesterday she was a doll that inspired faith
In the heart - glorified is He who created her

56. Today she is a skeleton of bones
May God destroy her mother and her father!

57. Dawn rose and we parted and I could not
Carry her feet

58. She forced me to stay behind her
Yes, by my Lord, and left me behind her

59. By my father, Gada walks here and there by
That shore, dragging her feet

60. And by my mother, an innocent girl who smashed ribs
In the prime of youth with all its force

61. And by my soul, Haifa, she staggers, losing her way
Not because she is lost but because she has lost all her strength

62. She stumbles over boulders until, when the girl’s
Determination crumbled, she dropped her staff

63. She stood by that rock like a statue
Which swayed from her weeping

64. Her soul was thirsty but found no cup
Other than the cup of misery to wet her throat

65. Her soul settled on an idea that passed
Through her mind though it pained her

66. Then she cried out, “Here I am!” and the slumbering
Sea - I wonder who called her

67. Did misery call her so she responded?
Or did it call her - I wish it had not called her!

68. She lifted her face and called, “My God!
The innocent girl is calling you so answer her call!

69. She saw living in your presence as tranquility
So make eternity, O God, her dwelling!”

70. She tasted the cup which was bitter saber
So do not blame her - how many who loved her tasted it!

71. Come, o altar of passion, here is the soul
So take it from a wretch who guided her to you

72. Farewell, o question of my heart, farewell
From a girl whom you did not quench when thirsty

73. From a girl who sacrificed her soul for you
So keep your promise to her and await her

74. She cast a glance at the sea which understood alone The meaning of her love’s madness
She followed it with a shriek which the horizon

75. Echoed when silence prevailed
She disheveled her hair so the morning

76. Breeze toyed with it, kissed her mouth
And carried it to her youth’s companion

77. If only she had heard its melody before!
She covered her face with both hands

78. Not from death when it came upon her
But from the sun, her sister, when it rose

79. For if the sun had seen her face it would have fallen from the sky
The sea and beach cried

80. For the wealthy girl and embraced her
O wealthy girl, they ended you - poor thing!

81. O wealthy girl, alas for your youth!
Forgive, O Lord, the wealthy girl for this

82. Is not what her hands reaped but what was reaped for them
Her father and mother and husband killed her

83. Ah, if only they had died in her stead!
Lord, have mercy on the lover if he returns

84. And longing heals him so he can see her
How many girls, O Lord, whom beauty

85. Blessed but for her beauty brought misery!