أَلاَ ليتَ صبرِي لم يَبِنْ مثلَما بانُوا

أَلاَ ليتَ صبرِي لم يَبِنْ مثلَما بانُوا

لقد كان نِعْمَ المُسْتَعانُ إذا خانُوا

لقد كان نِعْمَ المُسْتَعانُ إذا خانُوا

Ah, would that my patience had not departed as they did!

Alas! I wish my patience had not been revealed as they were revealed

It was indeed a fine source of help when they proved faithless.

Indeed, it would have been good help when they betrayed

ولكنْ أطاع البينَ مني أربعٌ

ولكنْ أطاع البينَ مني أربعٌ

فؤادٌ ونوم واصطبار وسُلوان

فؤادٌ ونوم واصطبار وسُلوان

But four things within me obeyed separation:

But four things obeyed separation from me

my heart, my sleep, my endurance, and my consolation.

A heart, sleep, patience, and night companionship

ولازَمني وَجْدٌ إذا حلّ بعضُه

ولازَمني وَجْدٌ إذا حلّ بعضُه

بساحةِ سِرٍّ لم يُجاوِرْه كتمان

بساحةِ سِرٍّ لم يُجاوِرْه كتمان

And passion clung to me: if even part of it settled

And sorrow clung to me when some of it

in the precinct of a secret, concealment could not dwell beside it.

Visited the courtyard of a secret not shared with concealment

ودمعٌ إذا كَفْكَفْتُه فهْو وابِلٌ

ودمعٌ إذا كَفْكَفْتُه فهْو وابِلٌ

وشوقٌ إذا أخفيتُه فهْو إعلان

وشوقٌ إذا أخفيتُه فهْو إعلان

And tears—when I wiped them away, they fell in a downpour;

And tears, when I held them back, poured forth

and longing—when I concealed it, it proclaimed itself.

And longing, when I hid it, was made public

وسُقْمٌ إذا أخفيتُ ما بي تأكدتْ

وسُقْمٌ إذا أخفيتُ ما بي تأكدتْ

به حُجَجٌ للعاشقين وبرهان

به حُجَجٌ للعاشقين وبرهان

And sickness—when I hid what ailed me, it confirmed

And sickness, when I hid what was in me, affirmed

the lovers' arguments and proof.

Proofs for the lovers and evidence

فكم ليلةٍ ظلَّ اصْطبارِي كصُبْحِها

فكم ليلةٍ ظلَّ اصْطبارِي كصُبْحِها

يُسامِرني فيها على الأَيْكِ حَنّان

يُسامِرني فيها على الأَيْكِ حَنّان

How many a night my patience remained as absent as its dawn,

So how many nights my patience remained like its morn

while a plaintive bird among the trees kept me company through the night.

Conversing with me through the night gently

غريبٌ نأَى عنه حبيبٌ ومنزل

غريبٌ نأَى عنه حبيبٌ ومنزل

كما قد نأى عني حبيب وأوطان

كما قد نأى عني حبيب وأوطان

A stranger whose beloved and home had grown far from him,

A stranger, kept away from by a loved one and home

just as my beloved and homelands had grown far from me.

As my loved one and homelands have kept away from me

دعتْنِي وإياه فَريدةُمَهمهِ

دعتْنِي وإياه فَريدةُمَهمهِ

أَنافتْ بها في ساحةِ الرمل أغصان

أَنافتْ بها في ساحةِ الرمل أغصان

A solitary tree in the wilderness called to me and him;

Solitude summoned us, it and I

its branches towered in the expanse of sand.

To weep in the sands' courtyard, the branches bent

ينوح وأبكي غيرَ أنّ مدَامِعي

ينوح وأبكي غيرَ أنّ مدَامِعي

تَجود وما تَنْدَى لعينيه أجفان

تَجود وما تَنْدَى لعينيه أجفان

He laments and I weep, but my tears

I wail while my tears flow freely

pour freely, while his eyelids never grow moist.

Yet no eyelids moisten for his eyes

إذا خفَّ عني الشوقُ هزَّ جوانحي

إذا خفَّ عني الشوقُ هزَّ جوانحي

بنوحٍ كما هزَّتْه في تِيكَ أَفْنان

بنوحٍ كما هزَّتْه في تِيكَ أَفْنان

Whenever longing eased for me, he stirred my breast

When longing ebbs from me, my wings flutter

with lament, as the boughs in that tree swayed him.

With lament like the bending branches of Tika

ولو ساعدتْني عزمةٌ من جناحِه

ولو ساعدتْني عزمةٌ من جناحِه

ليَمَّمتُ أحبابي بها حيثُ ما كانوا

ليَمَّمتُ أحبابي بها حيثُ ما كانوا

And had the resolve of his wing come to my aid,

Had determination from his wing aided me

I would have made for my loved ones with it, wherever they were.

I would have visited my loved ones wherever they were

رَعَى اللهُ عيشاً ناعماً سَمَحتْ به

رَعَى اللهُ عيشاً ناعماً سَمَحتْ به

لنا في ظهورِ الظاهرية أَزْمان

لنا في ظهورِ الظاهرية أَزْمان

May God bless the life of ease that

God guarded a comfortable, easy living

the days bestowed on us upon the heights of al-Zahiriyya.

That our time with the Dhahiris allowed

فكان كما زار الخيالُ مسلِّما

فكان كما زار الخيالُ مسلِّما

وودَّع إلا أنني فيه يقظان

وودَّع إلا أنني فيه يقظان

So it was like a dream-vision that came with a greeting

It was as if a dream had bid farewell

and bade farewell—except that throughout it I was awake.

While I was awake within it

فكم لي تلك الرُّبا من عشيةٍ

فكم لي تلك الرُّبا من عشيةٍ

تُغازِلني فيها لدى البان غزلان

تُغازِلني فيها لدى البان غزلان

How many an evening was mine upon those hills,

So how many lovely evenings I had

when gazelles flirted with me beside the moringa trees.

Flirting with me there by the acacias, fawns

قُدودٌ حَكَتْهنَّ الغصون تهزُّها

قُدودٌ حَكَتْهنَّ الغصون تهزُّها

روادفُ تَحكِيها من الرمل كثبان

روادفُ تَحكِيها من الرمل كثبان

Figures the branches mirrored, set swaying

Boughs braided by the branches that sway them

by buttocks mirrored by the dunes of sand.

Hills told of them from the sand dunes

دُمىً عَبَدتْهُنَّ القلوبُ صَبابةً

دُمىً عَبَدتْهُنَّ القلوبُ صَبابةً

كما عُبِدت في الجاهلية أَوْثان

كما عُبِدت في الجاهلية أَوْثان

Statues that hearts worshipped in ardent longing,

Idols worshipped by hearts, maidens

as idols were worshipped in the pre-Islamic age.

As idols were worshipped in the times of ignorance