1. بلوتُ الحَياةَ فَما مِن أَنيسٍ

    يُؤآسي هُمومي وَما من صديقِ

    I have tested life, and there is no companion

    To soothe my sorrows, nor any friend.

  2. تَقولُ ليَ وَإِمّا رَأَتني

    مجدّاً تَقف عَثرةً في طَريقي

    She speaks to me, and whenever she sees me

    Striving earnestly, she stands as a stumbling block in my path.

  3. فَيا ربِّ أَطفىء سراجَ شُعوري

    لِأَصبحَ ذا بَصرٍ مُستَفيقِ

    So, my Lord, extinguish the lamp of my awareness,

    So that I may have awakened sight.

  4. وَأَخرس بِصَدري الشَبابَ فَإِنّي

    أَوَدُّ اِستِماعَ فُؤادي الحَقيقي

    And silence youth within my breast, for I

    Wish to hear my true heart.

  5. لَقَد طالَ عَهديَ بِالظُلُماتِ

    وَلم أَستَنِر بِسِوى الظُلُماتِ

    Long indeed has my acquaintance with darkness lasted,

    And I have found light in nothing but darkness.

  6. كَأَنَّ الدُجى مَشعَلٌ في فُؤادي

    تَزيّتُه بِالشَقاءِ الحَياةُ

    As though the dark were a torch in my heart,

    Life oils it with suffering.

  7. فَما الزَهراتُ أَمام عُيوني

    سِوى ذِكرَيات الهَوى الماضِيات

    So the flowers before my eyes are nothing

    But bygone memories of love.

  8. تمُرُّ بِمشهدِها المُستَحَبِّ

    وَتذبلُ كَالأَزهَر الذابِلات

    They pass in their cherished guise,

    And wither like withered flowers.

  9. أُقَضّي لَيالِيَّ في مخدعٍ

    بَكى والدي حَظَّه فيهِ قَبلي

    I spend my nights in a bedchamber

    Where my father wept over his fate before me.

  10. فَكَم زارَني فيهِ من زائِرٍ

    وَأَبصَرَني بِالدُموعِ أُصَلّي

    How many a visitor has come to me there

    And seen me praying in tears!

  11. نَشَأتُ تَشفّ بيَ الحسراتُ

    فَتضوي فُؤادي الكَئيبَ وَتُبلي

    I grew up as sorrows wore me thin,

    Thus wasting my sorrowful heart and wearing it away.

  12. تَمرَّد كلُّ غَريبٍ عَلَيَّ

    وَلما كَبِرتُ تَمَرَّد أَهلي

    Every stranger rebelled against me,

    And when I grew older, my family rebelled.

  13. أَرى اللَيلَ يَفتَحُ إيوانَهُ

    لِيَستَقبلَ الأَجفنَ النائِمَه

    I see the night opening its vaulted hall

    To welcome sleeping eyelids,

  14. وَنَفسيَ هائِمَةٌ في فَضاءٍ

    تَخوَّفَ من نَفسِيَ الهائِمَه

    And my soul wanders through an expanse

    That has grown afraid of my wandering soul.

  15. فَيا مَن لهُ الأَعيُنُ الباسِماتُ

    أَنِرني بِأَعيُنِكَ الباسِمَه

    So, O you whose eyes are smiling,

    Illumine me with your smiling eyes.

  16. تَعالَ وَأَغمِض ذبولَ جُفوني

    بِأَنمُلِكَ البَضَّةِ الناعِمَه

    Come, and close my withering eyelids

    With your tender, soft fingertips.

  17. تَعالَ إِلَيَّ فَقَد سَكَتَ الطَيرُ

    وَاللَيلُ مُنسَدِلٌ فَوقَ عشِّه

    Come to me, for the bird has fallen silent,

    And night hangs down above its nest.

  18. وَقَد نامَ فَلّاح تِلكَ الحقول

    وَفي جَنبِهِ ما جَناهُ برفشِه

    And the farmer of those fields has fallen asleep,

    And beside him lies what he gathered with his shovel.

  19. فَكم ملكٍ أَيُّها اللَيلُ يَبكي

    أَمام جلالِكَ فَقدانَ عرشِه

    How many a king, O night, weeps

    Before your majesty for the loss of his throne!

  20. وَكم بائِسٍ ظَلَمته الحَياةُ

    يَخالُ سوادَكَ ظلمَةَ نَعشِه

    And how many a wretch whom life has wronged

    Takes your blackness for the darkness of his coffin!

  21. تَعالَ وَأَنشِد عَلى مَسمَعي

    أَغاني الهَوى بِلُغاتِ الخُلود

    Come, and sing within my hearing

    Songs of love in the tongues of eternity.

  22. وَخُذ ذِكرَياتي إِلى إِلى عالَمٍ

    يَطيبُ لِروحيَ فيهِ السُجودِ

    And take my memories to—to a world

    Where prostration is sweet to my soul.

  23. فَهذي الحَياةُ ثَمالَةُ كَأسٍ

    سَقاها رَجيمُ الرَدى لِلوُجودِ

    For this life is the dregs of a cup

    Which death's accursed one gave existence to drink.

  24. فَدَعني أُنلها بَقايا جمادي

    لِتمتَصَّها حَشَراتُ اللحود

    So let me give it the remnants of my lifeless substance,

    For the insects of the graves to suck them up.

  25. تَعالَ فَإِنَّ دَقائِقَ عمري

    تَمُرُّ عَلى مُهجَتي راحِلَه

    Come, for the minutes of my life

    Pass over my lifeblood, departing,

  26. وَقَد حَمَلت ليد اللانهايَةِ

    أَكياسَ آماليَ الزائِلَه

    And have carried to the hand of infinity

    The sacks of my vanishing hopes.

  27. غَداً إِن رَأَيتَ خَيالَ الحِمامِ

    يَمُرُّ عَلى وَجنَتي الناحِلَه

    Tomorrow, if you see death's specter

    Passing over my gaunt cheek,

  28. تَعالَ وَضع قبلاتِ الوَفاءِ

    عَلى شفةِ المائِتِ الذابِلَه

    Come, and place the kisses of fidelity

    Upon the dying man's withering lip.

  29. وَفي الغَدِ حينَ تمرُّ السنونُ

    حَيارى عَلى خَدِّكَ الناعِمِ

    And in days to come, when the years pass

    Bewildered over your soft cheek,

  30. وَتَنزِعُ عَنهُ سناءَ الجَمالِ

    وَيَبقى سنا روحِكَ الدائِمِ

    And strip it of beauty's splendor,

    While the radiance of your enduring soul remains,

  31. سَتذكُرُني ملقِياً هامَتي

    بِعَطفٍ عَلى صَدرِكَ النائِمِ

    You will remember me laying my head

    Tenderly upon your sleeping breast,

  32. وَأُسمِعُكَ الشِعرَ عَذباً طَرِيّا

    كَسِحرٍ بِمرشفِكَ الباسِمِ

    And letting you hear poetry, sweet and fresh,

    Like magic at your smiling lips.

  33. فَيا مَن ظَهَرتَ لريّقِ قَلبِيَ

    في عالَمٍ مقفِرٍ منتنِ

    So, O you who appeared to my heart in its first bloom

    In a desolate, fetid world,

  34. وَأَشعَلتَ في لَيليَ المكفهرِّ

    مشاعِلَ حُبِّكَ في أَعيُني

    And kindled in my glowering night

    The torches of your love within my eyes,

  35. وَقُلتَ لِقَلبِيَ كُن عاشِقاً

    فَكانَ وَفاضَ من الأَجفُنِ

    And said to my heart, 'Be a lover,'

    So it became one, and overflowed from the eyelids.

  36. تَعالَ إِلَيَّ وَلامس فُؤادي

    وَلا تَخشَ من جرحِيَ المُزمِنِ

    Come to me, and touch my heart,

    And do not fear my chronic wound.