1. من مبلغٌ عني طبيبك أنه

    يفري بمبضعه حشايَ وأضلعي

    Who will tell your physician on my behalf that he

    cuts through my entrails and my ribs with his scalpel?

  2. يخبرك صدري بالحقيقة إذ بدا

    من إثْر طعنتهِ السعالُ مشايعي

    My chest tells you the truth, for there appeared,

    in the wake of his stab, a cough as my ally.

  3. فلئن سكتُّ فمن ضروراتِ الأسى

    ولئن سعلتُ فزفرة المتفجعِ

    So if I fall silent, it is because grief demands it;

    and if I cough, it is a grief-stricken person's sigh.

  4. ولئن بكيت فإنما لتذكري

    عينيك تفتح بالسنان المشْرَعِ

    And if I weep, it is only because I remember

    your eyes being opened with the leveled spearhead.

  5. عجباً جفونك دائماً مغموضة

    وأبيتُ محصيةَ النجوم الظلّعِ

    How strange! Your eyelids are always closed,

    while I spend the night counting the limping stars.

  6. ما زلت أرقبها تروح وتغتدي

    بالليل حتى قد جفاني مضجعي

    I keep watching them pass at evening and at dawn,

    through the night, until my bed has shunned me.

  7. فاسلم أبي وانظر إليّ برأفة

    عيني فداؤك كي أقرّ ومسمعي

    So be well, my father, and look at me with compassion;

    let my eye and my hearing be your ransom, so that I may find peace.