أفنيتُ ماء الوجه من طول ما

أفنيتُ ماء الوجه من طول ما

أسأل مَن لا ماء في وجهه

أسأل مَن لا ماء في وجهه

I have drained the water of my face through prolonged

I have wasted the water of my face from so long

begging from one whose face has no water.

Asking one whose face has no water

أُنهي إليه شرحَ حالي الذي

أُنهي إليه شرحَ حالي الذي

يا ليتني متُّ ولم أُنهه

يا ليتني متُّ ولم أُنهه

I convey to him the account of my plight—

I complete for him the explanation of my condition which

oh, would that I had died and never conveyed it!

Oh, would that I had died and not completed it

فلم يُنلني كرماً رَفْدُه

فلم يُنلني كرماً رَفْدُه

ولم أكد أسلم من جبهه

ولم أكد أسلم من جبهه

So he bestowed no generous aid on me,

Yet his provisions did not grant me generosity

and I scarcely escaped his rebuff.

Nor was I more resigned than his stubbornness

الموت من دهرٍ جهابيذه

الموت من دهرٍ جهابيذه

ممتدّة الأيدي إلى بُلْهه

ممتدّة الأيدي إلى بُلْهه

Death comes from an age whose sages

Death from a time whose ignoble ones

hold their hands out to its fools.

Have hands outstretched to their weapons