يا أَهل بابل أَنتمْ أَصْلُ بلبالي

يا أَهل بابل أَنتمْ أَصْلُ بلبالي

رُدّوا فؤادي على جُثْمانيَ البالي

رُدّوا فؤادي على جُثْمانيَ البالي

O people of Babylon, you are the source of my turmoil.

O people of Babylon, you are the origin of my distress,

Return my heart to my worn-out body.

Return my heart to my withered body,

لا واعتناقِ هواكم بعد فُرْقتكم

لا واعتناقِ هواكم بعد فُرْقتكم

ما كان صَرْفُ النَّوى منكم على بالي

ما كان صَرْفُ النَّوى منكم على بالي

No—by my embrace of love for you after parting from you—

Not for embracing your love after being separated from you,

the turn of separation from you had never crossed my mind.

My intention was never focused on you.

وإِنّما اعترضتْ بيني وبينَكم

وإِنّما اعترضتْ بيني وبينَكم

نوائبٌ أَرْخصتْ من دمعيَ الغالي

نوائبٌ أَرْخصتْ من دمعيَ الغالي

Only there intervened between me and you

Rather, misfortunes that were cheaper than my precious tears,

misfortunes that cheapened my precious tears.

Intercepted between me and you.

لولا مكانُ هواكم من مُحافظتي

لولا مكانُ هواكم من مُحافظتي

لما صرفتُ إِليكم وجه آمالي

لما صرفتُ إِليكم وجه آمالي

Were it not for the place love for you holds in my devotion,

If it were not for your place in my preservation,

I would not have turned the face of my hopes toward you.

I would not have turned my hopes towards you.

سَلوْتُ عن غيركم لمّا عَلِقْتُ بكم

سَلوْتُ عن غيركم لمّا عَلِقْتُ بكم

وَجْداً أَلا فاعجبوا للعاشق السالي

وَجْداً أَلا فاعجبوا للعاشق السالي

I forgot all others when I became attached to you

I complained about others when I clung to you,

in ardent love—ah, marvel at the lover who forgets!

Alas! How strange of the passionate lover.

يا صاحِ إِنّ دموعي حرب زاجرها

يا صاحِ إِنّ دموعي حرب زاجرها

فامنَح هواملَها تركي وإِهمالي

فامنَح هواملَها تركي وإِهمالي

O friend, my tears are at war with whoever restrains them.

O companion, my tears are an army deterring war,

So grant their strays this: leave me alone and disregard me.

So neglect them and leave me be.

وانظر إِلى عبراتي بَعْدَ بُعْدِهمُ

وانظر إِلى عبراتي بَعْدَ بُعْدِهمُ

إِن أَنت لم ترَ حالي عند تَرْحالي

إِن أَنت لم ترَ حالي عند تَرْحالي

And look at my tears after they went far away,

And see my tears after their distance,

if you did not see my state when I departed.

If you have not seen my state at my departure.

لو كنتَ شاهدَنا والبينُ يجمعُنا

لو كنتَ شاهدَنا والبينُ يجمعُنا

على وداعٍ بنيران الهوى صال

على وداعٍ بنيران الهوى صال

Had you witnessed us, as parting brought us together

If you had witnessed us while separation gathered us,

for a farewell scorched by the fires of love,

At a farewell with the fires of passion flaring,

رأَيتَ حبّةَ قلبي كيف يسلُبها

رأَيتَ حبّةَ قلبي كيف يسلُبها

حدٌّ لها ليس بالخالي من الخال

حدٌّ لها ليس بالخالي من الخال

you would have seen how the core of my heart was stolen

You would have seen the kernels of my heart,

by a sharp edge of hers, not free of a beauty spot.

How an unblemished separation plucked it away.

وقد علاني فُتورٌ عند رؤيتها

وقد علاني فُتورٌ عند رؤيتها

مُقَسَّمٌ بين عَيْنَيْها وأَوصالي

مُقَسَّمٌ بين عَيْنَيْها وأَوصالي

while languor had come over me at the sight of her,

And when I saw it, a numbness overcame me,

shared between her two eyes and my limbs.

Shared between her eyes and my limbs.

أَقول للصاحب الهادي ملامتَه

أَقول للصاحب الهادي ملامتَه

ضَلالةُ القلبِ في أَكناف دي ذال

ضَلالةُ القلبِ في أَكناف دي ذال

I say to the companion who offers his reproach:

I say to the guiding companion blaming him -

The heart has gone astray in the environs of Di Dhal.

The heart's misguidance in the folds of Dhi Dhal.

دعْني أَفُضُّ شُؤوني في معالمها

دعْني أَفُضُّ شُؤوني في معالمها

فالدَّمعُ دمعيَ والأطلال أَطلالي

فالدَّمعُ دمعيَ والأطلال أَطلالي

Let me open my tear ducts amid her landmarks,

Let me unload my burdens at its landmarks,

for the tears are my tears, and the ruins are my ruins.

For the tears are my tears and the ruins are my ruins.