وقد سقط العتب المقدم وامحى

وقد سقط العتب المقدم وامحى

وجاءت جيوش البين تجري وتسرع

وجاءت جيوش البين تجري وتسرع

And now the former reproach has fallen away and been effaced;

And the former reproach has fallen away and been erased.

the armies of separation have come, running and hastening.

And the armies of separation came running and hastening.

وقد ذعر البين الصدود فراعه

وقد ذعر البين الصدود فراعه

فولى فما يدرى له اليوم موضع

فولى فما يدرى له اليوم موضع

Separation startled cold aloofness and struck it with terror,

And separation has startled aversion and terrified it,

so it fled, not knowing where it might find a place today—

So it fled, and today its whereabouts are unknown.

كذئب خلا بالصيد حتى أضله

كذئب خلا بالصيد حتى أضله

هزير له من جانب الغيل مطلع

هزير له من جانب الغيل مطلع

like a wolf alone with its prey, until it was made to lose it

Like a wolf alone with its prey, until it was driven astray

by a mighty lion emerging before it from the thicket’s edge.

By a lion emerging from the edge of the thicket.

لئن سرني في طرده الهجر أنني

لئن سرني في طرده الهجر أنني

لا بعاده عني الحبيب لموجع

لا بعاده عني الحبيب لموجع

Though I rejoiced that abandonment drove aloofness away, I am

Though it pleased me by driving out estrangement, I

anguished because it drives the beloved away from me.

am indeed pained by its taking the beloved away from me.

ولا بد عند الموت من بعض راحةٍ

ولا بد عند الموت من بعض راحةٍ

وفي غبها الموت الوحي المصرع

وفي غبها الموت الوحي المصرع

And at death there must be some measure of rest;

And at death there must be some respite,

yet in its wake comes death, swift to strike one down.

And in its wake comes swift death that lays one low.