عزيز علي اليوم قطع كتابكم

عزيز علي اليوم قطع كتابكم

ولكنه لم يلف للود قاطع

ولكنه لم يلف للود قاطع

It pains me today to tear up your letter,

My dear, today your letter has broken off

It weighs heavily on me today to tear up your letter,

Yet this has not proved to sever affection.

Yet he did not turn with severing affection

yet it was never meant to sever our affection.

فآثرت ان يبقى وداد وينمحي

فآثرت ان يبقى وداد وينمحي

مداد فإن الفرع للأصل تابع

مداد فإن الفرع للأصل تابع

So I chose to let affection endure, and to erase

So I preferred that affection remains and ink fades

So I chose that love should endure while ink is erased,

The ink—for the branch is subordinate to the root.

For the branch follows the root

for the branch must always follow the root.

فكم من كتاب فيه ميتة ربه

فكم من كتاب فيه ميتة ربه

ولم يدره إذ نمقته الأصابع

ولم يدره إذ نمقته الأصابع

For many a letter holds its owner's death,

How many a book in which is the death of its Lord

How often a letter brings the demise of its writer,

And he knew it not when fingers embellished it.

And he knew not when fingers have copied it

unbeknownst to him as his fingers adorned it.