خلني يا خلي وفرط بلائي

أمزج الدمع بعدهم بالدماء

Leave me, my friend, to my overwhelming affliction,

To mingle tears with blood now they are gone.

خلفوني في حبهم يوم ساروا

ناحل الجسم ميت الاحياء

When they departed, they left me in my love for them

Wasted in body, dead among the living.

كلما قلت شاب دمعي مني

شب نار الغرام في احشائي

Whenever I say, 'The tears I shed have turned gray,'

The fire of passion flares within my entrails.

فعلى من يعيرني اليوم دمعا

فدموعي تزحن يوم الشتاء

Who, then, will lend me tears today?

For my tears hold back on winter's day.

فابكها يا اخا الشؤون دموعا

من نضار ان عز در البكاء

So weep tears for her, O brother of the tear ducts,

Of pure gold, if the pearls of weeping are scarce.

لا تلمني على البكا فدموعي

لبكاها بكت عيون السماء

Do not blame me for weeping, for my tears

Have made heaven's eyes weep at their weeping.

يا لحى الله هذه الدار كم قد

اوقعت من بها اعتنى في العناء

Ah, may God curse this abode! How often

It has cast those devoted to it into misery!

ولعمري كم غادرت من فصيح

ثاويا تحت هذه الخرساء

By my life, how many an eloquent man it has left

Lying beneath this mute earth!

لم يكن مذهب من الموت ينجي

بعد ما قد جرى بحكم القضاء

No path could save one from death,

Once events had unfolded by fate's decree.

لا يغرنك ان حبتك بود

فمحال مودة الاعداء

Do not let it deceive you if it grants you affection;

For affection from enemies is impossible.

ليس تحذيرها من النصح يوما

ان تحذيرها من الاغراء

Its warning never springs from sincere counsel;

Indeed, its warning is a form of enticement.

ما ترى بالجدود كيف تولت

ولها ما رعت حقوق الاخاء

What do you make of fortunes—how they have turned away?

And it has not honored the rights of brotherhood.

وبأفعالها تعدّت الى ان

تركت حبها بلا أسماء

And through its deeds it went so far

As to leave its love nameless.

ورمت بالفراق كل حبيب

كان يطوي بها حديث الطاء

And it struck with separation every beloved

Who, in this world, eclipsed the tale of al-Ṭāʾī.

ذو نوال يروي به كل صاد

وجمال يشوق عين الراء

A man of bounty, with which he quenched every thirsty soul,

And of beauty that filled the beholder's eye with longing.

فهو في الثرى وقد كان بدرا

واحد الحسن في السنا والسناء

Now he lies in the dust, though once he was a full moon,

Peerless in beauty, in radiance and glory.

فلا بكي مدى الزمان عليه

حرة بالدما ليوم اللقاء

So I shall weep for him as long as time endures,

In burning anguish, with blood, until the day of reunion.

فسقى الله تربه كل يوم

وابل الغيث مغدق الانواء

So may God water his grave's soil every day

With pouring rain and abundant showers.

وعلى روحه اجل سلام

في صباح وغدوة ومساء

And upon his soul be the noblest peace,

At morning, at dawn, and at evening.

سيدي بعده فلا ذقت رزا

ولك الله زاد في الابناء

My lord, after him, may you taste no further loss,

And may God increase the number of your sons.

وحماك الرفيع ربي حماه

ومحا عن فتاك كل فناء

And may my Lord protect your lofty domain,

And efface all destruction from your young man.

فابق واسلم يا بحر دهر ا طويلا

وافراً بالعطا سريع الوفاء

So live on in safety, O sea, for a long age,

Lavish in giving, swift to keep your word.