1. ها أنا عُدتُ إلى حيثُ التقينا

    في مكانٍ رَفرَفَت فيه السعاده

    Here I am, returned to where we met,

    in a place where happiness fluttered,

  2. وبه قد رفرفَ الصمتُ علينا

    إنَّ في صَمتِ الحبيبين عباده

    and where silence fluttered over us.

    In the silence of two lovers there is worship.

  3. ربَّ لَحنٍ قَصَّ في خاطِرنا

    قصَّةَ الساري الذي غَنَّى سهاده

    Many a melody told within our thoughts

    the story of the night traveler who sang of his sleeplessness.

  4. وكأَنَّ الصمتَ منهُ واحةٌ

    هَيَّأَت من عُشبِها الرَّطبِ وساده

    And the silence from it seemed an oasis,

    which prepared a pillow from its moist grass.

  5. صَمَتَ السّهلُ ولكن أقبَلَت

    من ثَنَايا السهلِ أصداءٌ بعيده

    The plain fell silent, but there came

    distant echoes from the folds of the plain.

  6. كلُّ لحنٍ في هدوءٍ شاملٍ

    تشتهي النفسُ به أن تستعيدَه

    Every melody, amid an all-embracing stillness,

    that the soul longs in that stillness to recall,

  7. يتهادى في عُبابٍ ساحرٍ

    باعِثٍ للشَّطِّ أمواجاً مديده

    drifts on an enchanting swell,

    sending long waves toward the shore.

  8. فإذا ما ذَهَبَ الليلُ بها

    تَزخَرُ النفسُ بأصداءٍ جديده

    And when the night carries them away,

    the soul overflows with new echoes.

  9. هدأ الليلُ هُنا لكنني

    كنتُ في حُسنِك بالصّمتِ أُغنّي

    The night grew quiet here, but I

    was singing in silence amid your beauty.

  10. كلُّ لحنٍ لَجِبٍ يَغشَى دمي

    لَعِبَ العازف بالعُودِ المُرِنّ

    Every clamorous melody that floods my blood

    the musician played upon the resonant oud,

  11. ناقلاً للنّهرِ والسهلِ معاً

    قصةً يشرحُها عنكِ وعني

    conveying to the river and the plain together

    a story he unfolds about you and me:

  12. قصةَ الشاعرِ والحسنِ إذا اس

    تبقا للخلدِ في حَومة فنّ

    the story of the poet and beauty, when they

    race for immortality in the arena of art.

  13. ما الذي في خُصلَةٍ راقِدةٍ

    ما الذي في خطِّهِ أو كُتُبِه

    What is it in a lock of hair lying still?

    What is it in his handwriting or his books?

  14. ما الذي في أثَرٍ خَلَّفَهُ

    من أفانينِ الهوى أو عَجَبِه

    What is it in a trace he left behind,

    of love's varied arts or its wonder?

  15. ما الذي في مجلسٍ يَألَفُهُ

    عَقَدَ الحبُّ عليه مَوعِده

    What is it in a sitting place he frequents,

    where love has set its rendezvous?

  16. ربما يَبكي أسىً كرسيُّه

    إن نَأَى عنه وتَبكِي المائده

    Perhaps his chair weeps in sorrow

    if he goes far from it, and the table weeps.

  17. ولقد نَحسَبُها هَشَّت إذا

    عائدٌ هَشَّ لها أو عائده

    And indeed we imagine it brightens when

    a returning man or woman smiles warmly at it.

  18. ولقد نَحسَبُها تسأَلُنا

    حين نَمضِي أفِراقٌ لِعِدَه

    And indeed we imagine it asks us,

    as we leave, "A parting with a promise?"

  19. كم أعَدَّت نفسَها وانتظرت

    واستَوت موُحشةً تحت السماء

    How often it prepared itself and waited,

    and stood desolate beneath the sky.

  20. وهي لو تَملِك كفّاً صافحت

    كفَّكِ الغَضَّةَ في كلِّ مساء

    And if it had a hand, it would shake

    your tender hand every evening.

  21. رُبَّ كَرمٍ مَدَّه الليلُ لنا

    فَتواثَبنا له نَبغِي اقتطافَه

    Many a vineyard the night spread for us,

    and we sprang toward it, seeking to harvest it.

  22. وعلى خَيمَته حارسُه

    عَرَبِيُّ الجودِ شَرقِيُّ الضيَافه

    And at its tent stood its guardian,

    Arab in generosity, Eastern in hospitality.

  23. وَجَدَ العُرسَ على بهجتِه

    وسناه دونَ وَردٍ فأَضافه

    He found the wedding, for all its joy

    and radiance, without roses—so he added them.

  24. ثم وارتهُ غياباتُ الدّجى

    كخيالٍ من أساطيرِ الخُرافه

    Then the hidden depths of darkness concealed him,

    like a phantom from fabled legends.

  25. أرَجٌ يَعبَقُ في جُنحِ الدّجى

    حَمَلَتهُ نحو عَرشَينا الرياح

    A fragrance wafting beneath the wing of darkness,

    the winds carried toward our two thrones.

  26. كلُّ عطرٍ في ثناياه سَرَى

    كان سِرّاً مُضمراً فيه فباح

    Every perfume that flowed through its folds

    was a secret hidden within it, then revealed itself.

  27. يا لهَا من حِقبَةٍ كانت على

    قِصَرٍ فيها كآمادٍ فِساح

    Oh, what a span of time it was, despite

    its brevity, like vast stretches of time!

  28. نتمنَّى كلما امتدَّت بنا

    أن يَظَلَّ الليلُ مجهولَ الصباح

    Whenever it lengthened for us, we wished

    that the night would remain, its morning unknown.

  29. أنا إِن ضَاقَت بيَ الدنيا أفِئ

    لثَوانٍ رحبةٍ قد وَسِعَتنا

    When the world closes in on me, I return

    to spacious seconds that held us.

  30. إنما الدنيا عُبابٌ ضَمَّنا

    وشطوطٌ مِن حُظُوظٍ فَرَّقتنا

    The world is but a surging sea that joined us,

    and shores of fortune that divided us.

  31. ولقد أطفُو عليه قَلِقاً

    غارقاً في لحظةٍ قد جمعتنا

    And indeed I float upon it anxiously,

    drowning in a moment that brought us together.

  32. ومعاني الحسنِ تَترَى وأنا

    ناظرٌ فيها لِمَعنًى خَلفَ معنى

    And meanings of beauty follow one another, while I

    look within them for meaning behind meaning.

  33. هذه الدنيا هجيرٌ كلُّها

    أين في الرمضاء ظلٌّ من ظلالك

    This world is all scorching midday heat.

    Where, on the burning ground, is one of your shadows?

  34. ربما تَزخَرُ بالحسن وما

    في الدُّمى مَهما غَلَت سحرُ جمالك

    It may overflow with beauty, but there is no

    spell of your beauty in dolls, however costly.

  35. ولقد تزخر بالنّورِ وكم

    من ضياءٍ وهو من غيرِك حالك

    And indeed it overflows with light, yet how much

    radiance, when not from you, is dark!

  36. لو جَرَت في خاطري أقصى المُنى

    لتمنّيتُ خيالاً من خيالِك

    If the farthest-reaching wishes crossed my mind,

    I would wish for a vision of your image.

  37. قلتُ للّيلِ الذي جلّلنا

    والذي كان على السرِّ أمينا

    I said to the night that shrouded us,

    and that was the secret's faithful keeper:

  38. أينَ يا قلبِيَ مَن قلبي اجتَبَى

    لهواهُ واصطفاهُ لي خدينا

    "Where, O my heart, is the one my heart chose

    for its love, and singled out as my intimate companion?"

  39. لم أكن أطمع أن ترحمني

    بعد أن قَضَّيتُ في الوجدِ السنينا

    I had not hoped that you would show me mercy,

    after I had spent the years in longing.

  40. لم أكُن أطمعُ أن تُضمِرَ لي

    آسياً يُبرئُ لي الجُرح الدفينا

    I had not hoped that you concealed for me

    a healer who would cure my buried wound.

  41. لم أكن أعلمُ يا ليلَ الأسى

    أن في جُنحِكَ لي فجراً جنينا

    I did not know, O night of sorrow,

    that beneath your wing lay an unborn dawn for me.

  42. أيها اللائذُ بالصَّمتِ كَفَى

    وأدِر وجهَكَ لي وانظر طويلا

    O you who take refuge in silence, enough!

    And turn your face to me, and gaze long.

  43. لا تَمِل واسخر من الدنيا إذا

    شاءت الأيامُ يوماً أن تميلا

    Do not turn aside; scoff at the world if

    the days should one day choose to turn aside.

  44. ما الذي مَكَّن في القلبِ الوداد

    ما الذي صَبَّك صَبّاً في الفؤاد

    What is it that established affection in the heart?

    What is it that poured you so fully into the heart?

  45. ما الذي مَلَّكَ عينيك القياد

    ما الذي يَعصِفُ عَصفاً بالرشاد

    What is it that gave your eyes the reins?

    What is it that storms so fiercely against sound judgment?

  46. ما الذي إن أُقصِهِ عنِّيَ عاد

    طاغياً سِيّانِ قُربٌ أو بعاد

    What is it that returns when I drive it away from me,

    overpowering—nearness or distance, all the same?

  47. ما الذي يَخلُقُنا من عدمٍ

    ما الذي يُجرِي حياةً في الجماد

    What is it that creates us from nothing?

    What is it that sets life flowing in lifeless matter?

  48. كم حبيبٍ بَعُدَت صَهباؤُه

    وتَبقَّت نفحةٌ من حَبَبِه

    Many a beloved's tawny wine has grown distant,

    yet a breath of his wine's foam lingers

  49. في نسيجٍ خالدٍ رَغمَ البِلى

    عَبَثَ الدهرُ وما يَعبثُ به

    in an immortal weave, despite decay.

    Time has wrought havoc, yet leaves it untouched.

  50. أين سُلطاني ومجدي والذي

    حُبُّه مجدٌ وسلطانٌ وعِزَّه

    Where are my sovereignty and glory, and the one

    whose love is glory, sovereignty, and honor?

  51. أين إلهامي ونوري والذي

    أيقظَ القلبَ إلى البَعثِ وهَزَّه

    Where are my inspiration and light, and the one

    who awakened the heart to rebirth and stirred it?