1. أضاء ثم تدلى يأفل القمر

    كما ارتمت من عل حسناء تنتحر

    The moon shone, then sank low, setting,

    as a beautiful woman flung herself from on high, taking her own life.

  2. وخريذ كو شهاب لاح منبثقا

    كدمعة من عيون الليل تنحدر

    And [unclear wording] a meteor flashed, bursting forth,

    like a tear streaming down from the eyes of night.

  3. اما النجوم فكانت فيه خافقة

    كأنهن قلوب راعها خطر

    As for the stars, they quivered in it,

    as though they were hearts startled by danger.

  4. اذ نحن من دجلة في عدوة رحبت

    وقد تصافح فيها الماء والشجر

    We were then on a broad bank of the Tigris,

    where water and trees had clasped hands.

  5. طابت على رملها للصحب ليلتهم

    وطاب فيها لهم في جوفها السمر

    The companions' night was sweet upon its sand,

    and there, deep in the night, their conversation was sweet.

  6. وبعد ذلك ران النوم يغلبهم

    على العيون فما قالوا ولا نظروا

    And afterward, sleep settled heavily, overpowering them,

    upon their eyes; they neither spoke nor looked.

  7. ناموا سوى عندليب فوق ايكته

    يقول شعرا وإما قال يبتكر

    They slept, save a nightingale above its grove,

    reciting poetry, creating anew whenever it spoke.

  8. كأنه كان فيما كان يرسله

    من الاغاريد يشكو ثم يعتذر

    It seemed that, in what it was sending forth

    of warbling songs, it lamented, then apologized.

  9. يشكو الى الليل اشجانا تؤرقه

    والليل يصغى اليه وهو معتكر

    It lamented to the night sorrows that kept it awake,

    and the night, thick with darkness, listened to it.

  10. لقد شجتني شكواه برقتها

    وكل صوت رقيق بي له اثر

    Its lament moved me to sorrow with its tenderness,

    and every tender voice leaves its mark on me.

  11. افي النهار لسان الشوك آلمه

    ام لم يصافحه لما زاره الزهر

    Had the tongue of thorns hurt it by day?

    Or had the blossoms not clasped its hand when they visited it?

  12. ام هدمت عشه الغربان قادرة

    عليه وهو ضعيف ليس يقتدر

    Or had the crows destroyed its nest, having power

    over it, while it was weak and powerless?

  13. ام غاب عنه فلما ثاب مفتقدا

    الفاه قد قام فيه حية ذكر

    Or had it been away from its nest and, returning to check,

    found a male snake already lodged within it?

  14. نزا على البان غريداً فهزهزه

    حتى تظنيت ان البان ينأطر

    It leapt, singing sweetly, onto the ban tree and shook it,

    until I imagined the ban tree was bending.

  15. سمعت شهقته في فرع ايكته

    فخيل لي انها الآمال تنفجر

    I heard its sob on a branch in its grove,

    so it seemed to me to be hopes bursting forth.

  16. وخيل لي انها نار مؤججة

    ينبث منها الى اطرافها الشرر

    And it seemed to me to be a blazing fire,

    with sparks scattering from it to its edges.

  17. وخيل لي انها باتت بارديتي

    والصدر مني والاعصاب تستعر

    And it seemed to me it had lodged for the night in my garments,

    while my chest and nerves blazed.

  18. صوت له شجوه كالسهم منطلق

    وربه في ضمير الليل مستتر

    A voice whose sorrow sped forth like an arrow,

    and its master was hidden in the heart of night.

  19. وصحت اسمعه شعري واعلمه

    اني كما هو شاد ماله وزر

    And I cried out, letting it hear my verse and telling it

    that I, like it, was a singer with no refuge.

  20. شعر حكى العين معناه يفيض اسى

    ولفظه دمع تلك العين ينهمر

    Verse mirroring the eye, its meaning overflowing with sorrow,

    and its words that eye's tears, streaming down.

  21. انا شبيهان في البلوى بمجتمع

    فيه كلانا لقاء الموت ينتظر

    We two are alike in affliction, in a society

    where both of us await our meeting with death.

  22. اجل كلانا اذا ما اللَه لم يقه

    شلو على الارض ملقى او دم هدر

    Yes, each of us, if God does not protect him,

    is a corpse cast upon the earth, or blood shed with impunity.