1. لقد رقد السمار حتى خلا النادي

    ولم تبق يقضى غير عصفورة الوادي

    Indeed, the night-time companions fell asleep, until the gathering place was empty,

    and none remained awake but the valley’s sparrow.

  2. شدت في هدوء الليل تدعو اليفها

    وفي شدوها شجو لسامعه باد

    She sang in the stillness of the night, calling her mate,

    and sorrow in her song was plain to anyone who heard it.

  3. تردده في خير لحن سمعته

    وتنشده شعراً على خير انشاد

    She repeated it in the finest melody I had heard,

    and recited it as verse, with the finest recitation.

  4. فيا حسن شعر محزن مطرب معاً

    ويا حسن لحن ثم يا حسن ترداد

    Oh, how lovely a poem, at once saddening and enchanting!

    And how lovely the melody—then how lovely its repetition!

  5. فبت وعيني لحظها يخرق الدجى

    وسمعي على بعد الى الطائر الشادي

    So I spent the night, my eye’s gaze piercing the darkness,

    and my hearing turned, from afar, toward the singing bird.

  6. فد انتبهت في ليلها فتذكرت

    اليفاً غدا عنها ولم يعد الغادي

    She had awakened in the night and remembered

    a mate who had left her in the morning and had not returned.

  7. وبرّحت الذكرى بها فترنمت

    ترنم ثكلى قد اصيبت باولاد

    And remembrance tormented her, so she sang

    the song of a bereaved mother, stricken by her children’s loss.

  8. وقالت تناجي نفسها ما لصاحبي

    تأخر عن ميعاده غير معتاد

    And she said, communing with herself: “Why is my companion

    late for his appointed time, against his usual habit?

  9. وقد كان وجه الليل ميعاد عوده

    وذلك للاطيار آخر ميعاد

    And the onset of night was his appointed time of return,

    and that is the latest appointed time for birds.

  10. فما عاد عصفوري اليّ لشقوتي

    وكان اليه في حياتي اخلادي

    But, to my misery, my sparrow did not return to me,

    and in my life I had found repose in him.

  11. أابعد عن مثواه في طيرانه

    فضل طريق العود من بعد ابعاد

    Did he go far from his dwelling in his flight,

    and so lose the way back after going far away?

  12. وكيف تضل الطير عن مستقرّها

    وكل كثيب في الطريق لها هاد

    And how can birds lose their way to their dwelling,

    when every dune along the way is a guide to them?

  13. ام احتازه الصياد في شرك له

    ام اختطفته برثن الاجدل العادي

    Or did the hunter catch him in his snare?

    Or did the attacking falcon’s talon snatch him away?

  14. ام التقفته هرة البر بغتة

    ام ابتلعته حية بعد ارصاد

    Or did a wildcat suddenly seize him?

    Or did a snake swallow him after lying in wait?

  15. لقد كان لي اغراده خير سلوة

    كما كان يسليه عن الهم اغرادي

    His warbling was indeed my best solace,

    just as my warbling relieved him of his cares.

  16. وكنا اذا طرنا معاً لرياضة

    نحلق في جو من الصبح وراد

    And whenever we flew together for exercise,

    we would soar in air rose-tinted by the dawn.

  17. وبعدئذ نهوى معا في هوادة

    الى فنن غض من البان مياد

    And afterward we would descend together, gently,

    to a tender, swaying branch of the bān tree.

  18. وكنا على الايام زوجين في رضى

    فافردني دهري واوحش افرادي

    And through the days we were a pair, content,

    then my fate left me alone and made my solitude desolate.

  19. بقيت لارزاء الزمان وحيدة

    بعش نضيد من هشيم واعواد

    I was left alone to face time’s calamities,

    in a neatly arranged nest of dry brush and sticks.

  20. وكنا بنيناه معاً فوق ايكة

    تطلّ على ماء وعشب واوراد

    And we had built it together atop a thicket,

    overlooking water, grass, and roses.

  21. بنيناه حتى تمّ نجهد نفسنا

    لنحيا معاً في غبطة ثم ارغاد

    We built it until it was complete, exerting ourselves,

    so we might live together in happiness, then in comfort.

  22. يقيم بقربي ثم في العش واضعا

    اذا ما غفا الغاده فوق الغادي

    He would stay beside me, then in the nest would place,

    when he dozed, his throat upon mine.

  23. ولكن الفي قد تخطفه الردى

    فافسد عيشي بعده شر افساد

    But death has snatched away my mate,

    and ruined my life after him, in the worst way.

  24. فيا ليت الفي كان قد ظل سالما

    واني بريشي والحياة له فاد

    Oh, if only my mate had remained safe,

    and I had ransomed him with my feathers and my life!

  25. ذهبت ولم ترجع فهل كان واقفا

    لك الموت في جنب الطريق بمرصاد

    You went away and did not return—did there stand

    death in ambush for you beside the road?

  26. بربك عدلي او على الموت دلني

    فاني الى كأس شربت بها صاد

    By your Lord, return to me, or guide me to death,

    for I thirst for the cup from which you drank.”