1. عدمتُكَ قلباً لا يجيب وقد دعا

    إلى العقل داعٍ بالهداية أسمعا

    May I be rid of you, heart that will not answer, though summoned

    to reason by a caller who made guidance heard.

  2. إذا لجت الذكرى فما العذلُ نافعاً

    وما كان مرجوَّ الشِفاءِ لينفعا

    When memory grows relentless, reproach is of no use,

    nor was it expected to bring healing, that it might help.

  3. وما اللوم إلا باعث الوجد والأسى

    يجدد ذكراً في الفؤاد ملوِّعا

    Blame only stirs passionate longing and sorrow,

    renewing a tormenting memory within the heart.

  4. تسيل جرحاتُ الفؤادِ إذا الهوى

    أثار به الداءَ الدفين فَأَوجعا

    The heart's wounds bleed whenever passion

    rouses the buried malady within it and brings pain.

  5. وإن لم يُصب قلبُ المحَب شِفاءَه

    أصاب ولكن في الملامة مصرعا

    And if the lover's heart finds no cure,

    it finds, instead, a fatal downfall in reproach.

  6. فقدتُ أمانيَّ الشباب فخلَّفت

    فؤادي لكن خافتاً متقطعا

    I lost the hopes of youth, so they left

    my heart behind—but faint and torn apart.

  7. وألفيتُ عمري في الوجيعة ضائعاً

    فللَه عمرٌ في الوجيعة ضُيَّعا

    And I found my life wasted in anguish;

    what a lifetime, by God, wasted in anguish!

  8. أردت في الدنيا شكاتي وإنها

    تردد في الدنيا عليَّ التَفَجُّعا

    I wished to voice my complaint in the world, and it

    echoes lamentation back upon me throughout the world.

  9. لقد كان لي عند الحبيب وديعةٌ

    هي القلبُ في السر الهوى كان مودَعا

    Indeed, I had a trust in the beloved's keeping:

    it was the heart, where passion had been secretly lodged.

  10. فما حُفِظَت تلك الأمانةُ بل غدت

    لِضَيعَتِها نفسي تضج تَفَزُّعا

    That trust was not kept; instead,

    my soul has come to cry out in terror at its loss,

  11. وتنظم هذا الشعر يجري به الأسى

    كما تسكب العينان في الحزن أدمعا

    and composes this poetry, through which sorrow flows,

    as both eyes pour out tears in grief.

  12. لقد خُلِقَت بعضُ النفوس طموحةً

    إلى النور إن تفقده لن تتمتعا

    Some souls were indeed created to aspire

    toward light; if they lose it, they will find no joy.

  13. ويؤلمها في صبحها ومسائها

    من الناس إغلاقُ العقول تَمنُّعا

    And what pains them, morning and evening,

    is people's closing of their minds in stubborn refusal,

  14. وإظلامُ إحساس القلوب صلابةً

    فلست ترى فيها إلى اللين موضعا

    and the darkening of hearts' feeling through hardness;

    so you see in them no room for gentleness.

  15. إلا إن بعض الناس يشقى ببعضهم

    وأشقاهم مستوعبٌ ما بهم وعى

    Yet, indeed, some people suffer because of others,

    and the most wretched of them fully comprehends what he has perceived in them.

  16. تَقحَّمتُ أهوال الحياة لغايةٍ

    بقيتُ إلى تحقيقها متتبعا

    I plunged into life's terrors for a goal

    whose fulfillment I kept pursuing.

  17. وشفَّعت فيها اللَه سبحانه وقد

    أبى اللَهُ لي في كونها أن يُشَفِّعا

    And I sought God's intercession for it—glory be to Him—yet

    God refused to intercede for me in bringing it into being.

  18. طويتُ عليها العمر لو كان بعده

    مجالٌ لها عالجتُه متوسعا

    I spent my lifetime on it; had there been beyond that life

    further scope for it, I would have worked at it more expansively.

  19. فرحتُ وراحت لا بها أنا غانمٌ

    ولا سلكت نحوي إلى الغنم مهيعا

    So I departed, and it departed; I gained nothing through it,

    nor did it take toward me a clear road to gain.

  20. أَإِخفاقُ سعيٍ في الحياة ملازمٌ

    وغُلَّةُ صدرٍ لا تفارق من سعى

    Must failure cling to striving in life,

    and a burning in the breast never leave the one who strives,

  21. وتصريمُ آمالٍ وتطيوحُ رغبةٍ

    وتبعيدُ أسبابٍ تقرب مطمعا

    and hopes be severed, and desire be flung aside,

    and means that bring a desired goal nearer be driven far away?

  22. هم أبصروا للجهل جاهاً ورونقاً

    وهم رفعوه بينهم فترفعا

    They saw in ignorance prestige and splendor,

    and they raised it among them, so it rose in pride.

  23. وهم قلبوا معنى الححى فتقلبت

    وآمنُ وجه العمر أصبح مفزعا

    And they reversed the meaning of reason, so things were overturned,

    and life's safest face became terrifying.

  24. وهم كذبوا حتى فشا الكذب وادعوا

    فَأَيقن بالنجح الغبيُّ الذي ادعى

    And they lied until falsehood spread, and made their claims,

    so the fool who made such claims became certain of success.

  25. وهم هزأوا بالحق فارتدَّ ساخطاً

    وهم زعزعوا ركنَ الهدى فتزعزعا

    And they mocked the truth, so it recoiled in anger,

    and they shook the pillar of guidance, so it was shaken.

  26. وما كنتُ إلا واحداً في جماعةٍ

    على نفسه إذ افردوه تجمعا

    And I was only one among a group,

    who drew in upon himself when they left him alone.

  27. فأًبحتُ في عين السموات عالَماً

    وفي عين هذا الناس فرداىً مضيَّعا

    So in the heavens' eyes I became a world,

    and in these people's eyes, a lone, neglected individual.

  28. وسرتُ وفي قلبي عواصفُ جمةٌ

    تُعيدُ رياضَ العمر في الصدر بلقعا

    And I went on, with many storms within my heart,

    turning life's gardens within my breast into a barren waste.

  29. ولو سالمت سلمى لكنتُ بنانها

    طواعيةً بل ربما كنتُ أطوعا

    And had Salma made peace with me, I would have been her fingertips,

    willingly—indeed, perhaps I would have been more obedient still.

  30. ولكنها آلت عليَّ قطيعةً

    وآلت على قلبي بأَن يتقطعا

    But she swore to sever ties with me,

    and swore that my heart should be torn apart.

  31. فبتنا كلانا في الحياة مخيباً

    يرى شملَه بعد التئامٍ تصدَّعا

    So we both lived on, disappointed,

    each seeing his unity shattered after it had come together.