أَرى ذَلِكَ القُربَ صارَ اِزوِرارا

أَرى ذَلِكَ القُربَ صارَ اِزوِرارا

وَصارَ طَويلُ السَلامِ اِختِصارا

وَصارَ طَويلُ السَلامِ اِختِصارا

I see that closeness has turned to estrangement,

I see that closeness has become rare

I see that our intimacy has turned to avoidance,

and the lengthy greeting has become brief.

And prolonged greetings, brief

And the prolonged greeting has become curtailed.

تَرَكتَني اليَومَ في خَجلَةٍ

تَرَكتَني اليَومَ في خَجلَةٍ

أَموتُ مِراراً وَأَحيا مِرارا

أَموتُ مِراراً وَأَحيا مِرارا

You have left me today in shame:

You left me today in embarrassment

You have left me this day in such confusion and shame,

I die again and again, and live again and again.

I die repeatedly and live repeatedly

That I die repeatedly, and repeatedly revive.

أُسارِقُكَ اللَحظَ مُستَحيِياً

أُسارِقُكَ اللَحظَ مُستَحيِياً

وَأَزجُرُ في الخَيلِ مُهري سِرارا

وَأَزجُرُ في الخَيلِ مُهري سِرارا

I steal glances at you, ashamed,

I steal glances at you bashfully

Bashfully, I steal glances at you in secret,

and quietly urge my colt on among the horses.

And hold back my racing horse

And privately rebuke my colt amidst the steeds.

وَأَعلَمُ أَنّي إِذا ما اِعتَذَرتُ

وَأَعلَمُ أَنّي إِذا ما اِعتَذَرتُ

إِلَيكَ أَرادَ اِعتِذاري اِعتِذارا

إِلَيكَ أَرادَ اِعتِذاري اِعتِذارا

And I know that whenever I apologize

And I know if I apologized to you

For I know full well that were I to offer an excuse,

to you, my apology itself needs an apology.

My apology would want more apology

My very excuse to you would require an apology of its own.

كَفَرتُ مَكارِمَكَ الباهِرا

كَفَرتُ مَكارِمَكَ الباهِرا

تِ إِن كانَ ذَلِكَ مِنّي اِختِيارا

تِ إِن كانَ ذَلِكَ مِنّي اِختِيارا

I would be ungrateful for your dazzling kindnesses,

I denied your shining virtues

I would be denying your dazzling acts of grace,

if that were of my own choosing.

If that was my choice

Had this silence been a choice of my own making.

وَلَكِن حَمى الشِعرَ إِلّا القَليلَ

وَلَكِن حَمى الشِعرَ إِلّا القَليلَ

هَمٌّ حَمى النَومَ إِلّا غِرارا

هَمٌّ حَمى النَومَ إِلّا غِرارا

But poetry, save a little, was withheld

But poetry's fever spared little

But worry has barred my verse, save for a little,

by worry that withheld sleep, save brief snatches.

Like sleep's fever spared little

A worry that has barred my sleep, save for a snatch.

وَما أَنا أَسقَمتُ جِسمي بِهِ

وَما أَنا أَسقَمتُ جِسمي بِهِ

وَما أَنا أَضرَمتُ في القَلبِ نارا

وَما أَنا أَضرَمتُ في القَلبِ نارا

And it was not I who sickened my body with it,

And I did not make my body ill with it

It was not I who brought this sickness upon my body,

nor was it I who kindled a fire in my heart.

Nor ignited a fire in my heart

Nor I who kindled this fire within my heart.

فَلا تُلزِمَنّي ذُنوبَ الزَمانِ

فَلا تُلزِمَنّي ذُنوبَ الزَمانِ

إِلَيَّ أَساءَ وَإِيّايَ ضارا

إِلَيَّ أَساءَ وَإِيّايَ ضارا

So do not burden me with time's sins:

So do not blame me for the sins of time

So do not charge me with the sins of Time,

it wronged me, and it was I whom it harmed.

It did evil to me and harmed me

For it is Time that wronged me, and Time that did the harm.

وَعِندي لَكَ الشُرُدُ السائِراتُ

وَعِندي لَكَ الشُرُدُ السائِراتُ

لا يَختَصِصنَ مِنَ الأَرضِ دارا

لا يَختَصِصنَ مِنَ الأَرضِ دارا

And I have for you far-ranging, widely circulating verses,

And for you are my wanderings

Yet I hold for you fugitive verses that roam the world,

confined to no dwelling on earth.

That choose no land as their abode

That claim no single dwelling in all the earth.

قَوافٍ إِذا سِرنَ عَن مِقوَلي

قَوافٍ إِذا سِرنَ عَن مِقوَلي

وَثَبنَ الجِبالَ وَخُضنَ البِحارا

وَثَبنَ الجِبالَ وَخُضنَ البِحارا

Rhymes that, when they set forth from my tongue,

Camels, when they walk away from my words

Rhymes that, when they depart from my tongue,

leap over mountains and wade through seas.

Climb mountains and plunge into seas

Leap over the mountains and plunge through the seas.

وَلي فيكَ ما لَم يَقُل قائِلٌ

وَلي فيكَ ما لَم يَقُل قائِلٌ

وَما لَم يَسِر قَمَرٌ حَيثُ سارا

وَما لَم يَسِر قَمَرٌ حَيثُ سارا

And I have praise of you no speaker has uttered,

And I have in you what no sayer has said

I possess words for you that no speaker has ever spoken,

and verse that has traveled where no moon has gone.

And what no moon has reached wherever it traveled

That travel where even the traversing moon has never gone.

فَلَو خُلِقَ الناسُ مِن دَهرِهِم

فَلَو خُلِقَ الناسُ مِن دَهرِهِم

لَكانوا الظَلامَ وَكُنتَ النَهارا

لَكانوا الظَلامَ وَكُنتَ النَهارا

If people were fashioned from their age,

So if people were created in their eras

For were men created from the substance of their age,

they would be darkness, and you would be daylight.

They would be darkness and you would be day

They would be the darkness, and you the radiant day.

أَشَدُّهُمُ في النَدى هِزَّةً

أَشَدُّهُمُ في النَدى هِزَّةً

وَأَبمَدُهُم في عَدُوٍّ مُغارا

وَأَبمَدُهُم في عَدُوٍّ مُغارا

The most ardent of them in generosity,

The fiercest of them in waving

You are the most spirited of them in the tremor of giving,

and the farthest-ranging of them in raids against a foe.

The lamest of them in racing

And the farthest-reaching in the raid against the foe.

سَما بِكَ هَمِّيَ فَوقَ الهُمومِ

سَما بِكَ هَمِّيَ فَوقَ الهُمومِ

فَلَستُ أَعُدُّ يَساراً يَسارا

فَلَستُ أَعُدُّ يَساراً يَسارا

Through you, my ambition soared above all ambitions,

By you my worries are above worries

My ambition has soared with you above all other cares,

so I do not count wealth as wealth.

So I do not count ease as ease

So that I count no common wealth as true riches.

وَمَن كُنتَ بَحراً لَهُ يا عَلِيُّ

وَمَن كُنتَ بَحراً لَهُ يا عَلِيُّ

لَم يَقبَلِ الدُرَّ إِلّا كِبارا

لَم يَقبَلِ الدُرَّ إِلّا كِبارا

And whoever has you as his sea, O Ali,

And whoever you were an ocean to, O Ali

And he for whom you are the ocean, O Ali,

accepts only large pearls.

Would not accept pearls unless big

Will accept no pearls but the very greatest.