1. لاحت قصورُ الخَيالِ

    تَعلو متونَ الغَمام

    The palaces of imagination appeared,

    Rising above the backs of the clouds.

  2. يا أختَ روحي تعالي

    أطلتِ فيها المُقام

    O sister of my soul, come;

    You have prolonged your stay there.

  3. يا اختَ روحي اسمعيني

    من أوج تلك السماء

    O sister of my soul, hear me

    From the zenith of that sky.

  4. قد كاد يقضي يقيني

    هلا أجبتِ النِداء

    My certainty has nearly perished;

    Why have you not answered the call?

  5. أراكِ لا تعرِفيني

    أزالَ عني البَهاء

    I see that you do not recognize me;

    Has splendor departed from me?

  6. أجل تغير كُنهي

    مُذ جِئتُ أرضُ الشَقاء

    Yes, my essence has changed

    Since I came to the land of misery.

  7. بُدِّلتُ فيها جَلالي

    بحُلَّةٍ من عِظام

    There I was made to exchange my majesty

    For a robe of bones.

  8. يا أختَ روخي تَعالي

    قد أضجَرَتني الأنام

    O sister of my soul, come;

    Humankind has indeed wearied me.

  9. أرنو بليلٍ كئِيبٍ

    وطرفُ جسمي كليل

    I gaze on a dreary night,

    And my body's eye is weary.

  10. أُصغي تُرى من مُجيبِ

    أو من خَيالٍ جَميل

    I listen—is there, I wonder, anyone to answer,

    Or any beautiful apparition

  11. يلوحُ رجعُ سَناهُ

    في طَيّ غَيمٍ ثَقِيل

    Whose reflected radiance gleams

    In the folds of heavy cloud?

  12. وكيف والجوُّ قفرٌ

    يحارُ فيه الدلِيل

    But how, when the sky is a wasteland

    Where the guide is bewildered?

  13. يا ويحَ هذي الليالي

    أضحت لطَرفي لِثام

    Alas for these nights!

    They have become a veil over my sight.

  14. يا أختَ روحي تعالي

    فالناس صَرعى نِيام

    O sister of my soul, come;

    For people lie prostrate, asleep.

  15. الناسُ من هم جُسومٌ

    ضاعت بهنَّ النفوس

    People—who are they? Bodies

    In which souls have been lost.

  16. إن يرقُدوا فنعيمٌ

    رُقادهم في البُؤوس

    If they sleep, then bliss

    Is their slumber amid misery.

  17. واحسرتا أنا منهم

    ما دام جِسمي اللَّبوس

    Alas, I am one of them,

    So long as my body is the garment I wear.

  18. ناموا ونَفسيَ يَقظى

    تَهذي بذِكر الشُّموس

    They have fallen asleep, while my soul is awake;

    She raves in remembrance of suns.

  19. تَرجو انتهاءَ اعتقالي

    لكي تَقُضَّ الخِيام

    She hopes for my captivity to end,

    So that she may pull down the tents.

  20. يا أختَ روحي تعالي

    تُلقي اليكِ الخِطام

    O sister of my soul, come;

    She casts the halter to you.

  21. كانت لها الشُّهبُ عَرشا

    وكنتما في اقتراب

    The shooting stars were once her throne,

    And you two were close together.

  22. فأهبِطت فهي تَخشى

    وتنزوي في الحِجاب

    Then she was sent down, so she is afraid

    And withdraws behind the veil.

  23. تظَلُّ غَرثى وعَطشى

    لِقُوتِها والشَّراب

    She remains famished and thirsty

    For her sustenance and drink.

  24. تَقتاتُ بالصَّومِ حيناً

    وترتوي بالسَّراب

    At times she feeds on fasting,

    And slakes her thirst with a mirage.

  25. عافت ثُدِيَّ المُحالِ

    يَنِزُّ منها الأوام

    She has spurned the breasts of impossibility;

    Burning thirst oozes from them.

  26. يا أختَ روحي تعالي

    قد حان عهدُ الفِطام

    O sister of my soul, come;

    The time of weaning has come.

  27. يا أختَ روحي الحَزينة

    إلى متى ذا الصُّدود

    O sister of my sorrowful soul,

    How long will this turning away last?

  28. أو أنتِ مثلي سجينة

    قد أثقَلَتكِ القُيود

    Or are you a prisoner like me,

    Already weighed down by chains,

  29. مرِضتِ في الأرضِ يأساً

    ولا صديقٌ يعود

    Sickened on earth by despair,

    And with no friend to visit?

  30. يا أختَ روحيَ صبراً

    فالمُلتقى في الخُلود

    O sister of my soul, be patient,

    For we shall meet in eternity.

  31. لاحت قصورُ الخَيالِ

    كوَمضةٍ في الظَّلام

    The palaces of imagination appeared,

    Like a flash in the darkness.

  32. أكلُّهنَّ خَوالي

    ما مَن يرُدُّ السَّلام

    Are they all empty?

    No one returns the greeting.