سَلَبتِ عِظامي لَحمَها فَتَرَكتِها

مُجَرَّدَةً تُضحي إِلَيكِ وَتَخصُرُ

You stripped my bones of their flesh, leaving them

Bare and frail sacrifices offered to you, tightly girdled;

وَأَخلَيتِها مِن مُخِّها فَكَأَنَّها

قَواريرَ في أَجوافِها الريحُ تَصفُرُ

And emptied of their marrow until they were like

Flutes which the wind whistles shrilly through.

إِذا سَمِعَت بِاِسمِ الفراقِ تَقَعقَعَت

مَفاصِلُها مِن هَولِ ما تَتَنَظَّرُ

When they hear the name of parting their joints

Creak and tremble at the terror of what they expect.

خُذي بِيَدي ثُمَّ اِرفَعي الثَوبَ فَاِنظُري

بِيَ الضُرَّ إِلّا أَنَّني أَتَسَتَّرُ

Take my hand, lift your robe, and look at me—

See, nothing afflicts me but that I take pains to hide it.

فَما حيلَتي إِن لَم تَكُن لَك رَحمَةٌ

عَلَيَّ وَلا لي عَنكِ صَبرٌ فَأَصبِرُ

What can I do if you feel no tenderness for me

Nor I any patience to endure your disdain?

فَوَاللَهِ ما قَصَّرتُ فيما أَظُنُّهُ

رِضاكِ وَلَكِنّي مُحِبٌّ مُكَفَّرُ

By God, I think I did all I could to please you,

But I am a passionate lover fated to suffer.

نَظَرتُ كَأَنّي مِن وراءِ زُجاجَةٍ

إِلى الدارِ مِن ماءِ الصَبابَةِ أَنظُرُ

I looked as though through a glass wall at our house

From the disturbed waters—looked and looked again.

فَعَينايَ طَوراً تَغرَقانِ مِنَ البُكا

فأَعشى وَطوراً تحسرانِ فَأُبصِرُ

Now my eyes are overwhelmed by a flood of tears,

Now parched and blinded. I blink and can see once more.

فَلا مُقلَتي مِن غامِرِ الماءِ تَنجَلي

وَلا دَمعَتي مِن شِدَّةِ الوَجدِ تَقطُرُ

My eyelids will not be cleared of their overflowing water,

Nor will my tears, for grief, be stemmed.

وَلَيسَ الَّذي يَجري مِنَ العَينِ دَمعها

وَلَكِنَّها نَفسٌ تَذوبُ فَتَقطُرُ

The stream from my eyes is not tears,

Rather, it is a soul melting, dripping away.