حَنَّتْ فَأَذْكتْ لَوْعَتي حَنينا

أَشْكُو من البَيْن وتشكو البِينا

My longing stirred and my grief awoke

I complain of separation, and so does the distance between us

قد عاثَ في أشخاصِها طُولُ السُّرى

بقَدرِ ما عاثَ الفِراقُ فِينا

It has ravaged their features, the lengthy parting,

Just as parting has ravaged us

فخَلِّها تَمْشِي الهُوَيْنا طالما

أَضْحَتْ تُباري الريح في البُرِينا

So let them walk freely, though far,

Competing with the wind across the hills

فكيف لا نَأْوِي لها وهي التي

بها قَطَعْنا السَّهْل والحُزونا

Why then should we not shelter them, they who

Across plain and mountain we traversed with

ها قد وَجَدْنا البَرّ بَحْرَاً زاخِراً

فهل وجدتُم غيرَها سَفِينا

Did you find any but them a vessel?

If they utter no word of complaint to us

إنْ كُنّ لا يُفصِحْنَ بالشَّكوى لنا

فهُنَّ بالإرزامِ يَشْتَكينا

Still, by their writhing, they ache

My liver is galled by their groans

قد أَقْرَحَتْ بما تَئِنُّ كَبِدي

إنّ الحزين يَرْحَمُ الحزينا

For the sorrowful pity the sorrowful

Had my tears been their torment, never

لو عَذُبَتْ لها دموعي لم تَبِتْ

هِيماً عِطاشاً وترى المَعينا

Would they wander parched, though water be seen

You have joined with them unjustly

وقد تياسرتَ بهِنّ جائراً

عن الحِمى فاعْدِل بها يَمينا

So do justice, yield to the right

I pass by ruins whose signs have faded

نُحَيِّ أطلالاً عفا آياتِها

تَعاقُبُ الأيام والسِّنينا

As the days and years go by

My friends say "Can you see their traces?"

يقولُ صَحْبِي أَتَرَى آثارَهم

نعم ولكن لا أرى القَطينا

Yes, but I cannot see the encampments

Had their lands not grieved like we grieved

لو لم تَجِدْ رُبوعُهم كَوَجْدِنا

للبَيْنِ لم تَبْلَ كما بَلينا

Parting would not have overwhelmed us thus

Whoever saw their litter yet glimpsed them

ومن رأى قَبْلَ اللِّحاظِ أَنْصُلاً

أَرْدَتْ وما فارقَتِ الجُفونا

Looked, and could not part eyelid from eye

Each time a gleam caught my eye

أكُلَّما لاحَ لعَيْني بارِقٌ

بَكَتْ فَأَبْدتْ سِرِّيَ المَصونا

It wept, revealing my secret anguish

Blame not my heart for my tormented state

لا تأخذوا قلبي بذَنبِ مُقلَتي

وعاقِبوا الخائنَ لا الأمينا

Punish the traitor, not the true

The leaves did not conceal themselves in green

ما اسْتَتَرتْ بالورَقِ الوَرْقاءُ كي

تَصْدُقَ لمّا علَتِ الغُصونا

To verify what was raised on the branch

How often the bereft found comfort

كم وَكَلَتْ بكلّ باكٍ شَجْوَهُ

يُعينُه إنْ عَدِمَ المُعينا

In one who aided when help was gone

This is how she wept, and her companion was near

هذا بُكاها والقَرينُ حاضرٌ

فكيف مَن قد فارَق القَرينا

Imagine one whose companion is far

I swore the meadow, when it raised its borders

أقسمتُ ما الرَّوض إذا ما بَعَثَتْ

أرجاؤُه الخِيرِيَّ والنِّسْرينا

Pure and sweet basil

When its streams were sweet and its fruits appeared

وعَذُبَتْ أنهارُه وأدركتْ

ثِمارُه وأبدَتِ المَكْنونا

And disclosed its treasures

Was neither finer, nor more blissful, nor truer

أَشْهَى ولا أَبْهَى ولا أَوْفَى ولا

أَحْلَى بعَيْني لينا

Nor sweeter to my eye

Than her stature, face, lips

مِن قَدِّها ووجهها وثَغرِها

وشَعرِها فاستمِع اليَقينا

And hair - so hear my avowal