أَسْتَوْدِعُ اللَّهَ إِخْوَانِي وعِشْرَتَهُم

وكلَّ خِرْقٍ إِلى العلياءِ سَبّاقِ

I entrust my brethren and their company to God,

And every valiant youth racing to highness,

وفِتْيَةً كنُجُومِ القَذْفِ نَيِّرهُمُ

يَهْدِي وصائِبُهُمْ يُودى بإِحْراقِ

Whose arrows hit their mark like brilliant stars,

While their joints burn those they mean to destroy.

وكوْكَباً لِيَ منهمْ كانَ مَغْرِبُهُ

قَلْبِي ومَشْرِقُهُ مَا بَيْنَ أَطْواقِي

Among them was a star that set in my heart,

And rose between my breastbones, O how it blazed!

اللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ أَنِّي ما أُفَارِقُهُ

إِلا وَفِي الصَّدْرِ مِنِّي حَرُّ مُشْتَاقِ

God knows I'll never leave him -

Without a burning longing locked inside my chest.

كُنَّا أَلِيفَيْنِ خانَ الدَّهْرُ أُلْفَتَنَا

وأَيُّ حُرّ على صَرْفِ الرَّدَى باقِ

Once friends, time's guile betrayed our bond.

What freeman stands against the whims of fate?

فإِنْ أَعِشْ فلعلَّ الدَّهْرَ يَجْمَعُنَا

وإِنْ أَمُتْ فَسَيَسقِيهِ كَذَا السّاقِي

If I live, perhaps time will reunite us;

If I die, so shall the pourer pour his drink.

لا ضيَّعَ اللَّهُ إِلا مَن يُضِيِّعُهُ

ومَن تَخَلَّقَ فِيه غَيْرَ أَخْلاقِي

None is lost but he who loses himself,

Or mimics morals not his own.

قَد كانَ بَرْدِي إِذا مَا مَسَّنِي كلفٌ

لا يَثْلمُ الحُبُّ آدابِي وأَعْرَاقِي

My affection once pierced me when stirred,

Love's manners wouldn't breach my dignity.

حتَّى رَمَتْنَا صُرُوفُ الدَّهْرِ عن كَثَبٍ

فَفَرَّقَتْنَا وَهل مِن صَرْفِه واقِ

But destiny's caprice cast us far apart,

And who can stop its endless changes?

إِنِّي لأَرْمُقُهُ والمَوْتُ يَضْغَطُنِي

فأَقتضي فُرْجةً مُرْتَدَّ أَرْمَاقِي

I glimpse him as death squeezes me,

And seize a fleeting vision 'fore my eyes dim.